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Miscellaneous Notes, Gear, and Equipment related to the French Army

Train Rouleur
The 'Train Rouleur' is a device designed to improve the mobility of old fashioned artillery guns. It fits underneath the main axle of the artillery piece, and may be fitted with wood and steel wheels for the roads. They are intended to provide a cheaper solution than replacing the carriages of old guns.

Armoured Vehicle Designations
- AMD (Auto-Mitrailleuse de Découverte): a wheeled vehicle for "distant discovery" - the Panhard P-178 being the prime example.
- AMR (Auto-Mitrailleuse de Reconnaissance): a tracked armoured car or light tank for battlefield reconnaissance.
- AMC (Auto-Mitrailleuse de Combat): tracked or half-tracked vehicle designed for combat (rather than scouting).

Tank Designations
As of 1940, all new French tanks will receive an official "name" for ease of use, starting with the FT-37 "Lefebvre". Names are chosen from past military commanders of note.

- Char-2E "Lefebvre": a heavy tank developed by Transall in conjunction with Russia and Atlantis.
- Char-6 Bruyere: a light tank developed in 1940 by Renault.
- Char-7: Design for an amphibious tank, rejected 1940 (none built).
- Char-8 Montbrun: a medium tank developed in 1941 by DEFA.
- Char-9: Designation reserved but never used.
- Char-10: Design for a light air-portable tank. Rejected, no prototypes or mockups made.
- Char-11 Jourdain: A heavy tank prototype designed in 1944 by FCM. One mild-steel prototype manufactured, never ordered.

French SFR-441 mine detector
The SFR-441 mine detector was first produced in the 1930s. A continual audible signal increases in pitch as the detector approaches a metallic body. The detector consists of the search coil and handle, an amplifier and oscillator, and a headset. This mine detector is not highly sensitive to small bodies of metal.

Remote-controlled breaching vehicles
The French Army was involved closely with the design and testing of both radio and wire-controlled breaching vehicles. Two designs, Véhicule P and Engin K, were tested in 1940. Despite successful trials, no production was ever authorized.

French Tank Markings

Camouflage
All tanks in active regiments are painted in camouflage. The most common scheme, used by most tanks in the Metropole, features three colors (green, brown, and tan) separated by gray borders. Tanks in North Africa may be painted a single-tone sand at the discretion of the regimental commander. Camouflage is applied at the factory and generally does not change through the life of the tank. A winter/alpine scheme consisting of dark green and off white has been demonstrated, but is not used by any active units at the present time.

Playing card symbols
The French Army uses playing card symbols to distinguish platoons/troops and companies/squadrons. Each platoon has its own symbol. The colour indicates the company: blue for the first, white for the second, and red for the third company. The company command tanks have a symbol containing all four platoon symbols.
- Spades: 1st Platoon
- Hearts: 2nd Platoon
- Diamonds: 3rd Platoon
- Clubs: 4th Platoon.
Thus, a white club denotes a tank of the fourth platoon of the second company, while a red spade denotes a vehicle of the first platoon of the third company.

Numbers
Each tank in a battalion receives a number, 01 through 56, which is painted in large letters on the side of the turret. A five-digit number, identifying each tank in its order of acceptance by the Armoured Cavalry Branch inspectorate, is painted in small letters on the rear hull.

Roundels
Tricolor roundels are generally painted on the sides of turrets, and occasionally on the top of the turret to prevent accidental attack by friendly aircraft. Although they are mandatory, roundels have no set size, with the choice going to the unit commander as to size and exact placement. Several regiments instead use small tricolor flags, but this is not as common as roundels.

Regimental Moniker
Each of the French armoured regiments (actually battalions) uses a name, which is painted on the hulls all of the tanks, most often next to the turret. This is often confused with the outdated practice of naming individual Char-1bis tanks. Generally, regiments select either the name of a famous French military leader (Jeanne d'Arc, Montcalm, Turenne), a French military victory (Verdun, Alma, Poitiers), or a name otherwise denoting power or ferocity (Tigre, Ouragan, Implacable). Some regiments maintain a name tied to their historical lineage, which may deviate from this pattern. No regiment is allowed to use the name of another unit.

Unit Mottos / Slogans
Each unit has the authorization to paint a unit motto or slogan on the barrel of their tank's main gun. This may be done by an individual crew with the permission of the squadron commander, or regiment-wide, which is the more common practice. Examples include:
- "Veilliez et ne craignez pas." - "Watch and fear not", motto of the 6e Régiment de Cuirassiers.
- "Courage sans peur!" - "Courage without fear", motto of the 2e Escadron, 2e Régiment de Cuirassiers.
- "S’ils te mordent, mords les" - "If they bite thee, bite them", motto of the 501er Régiment de Chars de Combat.

Kill Markings
The tank crew's kills may be marked using either a band around the barrel, or a painted rectangle on the barrel. This is a largely hypothetical marking since no serving tank crew has been in combat with an active tank.
- Yellow: enemy armoured vehicle destroyed
- White: unarmoured vehicle
- Blue: artillery piece
- Purple: bunker or pillbox
- Red: used in conjunction with one of the previous symbols to denote 10x kills of that type.