Sherman tank using a Churchill 'Ark' armoured ramp carrier to climb over an escarpment, 79th Armoured Division
 
Date 13 February 1944

Churchill ARK (Armoured Ramp Carrier)
A turretless Churchill with ramps at either end and along the body to form a mobile bridge. The Mark 1 had trackways over the tracks for vehicles to drive along. The Mark 2 was an improvised version and crossing vehicles drove directly on the Churchill's tracks. the Link Ark (or "Twin Ark") was two ARKs used side-by-side to give a wide crossing. The ramps on these were folding types giving a longer - 65 ft (20 m) - crossing. This was used for the post war Conqueror heavy tank.

greetz,brummbar



 


With a little help from a friend

AVRE 290mm Petard Mortar and its ammunition.

Churchill AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers)
A Churchill III or IV equipped with the Petard, a 290 mm Spigot mortar, throwing the 40 lb (18 kg) "Flying dustbin" with its 28 pound high explosive warhead; a weapon designed for the quick levelling of fortifications developed by MD1. The AVRE was designed after the Canadian defeat at Dieppe, and could also be equipped with numerous other attachments, such as mine flails, fascine rollers, explosive placers etc. Post war the Churchill AVRE was re-armed with a breech-loaded low velocity 165mm demolition gun which was less dangerous for the loader (the hull gunner) as he previously had to stick his head and torso out of the Spigot Mortar armed AVRE to load the Mortar. The crew of six were drawn from the Royal Engineers, except for the driver who came from the Royal Armoured Corps. One of the RE crew was a demolitions NCO sapper responsible for priming the "Flying dustbin" and who led the crew when they dismounted from the tank to place demolition charges ("Wade" charges).

Greetz,brummbar

Churchill variant

The Churchill "Double Onion", capable of placing demolition charges at heights up to 12ft.

The tank was driven towards the wall and, on arrival, the framework was lowered to the ground against the obstruction. The vehicle was then backed off to a distance of some 100 feet, paying out an electric detonating cable as it went. The explosives were then detonated by the driver .


greetz,brummbar