The French Connection: The FT-17 rolled for decades

Four of the obsolescent WWI-vintage FT-17 tanks are visible in this photo taken during a demonstration by students of the Tank School, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, on graduation day, April 21, 1932. During this time Fort Meade was home to Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 1st Tank Regiment. NARA

The Renault Char Leger FT– popularly known as the FT-17– had the distinction of being the first mass-produced tank with a rotating turret. Developed by the French, the FT-17 revolutionized the concept of armored warfare, which was then in its infancy. During and after World War I, Van Dorn Iron Works of Cleveland, Ohio, license-built the FT for use by the U.S. Army, which designated the vehicle the M1917 Special 6-ton Tractor.

Later, several other U.S. manufacturers built the tanks. Often, these vehicles were referred to as Six-ton Tank M1917. The U.S. Army operated these tanks until the early 1930s. While the vehicles were obsolete at that time, the US Army lacked large numbers of more modern tanks. The training and maneuvers undertaken with these obsolete vehicles formed the foundation for the future success of America’s armored forces. Across the Atlantic, the WWI veterans faced a much more serious use. The French too had been slow to update their armored forces, and as a result, when Germany invaded in May 1940, the French were forced to field 8 battalions of the FT-17 alongside the more modern R-35, S35 and Char B1s. The valiant efforts of the French tankers were for naught, and as a result the Germans captured numbers of FT tanks. While obsolete by combat standards of the day, against a man on foot, especially civilians, the aged Renaults were still a formidable opponent. Accordingly, the Germans pressed the tanks into service for a variety of purposes.

Remarkably, the last-known combat use of an FT was during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

For more information about these vehicles, see The FT-17/M1917 Walk Around and Allied-Axis 33, available from DavidDoyleBooks.

During the 1930s the Army retired its M1917 tanks. This example was used as a target vehicle at Fort Riley, Kansas, and was photographed on 16 April 1938. It had been subjected to armor-piercing bullets, and much of the enginecompartment enclosure was missing. The turret had been traversed to the right, showing the left rear door. NARA

Like the Americans, the French continued to operate its Renault FT tanks well after World War I, and they exported many of these tanks to a number of friendly countries. At the time of the German invasion of France in 1940, the French Army fielded 534 FT-17s distributed to eight battalions and three independent companies. All of these tanks were armed with machine guns. The example sitting in a river in this photograph has elicited great interest from a crowd of civilians and soldiers. NARA

The Polish Army fielded a force of Renault FT light tanks during the period leading up to World War II. During the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Poles used these two Renault FT light tanks to block the tunnel at the northern gate of Brest Fortress against the advance of General Guderian’s force. German soldiers are surveying the vehicles in advance of removing them from the tunnel. Bundesarchiv

Leather-coated French tankers arrange camouflage netting on their FT, which has been loaded onto a transporter truck in or near Paris for rapid transport to the battle front to engage the advancing Germans on 4 June 1940. A registration number on the bow of the tank is worn, but appears to be 67247. A heavy tow chain is secured to the front of the tank. NARA

German soldiers inspect an abandoned FT loaded on a transporter truck along the retreat route of the French Army outside of Avenay, France, on June 18, 1940. A name is painted diagonally on the side of the turret, but most of it is lost in the glare. A comparison with other photos of this vehicle reveals that this was “Le Fantasque” (The Capricious, or Fanciful). The number P113 is marked on the side of the hull. A different, illegible number is marked on the side of the bogie beam. NARA

An apparently abandoned French FT light tank sits next to a pile of French helmets and other equipment. This vehicle appears to be an FT modifié 31, a modified tank produced in the early 1930s with a 7.5mm Reibel machine gun mount in the turret, but the gun is missing from the mount. Resting on brackets on the side of the engine compartment is a toolbox. The number 66503 is stenciled on the bogie beam. The vehicle is camouflage painted. A light-colored skull and crossbones is painted on the turret. NARA

Several captured French FT light tanks are in a holding area at Colmar, France, on June 21, 1940. The nearest tank has a cast turret, and the Puteaux 37mm gun has been removed from the gun mount. Tricolor roundels (from the outside: red, white, and blue) are on the turret and the bow. On the FT in the left background, the engine compartment doors are open. Next to that FT is another one, with a roundel visible on the turret and a toolbox stored on the side of the hull. NARA

Before World War II, the French exported a quantity of FT light tanks to Yugoslavia. A German photographer took this photo of two abandoned FTs in that country on 9 April 1941. The left side of the suspension of the closest vehicle is wrecked, and a shell hole is in the side of the hull. The track on the right side is a very interesting replacement with elongated, octagonal treads affixed to track shoes with raised rims. The 37mm gun has been removed from its mount in the turret. The FT in the background has the original-style tracks. NARA

An abandoned FT light tank rests with its rear to the camera at an airfield outside of Reims, France, in 1940, with the remains of a British airplane, likely a Fairey Battle, in the background. A very small, indistinct registration number is on the rear of the hull. The turret doors are open. Evidence of camouflage paint is visible, and the vehicle is fairly intact. NARA

German soldiers accompany a captured French Renault FT that has been marked with German Balkenkreuz identification crosses and put into Wehrmacht service. The Germans captured large numbers of tanks during the 1940 Blitzkrieg, calling them Beute-Panzerkampfwagen (captured tanks). The Germans designated FTs armed with 37mm guns, such as this example, the Pz.Kpfw. FT-17 and those armed with machine guns Pz.Kpfw. FT-18. Bundesarchiv

Two G.I.’s inspect a Pz.Kpfw. FT captured from the Germans in Brittany, France, in 1944. The vehicle was on display at a U.S. Army Ordnance depot. An unidentified object is leaning against the open driver’s vision-port door, but from what is visible of the door, it was the nonstandard replacement item with the angular bulge in the front of it, which evidently the Germans installed on their captured FTs. The number 325 is roughly painted over the bow, partially covering what appears to be an original French Army registration number. NARA

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FT-17 Renault Char Leger FT tanks

David DoyleAuthor

David Doyle's earliest published works were occasional articles in enthusiast publications aimed at the historic military vehicle restoration hobby. This was a natural outlet for a guy whose collection includes several Vietnam-era vehicles such as M62, M123A1C, M35A2, M36A2C, M292A2, M756, and an M764.

By 1999, his writing efforts grew to include regular features in leading periodicals devoted to the hobby both domestically and internationally, appearing regularly in US, English and Polish publications.

In 2003, David received his a commission to write his first book, The Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles. Since then, several outlets have published more than 100 of his works. While most of these concern historic military hardware, including aircraft and warships, his volumes on military vehicles, meticulously researched by David and his wife Denise, remain the genre for which he is most recognized. This recognition earned life-time achievement in June 2015, when he was presented Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) bestowed on him the coveted Bart Vanderveen Award in recognition of “...the individual who has contributed the most to the historic preservation of military vehicles worldwide.”

In addition to all of publishing efforts, David is the editor of the MVPA’s magazine, History in Motion, as well as serving as the organization’s Publications Director. He also maintains a retail outlet for his books online and at shows around the U.S.