- 1
- 2
- 3
- no
Germanny
A few were deployed in Operation Barbarossa, most were deployed in occupied territories, such as the Channel Islands,[8] The Netherlands (with Pz.Jg.Abt.657, part of Pz Kompanie 224) and France.[9] They fought in the battles for Normandy with Schnelle Brigade 30 in 1944 (five attached to the 3rd company, Schnelle Abteilung 517 [10]), and around Arnhem with Pz.Jg.Abt. 657. Other possible users include 346 Inf. Div. in Normandy and 59th Inf. Div who fought the 101st Airborne during Operation Market Garden. Fourteen R35 tanks, used to train tank drivers, equipped the 100. Panzer-Ersatz-Bataillon (100th Panzer Replacement Battalion) in the German Seventh Army in 1944. On 6 June 1944, they were among the first Armee-Reserve units sent into combat near Sainte-Mère-Église to oppose the American airborne landings in Normandy. Supporting a counterattack by the 1057th Grenadier Regiment, R35s penetrated the command post of the U.S. 1st Battalion 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment before being destroyed by bazooka fire.
Italy The Royal Italian Army received 124 R35s with which the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment formed two battalions. The two battalions were assigned to the 131st Tank Infantry Regiment, which was deployed in January 1942 to Sicily. There, the regiment’s CII Tank Battalion R35 was assigned to the XII Army Corps defending the island’s West, while the regimental command and CI Tank Battalion R35 were assigned to the XVI Army Corps defending the island’s East. The regiment used some of its R35s in defence of Gela on Sicily against US Rangers.[15][16] 5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment was attacked by five R35s as it advanced towards Sortino; four were quickly knocked out but the fifth drove right through the battalion and carried on until it was knocked out by a 105 mm self-propelled gun near Floridia.[17]
| Mass | 10.6 metric tons |
|---|---|
| Length | 4.02 m (13 ft 2 in) |
| Width | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Height | 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) |
| Crew | 2 [1] |
| — | |
| Armour | 43 mm |
| Main | |
| armament | 37 mm L/21 SA 18 gun |
| Secondary | |
| armament | 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun coaxial |
| Engine | Renault V-4 gasoline engine |
| 82 hp [1] | |
| Power/weight | 8.0 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | Horizontal rubber cylinder springs |
| Operational | |
| range | 130 km |
| Maximum speed | 20 km |
- tt
- bp
- event
- premium