Il Renault R35 – decrease in Charléger Model 1935 R – it was a light French infantry tank active in the Second World War (France definitively removed it in 1951).
The main users of the vehicle, in addition to France, were Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Germany and Italy.
The vehicle was conceived and designed between 1933-34, and was produced from 1936 to 1940; Globally, more than 1500 examples were built. Furthermore, more than 100 were built Renault R40.
The latter can be considered, essentially, a "variant" of the Renault R35.
The tanks Renault R35 they represented, shortly before the war, the basis of the light mechanized divisions of the Armée de terre. Nonetheless, after the disastrous French capitulation, the vehicle was "war prey" of the German Army, the Royal Army and their allies.
In this regard, “Every victorious army obviously tends to use its own prey war: this has some disadvantages (difficult to find spare parts, non-uniform ammunition, discrepancies in the education of the troops, etc.). However, there is also the advantage of acquiring weapons for free. The vehicle most frequently used as war prey during the last war world championship, it was the tank (and of course the cannons)".1
The Germans converted a fair number of Renault R35 in a 47 mm tank destroyer (last photo) to replace the Panzerjager I: 4,7 cm Pak(t) auf Panzerkampfwagen 35R(f) ohne Turm.
The Royal Army, after the capitulation of France, obtained more than 120 tanks Renault R35. Later, the general staff formed two battalions. However, the vehicles were not in very good condition and were particularly delicate. In fact, the two battalions were not ready until 1942.
The two battalions – CI 35 e CII 35 of the 131st Tank Regiment - they were assigned to the XII Army Corps and the XVI Army Corps stationed in Sicily.
It is good to remember that tanks were used in Battle of Gela (10-12 July 1943) against the Anglo-Americans.
After the Second World War, the wagons R35 they were used by the Syrian Army in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
The tank Renault R35 it had a length of 4,02 m, height 2,13 m, width 1,87 m and weighed 10,6 tons.
The armor was 43 mm and the armament consisted of a 18 mm Puteaux SA 37 cannon and a 1931 mm MAC mle 7,5 machine gun.
Engine: Renault V-4 petrol, 82 HP. The maximum speed was 20 km/h.
The tank could count on a crew of 2 men.
1 See PF Cazzani, in Storia Illustrata n° 201, 1974, p.124
Photo: web
