Char 2C 99 Champagne

[Pandemonium]

A small history lesson:

The first French tanks were the Schneider and the Saint Chamond, but these both had one major short-coming, their inability to cross German trenches.
in 1916 the FCM (Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée) at La Seyne, near Toulon, started the design of a new breakthrough tank, the first of two prototypes being completed late in 1917. One of the prototypes had an electrical transmission and the other a mechanical transmission. These tanks were known as the Char FCM 1A, weighed 39,37 tons and had a crew of seven man . They were powered by Renault 12 -cylinder petrol engines , giving them a top speed of just 4 mph,. Armament consisted of a 75 mm gun and machine-guns. The 1B was similar but the 75mm gun was replaced by a 105mm weapon.
The FCM 1A was not placed in production but was followed by the Char 2C.
Ten of these were built by 1918, but did not enter service with the French Army untill after the war . If the war had not ended, it was anticipated that 300 Char 2Cs would have been built for the 1919 campaigns. These 10 tanks were modified in the 1930s and were still operational with the 51st Battalion when the war broke out in 1939.
They took no part in the Battle of France as most of them were destroyed on their special railway wagons by the Luftwaffe.
Main armament of the Char 2C consisted of a turret-mounted 75mm gun. The four 8mm machine-guns were mounted as follows: one in the hull front, one in each side of the hull in the forward part of the tank and the last turret-mounted on the hull top towards the rear of the tank.
When built the tanks were powered by German six-cylinder Mercedes engines developing 180hp each, but these were later replaced by more powerful Maybach engines developing 250 hp each. The Char 2C had the distinction of being the first tank to have two turrets. It was very heavy and if it had been used operationally would have been more of a liability then an asset. One Char 2C was rebuilt as the only Char 2C-bis, wich had additional armour , Sautter-Harlé engines and a 155 mm howitzer.


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The Case:
There is still a lot of discussion on who destroyed those tanks on the 15th of june, Goebbels claimes the Stuka's finished them off, the French said they had destroyed them themselves when they got stuck.

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But one tank survived (the French claim that the detonation malfunctioned) , as the last one of his kind, the tank with operator number 99: name: Champagne.

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The Germans took it back to Berlin as Schwerer Durchbruch-Kampfwagen 2C (741) (f), where it was shown in a victory parade (of wich I can't find any photos), and did some tests with it at Kummersdorf (of wich I can't find any photos). The tank was last seen in Russian hands ,altough they deny it (why?), in 1948 in East Germany( of wich I can't find any photos) (and taken to Kublinka?)
So there are a lot of stories, and not much proof to rely on.

Can anyone find more information on this tank, or what realy happened to it?

[Atlantic Friend]

The 51ème Bataillon de Chars de Combat, grouping France's ten Chars 2C was sabotaged by its own crews as it was transported by railway on June the 15th, 1940, as the trains transporting them were immobilized and German troops were closing by.

That much is fact - it's obvious, by the kind of damage on the other tanks - and the absence of damage on anything else - that they weren't hit by dive bombers.

So personally I'd go with the French soldiers' claim that the demolition charge didn't explode.

[Pandemonium]

The 10ème Compagnie de Chars de Combat, grouping France's ten Chars 2C was sabotaged by its own crews as it was transported by railway on June the 15th, 1940, as the trains transporting them were immobilized and German troops were closing by.

That much is fact - it's obvious, by the kind of damage on the other tanks - and the absence of damage on anything else - that they weren't hit by dive bombers.

So personally I'd go with the French soldiers' claim that the demolition charge didn't explode.

I know, but I also have an original German propaganda picture at home that claims that the tanks were destroyed by the luftwaffe, and yes you are totally right, to hit each tank with such precision, that was almost impossible.

[Atlantic Friend]

I know, but I also have an original German propaganda picture at home that claims that the tanks were destroyed by the luftwaffe, and yes you are totally right, to hit each tank with such precision, that was almost impossible.

Particularly hitting them without damaging the train or even burning the grass around !

You see the picture showing the wagon ? The wagons were stopped in a curve, with steep knolls around. That prevented the crews from unloading the tanks and try to take them away (though these must have been gas-guzzlers of the worst kind, and I doubt they would have been able to go that far). Their only option was therefore to sabotage their mounts.

The 51ème Bataillon de Char, because it gathered the world's heaviest tanks of the time, was a propaganda target, and from the beginning of the war the government was apparently not too keen to engage the tanks in risky actions. They moved it from train station to train station, et voilà... A sad end for these giants with feet of clay.

[Atlantic Friend]

Here's a little bonus (all in French) : http://www.chars-francais.net

This sites hosts hundreds of pictures of French WW2 tanks, self-propelled artillery, and armoured cars, including plans and artists' renditions of models that were never produced. If you read French, or can have someone translate it to you, they sometimes have the individual story of each tank - the material on the Chars B-1bis, for example, is incredible.