I was reading the Wikipedia article on Char tanks and noticed that France and Britain had an agreement where France agreed in 1940 to send two Char tanks a month to Britain in exchange for Britain's manufacturing of Hotchkiss tanks for France. So did any Chars actually reach Britain, and what happened to them? And what about the Hotchkiss tanks, did any remain in Britain?

Hi Tom,

From David Fletcher's 'The Great Tank Scandal' I take it that there was no formal contract. The French were trying to get their tanks built overseas, both Britain and the USA. Hotchkiss were trying to get the H39 built in England and Renault were laying plans for Char B1-bis production in the US. But both plans came to a dead end with the fall of France.

Considering that in 1940 France was at war and also that the contacts were not formal, I don't think the French government would approve the export of any tanks.

Just my opinion.

cheers
David