I am very sorry to have to report the death in December 2021, of Robert Georges Claude Ernst-Metzmaier, who was, believe it or not, the son of Rodolphe Ernst-Metzmaier.
Robert was 97. His father, designer of the Renault FT in 1917, lived to be 98, dying in 1985. I had the good fortune to correspond with Robert about his father's role in the design of the FT, and he was most helpful, providing me with documents and photographs. I also met his (IIRC) great-nephew, who was studying engineering in Liverpool.
Something that emerged was that a man often seen in photographs of the FT prototype and described as Rodolphe Ernst-Metzmaier is not him. We haven't identified the man, but he bears no resemblance to Rodolphe.
Not Rodolphe.
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