Original French WWII Char B1 Tank Trench Art Desk Model – Formerly Part of the A.A.F. Tank Museum Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a fantastic desk top silhouette model of the French Char B1 Tank. It is constructed out of a sheet of Brass, likely a flattened piece of artillery casing, and mounted on lump of shrapnel over a wood base. The front of the tank reads RE 197.

The model tank came to us from the American Armoured Foundation, Inc. Tank and Ordnance Memorial Museum. The AAF Tank Museum was a living memorial dedicated to the Tank and Cavalry soldiers of the world. Before 1981 some of the artifacts that make up the AAF Tank Museum was a private collection belonging to Mr. William Gasser. Mr. Gasser felt that his collection would be beneficial in educating present and future generations to the sacrifices made and the technologies gained during war. Therefore, in 1981 the AAF Tank Museum was established as a non-profit charitable organization, and Mr. Gasser’s donated his private collection to the Tank Museum. Mr. Gasser is still active as Volunteer, Director, and Curator of the Tank Museum and his knowledge of military history has been a great asset to the museum. Unfortunately after 20 years of operation it had to close its doors, which is when this model tank was acquired.

Measures:
Base 5″ L x 2.5″ W
Tank: 3.5″ W x 2.5″ H
Overall stands 4″ tall and is 5″ Long

The Char B1 was a French heavy tank manufactured before World War II.

The Char B1 was a specialized break-through vehicle, originally conceived as a self-propelled gun with a 75 mm howitzer in the hull; later a 47 mm gun in a turret was added, to allow it to function also as a Char de Bataille, a “battle tank” fighting enemy armor, equipping the armored divisions of the Infantry Arm. Starting in the early twenties, its development and production were repeatedly delayed, resulting in a vehicle that was both technologically complex and expensive, and already obsolescent when real mass-production of a derived version, the Char B1 “bis”, started in the late 1930s. A further up-armored version, the Char B1 “ter”, was only built in two prototypes.

Among the most powerfully armed and armored tanks of its day, the type was very effective in direct confrontations with German armor in 1940 during the Battle of France, but low speed and high fuel consumption made it ill-adapted to the war of movement then being fought. After the defeat of France, captured Char B1 (bis) would be used by Germany, with some rebuilt as flamethrowers, Munitionspanzer, or mechanised artillery.