The Most Underrated Allied Tank? Churchill AVRE | WW2 Walking The Ground
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2024
- James Holland and Al Murray take a stop on their Normandy tour at Lion-sur-Mer to explore a remarkable relic from the Normandy battles. Meet the AVRE - 'Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers' - a British innovation born from the classic Churchill tank but with a twist: it boasts a powerful 230mm petard mortar, expertly designed for D-Day to take out German concrete bunkers and defences at close range. Dubbed 'flying dustbins' by the troops, these extraordinary armoured fighting vehicles not only supported British forces on D-Day but also played a crucial role throughout the liberation of north-west Europe until the war's end.
Join historian James Holland and comedian Al Murray (from the hit podcast We Have Ways of Making You Talk) as they walk in the footsteps of World War 2 soldiers in Normandy, uncovering fascinating insights and gripping stories along the way. Exclusively on RUclips! Don't miss out-subscribe now: / @ww2walkingtheground .
I was in 32 Armoured Engineer regiment in the 90s, and had the pleasure of being at the 50th anniversary at Lion Sur Mer in 1994. 26 Armoured Engineer Sqn received a battle honour "Brassard" (a shoulder/arm sleeve that carried your rank with 26 Armoured shoulder flash in red and blue) that was worn on the right shoulder after, and then adopted into the Regiment, I still have mine. If that is the one on the beach (not sure it is) the driver and commander of that very tank were there in 94, and I'm afraid to say one of them died there and then on the memorial parade. His wife said, "he's with his mates now"...
Nice detail buddy. I painted a Churchill while at JJRRE in the 80’s as extra duties…didn’t like it that weekend!
Painting was half complete, the volunteer team doing it were off on another project the day you recorded this. You should go back and have a look now it’s finished. 👍
👍Next time!
I'm not sure you had the emphasis right. As I understood it (could be wrong), the key point of the AVRE was those doors in the side. One of the lessons of Dieppe was that combat engineers were really vulnerable on an exposed beach. They needed an APC. The Churchill was selected because it had BIG armour and those doors (made possible by the high tracks) so the combat engineers could get out, lay charges, and retreat back in again. With no gun, the empty turret and the ammo lockers provided space for all the explosives needed. Then someone said: "Hey chaps, since we only need turret for storage, but it can still turn, why don't we weld a spigot mortar on the front for some extra ooompf?!" The doors were the important bit of the AVRE, the mortar was an afterthought.
A lot of people also give the impression the Petard is a bit of a one-shot wunderwaffe when it was really a means of placing sequential charges with a lot less risk.
A school friend's dad, who fought in Normandy saw an AVRE attack a concrete bunker. He described the explosion as "sickening", followed by a bunch of dazed and frightened German soldiers rapidly piling out and surrendering before the AVRE fired again. Probably very wise. 😂
WNTL....I do like the idea a Churchill AVRE is basically a self propelled mega PIAT, this made me smile.
Petard 29mm Spigot Mortar not 290mm. The spigot rod was only 29mm in diameter so it could fit inside the rear tube on the demolition round. If it was 290mm in diameter (Nearly one foot) it would not fit. The round was given the Code Name Flying Dustbin. It was not a nick name. The demolition round was not a one hit wonder. In trials it would take between 8 to 12 rounds to get through a reinforced concrete wall. - All this primary source information found in the National Archives by Ed Webster
I had no idea that FDR, actually sounded like Kermit the Frog. Thanks Al.
That’s polio for you.
Enjoying these little snippets. My Grandfather was there on D-Day
The AVREs were built on the mk 3 & 4 chassis. The cradle for the fascine was built of timber not metal
Just stumbled on this Channel. Great to see Al Murray, I enjoyed the 'Road to Berlin' that he did a while back.
Welcome aboard!
Really enjoying these chaps. Rode along the beaches with Help for Heroes to mark the 80th anniversary in June to Paris and passed so much along the way. Having you along the way would have been the icing on the cake.
We just returned from a Normandy Beaches cycle challenge but with the Royal British Legion. We were accompanied by the very knowledgeable Dan Hill of 'Battle Guide'.
Ahh lads this series is bloody brilliant 👏 👌
EnormoPIAT😆. Really enjoying this series and would hope to be able to see some of this in person.
“Allied Steel.” Sounds like a late ‘70s Heavy Metal Album.
Loving this series and channel - even the spigot-less content.
Came accross this tank in June by accident. Fascinating insight on impact of steel quality. Great series
Hmm, Did you get your sunglasses when you left?😄
@@d34nh177b 🤣
The other thing to consider with quality of steel is in Britain we had been making good quality armour for a very long time for the Royal Navy, where the Germans hadn’t got the same industrial processes set up.
I think they had but couldn’t get the quality or quantity needed. Especially some of the other metals needed for armour plate. Day and night bombing sort of interrupted the process a bit too😉
A Churchill with the Meteor engine and a compromise turret that could take a 17pdr in 1944 (without going full fat Black Prince) would have been quite something. Now about the 280mm spigot mortar - it's not 280mm or 290mm, that was basically a typo that become the accepted fact over the years. The spigot rod is 29mm and that was the official designation for the weapon; you can presume that someone thought that 29mm was a typo of the calibre and wrote 290mm - which was then a typo, and that's what was repeated from then on. The 'No.1 Demolition Bomb' that was fired, actually had a diameter of 230.6mm. The bit that looks like a barrel - the loading trough - is 241.3mm in diameter. So basically, over the past how many decades, all someone needed to do was put a ruler up against it to realise that there is no 290mm anywhere on this weapon!
something i did :)
@@edfrancis712 Yes Ed. The AVRE mythbuster! Hope you are well?
These have been fantastic guys, much appreciated.
Lovely episode on the AVRE, Steady The Buffs!
The AVRE and similar slow designs proved unable to keep up with the mobile pace of WW2. This is why I think it isn’t underrated. It’s a good idea in concept, but when such a heavy thing breaks down and struggles to keep up, then you kind of can see why no one has tanks like these anymore. Besides that, having a vehicle with enough passive armour to prevent with certainty penetration is just not a viable theory anymore.
The Churchill AVRE certainly was an effective weapon in the theatre it was designed for, but I don’t think it was applicable outside of those situations.
Really enjoying these and I equally felt the offence of that horrible green. The Frame is post war I believe. A wooden frame was used in 44 to support fascines. This post war attachment may also explain the different machine gun mentioned above too. Looking forward to more of the walks 👏
Two Churchill Crocodile were sent to Brest Finistère in August 44 ,to help the Americans liberate Fort Montbarey,just west of the city.Two days later the city,or what was left of the city,fell.
Fantastic,the footage of the ardeer aggie firing is ver impressive,my shooting club is on the grounds of the factory (ardeer ici) were it was developed 😊
Some interesting things pointed out, pity we couldn't get to see them
Like to see this tour of both historians. In 2006 I saw this Churchill tank
Al's FDR sounding quite close to Kermit the Frog 😂
I was thinking Carl Sagan
Love the Churchill and the Crocodile in particular. So many neat uses for those chassis’s.
Shame that you didn't go into the reloading of the spigot mortar which was interesting and somewhat dangerous for the loader.
Still a much better option than lugging a 30lb charge across 50yds of fireswept beach, though.
"Enormo PIAT. " 😅
Wrong Machine Gun barrel in the front. That looks like a BREN7.62 instead of a BESA!
How could they have got it so wrong???
Because that's all they had , in the 90s 32 Engr Regt overhauled it . And that's the only barrel they could get . @@GriffonMerlin
Wow...I'm reading Iron Fist by Bryan Perrett at the mo. I'm just about done with his chapter called Hobo's Funnies and lo, here we have one of them! Apparently the "Flying Dustbin", or petard as also known, was quite effective in cracking open buildings which would allow any following Crocodiles to use their flame projectors more efficiently. Out with the flying-bin, in with the fire.
Got to love a Churchill 😁
What a tank British made 👏 better than those Tommy cookers keep up the good work chap's your country needs you 😂🇬🇧
"It is admitted that American tanks played a great part in the Battle of Egypt. America has been in this war for only a year. Why is it that in that short time she has been able to produce a first-class tank like the General Sherman whereas Great Britain, after three years of war and several years of preparation before the war, has not been able to do so."
below 245
DEBATE ON THE ADDRESS
17 November 1942
Politicians, bean counters & money
click baity short shows. Longer is better please!
And also - *James* - when you ask Al a question, give him a chance to then answer, stop jumping off at another tangent?