3 years ago

The Churchill AVRE was a Hobart’s Funnies tank
developed after the disastrous Dieppe Raid of
August 19th, 1942.
These vehicles would allow crew to carry
out their objectives, but remain protected.

the Churchill entered service with the
British Armoured Forces in 1941.
Though it was slow and heavy,
the Churchill made a name for itself as being one of
the best cross-country tanks ever built
and could climb higher gradients or
cross harder obstacles
impassible to most other tanks then in service.

Development started on modifying
the Churchill in October 1942.

It was decided not only to
make the vehicle a kind of armored personnel carrier
but also give the Engineers the ability to project a
large high-explosive charge, giving the crew
the ability to destroy targets without having
to dismount the tank.

The Churchill normally needed a 5 man crew, commander,
gunner, loader/radio operator,
driver, co-driver/machine gunner.
The AVRE versions of the tank often
had a sixth crew member to manage
the additional engineering equipment.
It was armed with a 290mm Petard Spigot Mortar intended
for demolition work.
I was also fitted a hull mounted 7.29mm Besa Machine gun.

A disadvantage to the Petard,was the fact that the loader
would have to be exposed when reloading the mortar.
AVREs would also carry various other pieces of equipment
to assist their comrades on the battlefield.
Vehicles would have a wooden fascines, a small box girder bridge,
carpet layer and a mine plow.

This Churchill Mk IV AVRE called Avenger
belonging to the British 26th Engineer Squadron was lost during
the landing on Juno Beach on 6 June 1944.
It slipped in a crater filled with water,
the crew bailed out 4 members of its 6 man crew were killed by
German machinegun and rifle fire.
Bill Hawkins, the demolitions NCO in the AVRE,
George Dunn, its driver survived.
A bridge element was placed on the roof of the tank, and gradually
the crater was filled and later covered with concrete.

The tank was found in November 1976, buried under
the sand and recovered.
It was then restored by the French army workshops in Caen and
put on display on a concrete plinth by the beach exit road,
on 15 October 1977.

During that time it was visited by RE veterans
including Bill Hawkins,and George Dunn.

When Bill Dunn died in 2014 in accordance
with his last wishes his ashes
were scattered next to his tank,
One Charlie on 8th November 2014.

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■ Information obtained from several sites.
■ Wikipedia
■ tanks-encyclopedia
■ the.shadock.free.fr/Surviving_Panzers
■ preservedtanks
■ pantser.net
■ the.shadock.free.fr/Tanks_in_France

■ Some music is from the YouTube Audio Library.

■ Music used:
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