Char G1

The Char G1 was a French replacement project for the Char D2 medium tank. Several prototypes from different companies were developed since 1936, but not a single one had been fully completed at the time of the Fall of France in 1940. The projects represented some of the most advanced French tank design of the period and finally envisaged a type that would have been roughly equal in armament and mobility to later World War II standard tanks of other nations, such as the Soviet T-34 and the American M4 Sherman, but possessing several novel features, such as gun stabilisation, a semi-automatic loader and an optical rangefinder.

Char G1 in The War That Came Early
As the combined French and British armies pushed into Belgium, the French Army recived new Char tanks. The new Chars was noticeable for having a gunner instead of getting the commander to do the job, as well as radio's, a concept borrowed from German tanks.