Renault Ft-17

[Hammers]

That tobagan looking thingummy appendage on this tank; anyone know what that's for?

[Will Bailie]

I'm pretty sure it is used to keep the tank from getting stuck when crossing obstacles.  Some of the photos on the Landships page show the tail apparently preventing the tank from tipping over when climbing up a steep grade:

http://www.landships.freeservers.com/ft17_info.htm

But of course, I'm just guessing on that...

[Westfalia Chris]

I'm pretty sure it is used to keep the tank from getting stuck when crossing obstacles.  Some of the photos on the Landships page show the tail apparently preventing the tank from tipping over when climbing up a steep grade:

http://www.landships.freeservers.com/ft17_info.htm

But of course, I'm just guessing on that...

You´re guessing right. It´s called a "Grabenschwanz" in German, which roughly translates to "Trench-Crossing Tail". Since the Renault was rather short, even smaller trenches might have it sloping down, so they extended the length by adding the tail boom.

[Stu]

Would have been a handy place for the crew to store stuff.