Dear mid-60s Buick owners with an interest in military history,
The Hemming's blog had a link to this BBC story commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Renault FT tank of World War I.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180531-the-wwi-tank-that-helped-change-warfare-foreverIt was the first tank to have a top mounted turret and therefore was prototype of all tanks that would follow. Here is a photo from Wikipedia:
Here is the Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_FTThe BBC article points out that it was the first tank produced in very large quantities. According to Wikipedia: "Over 3,000 Renault FT tanks were manufactured by French industry, most of them during 1918. Another 950 of an almost identical licensed copy of the FT (the M1917) were made in the United States, but not in time to enter combat."
Another surprise from the Wikipedia article is that the Renault FT, like the Sherman tank, would have an amazingly long service life. They were in service until 1949! Over 28 countries used these tanks including Nazi Germany! It so service in: World War I, Russian Civil War, Polish-Soviet War, Chinese Civil War, Spanish Civil War, World War II, Franco-Thai War, Turkish War of Independence (by France), and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. So take a moment to wish
"the little tank that could" a happy 100th birthday!
Cheers, Edouard
