Pistol holster from French 511th Tank Regt - 9 BCC

Brown leather holster for a Ruby-type pistol, stamped 511th Tank Regiment. Very supple leather, modified clasp stamped with the 511th RCC and 9th BCC. Excellent overall condition.

Created in 1922, 511 RCC was first disbanded in 1929. Re-established in 1936, it gave rise in 1939 to three tank battalions, which fought separately during the Battle of France.

August 27, 1939: Disbandment of the 511th Tank Regiment (RCC), to form the 9th, 37th, and 51st Tank Battalions (BCC).

The 9th Tank Battalion (9e BCC) was created in Verdun at the end of August 1939 from the 1st Battalion of the 511th Tank Regiment, equipped with Renault R35 tanks.

From September 9th to 11th, 1939, the tank destroyers of the 9th BCC were engaged in the Saar Offensive with the 4th Army. At the end of September 1939, he was assigned to the 5th Army (whose tanks were commanded by Colonel de Gaulle).

In January 1940, he was assigned to the 7th Army in the Pas-de-Calais. On May 11, 1940, according to the Dyle Plan, he boarded a train for Belgium, which had been invaded by the Germans. On the 14th, he was in Kalmthout. On the 17th, he was sent to the Netherlands to defend the Terneuzen region in case of a German attack by sea. On the 18th, he was sent back to Belgium to board another train for France. Due to a lack of trains in Eeklo on the 18th, he left Torhout on the 19th. Because of a shortage of wagons, the wheeled echelon, including Battalion Commander Gauthier, was not transported and moved by road, separated from the rest of the battalion. The combat echelon arrived in Béthune on the 21st, without being joined by the echelon. wheels.

During their westward retreat, the R35 tanks of the 9th, along with those of the 22nd, fought the SS of the SS-Division Verfügungstruppe at Saint-Hilaire-Cottes on May 23rd. The tanks at the rear of the column pushed back the Germans, taking several prisoners, but were eventually blocked by German anti-tank guns and themselves taken prisoner. The head of the column encountered other SS from the same division at Aire-sur-la-Lys. The Germans were surprised by the uniforms of the French tank crews and mistook them for Germans, while the men of the 9th BCC only understood the Germans' nationality when they approached them to talk. With a small detachment from the 6th Moroccan Rifle Regiment, the tank crews inflicted heavy losses on the SS and destroyed their motor pool. Then the SS managed to deploy their anti-tank guns and destroyed the French tanks that had not left the town. After these two After the battles, the battalion was reduced to 11 tanks.

Retreating towards Dunkirk, the battalion's survivors destroyed their equipment on the 28th before embarking the following day on the amphibious assault ship L'Impétueuse. They joined the wheeled echelon that had retreated to Évreux. The men of the battalion, without tanks, withdrew south to Auch, where the battalion was disbanded at the end of June 1940.