Pictures of Churchill Tanks.

Hi Tom,

I thought the 175 might be 107th RAC posiibly.

cheers

Kevin

 

Kevin

Actually the number 175 which prompted my posting appears to belong to the Canadian Regiment at Dieppe - why it rung a bell with me was the fact as we

were moving towards the start of the Gothic Line Battles - we were asked to change our numbers to that of the 1st Cdn Armoured bde which was still at

Florence trying to confuse Kesselring that the main thrust would be coming though Florence to Bologna - we had been on our way also to Florence

when we did a 180 and finished up on the Adriatic side of Italy - with the Cdn numbers……didn't confuse Kesselring for too long as it only took him three

days to hit us with his best Corps of 4th Paras - 26th PZ's and 29th PG's - thn the fun started…

Cheers

 

You are correct Tom!

Attached is a 'then and now' of this scene of 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade on the Downs at Eastbourne and more on my website: East Sussex wartime writers and artists (3)

- Pete

 

Interesting to note that many of the Churchill pictures at Dieppe show the FACING the shore. This suggests they were on the way back after getting as far as they could rather than simply getting off the landing craft and getting stuck in the shingle.

 

Good lord - I have seen the newsreel of Hermanville on D-Day of which there is a still (B5040) above and joked that the AVRE in the traffic jam at the crossroads was probably my dad - but it looks as if 'Bulldog' there might be '3B' which was his tank - don't know enough about the Churchill to tell at a glance as the turret number is obscured, and I can't tell if it has the bridge carrying sponsons - is there any way anyone more knowledgeable than me can tell - I would come across this on the 70th anniversary....anyone help?

 

Adam - couldn't get a return on the IWM MH009509, but 2B was definitely 2 Troop bridge carrier and the 'Bulldog' name seems to put the tin hat on it. Interestingly though, Sgt Myhill had been killed earlier on D-Day, some say by shellfire and others by an MG burst after puting up a windsock. I answered a post on here last year from a relative of his wondering how he'd died, which is where I'd got in touch with Michel Sabarly. Eddie Myhill wasn't a close friend of my dad's, but it was a name he remembered and when I went over for the 60th D-Day commemorations, I visited his grave and do so every time I manage to get to Normandy.

A while back I saw a newsreel which included the scene represented in the still you put up, of Hermanville la Breche and a traffic jam at that crossroads. I only saw it once and my wife spotted a face in the open hatch as a tank went past and she noted that it resembled my dad. I will go and have a look for that now, but thanks for the illumination on this one. I never knew of Kevin's lists, fascinating. I note also that when 77 Assault Squadron moved over to LVT Buffalos, they appear to have carried on naming them.

 

30 were supposed to land, 27 were landed (2 drowned and 1 could not disembark), 15 made it onto the promenade, 10 returned to the beach to carry on fighting.

Not too bad considering the popular view is they were all stuck on the beach. Most suffered track and sprocket damage from the chert build up or German weapons fire.

It is a AVRE modified to carry an SBG, it has the front bracket and rear mounted winch fitted.

Just had a look at the 77th in 'Cracking Hitler's Atlantic Wall' and this tank is not mentioned in the section on them at least.

 

Nice 'then & now'

Caption says 'Churchill tanks halted in Les Fains between Tilly-sur-Seulles and Villers Bocage July/August 1944' but it is slightly further west, Les Sapins and the junction of the D6/D92. The D6 (the road the Churchill is on) continues down to Villers Bocage and meets the road where all the RB Half-Tracks destroyed by Wittmann were lined up.

 

I found the above Churchill photo in the IWM 'HU' series which I believe to be any odd photo they have that is not in another series! There are lots of gems in this collection but the captions are all over the place.

This for example. The year is 1944 not 1945 and the location is certainly not Caen. The month (August)is correct which gives the best clue as to its actual (quite famous) location



'Sergeant Jimmy Mapham, a photographer with 5 AFPU, walks through the rubble of a Caen after the Allied army has passed through during the campaign in Normandy, August 1945. Note he is carrying his camera around his neck.'

I have found the IWM search engine very difficult to use to try and find all the HU photos. A search is very hit or miss and it appears impossible to find all the HU series except by chance.


http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205304589

 

This image seems to be reversed

'French sailor manning the radio'

 

hi fella's

I'm in need of a favour, whilst looking through your Churchill tank pics could you keep your eyes open for any of my MK4 AVRE T172427/B built in Sheffield in 1941. any pics or info would be gratefully received.

cheers

rick

 

I have recently found that the well known picture of a Churchill AVRE at the La Breche crossroads on D-Day is in fact my dad's tank - AVRE 3B, the bridge tank of 3 Troop 77 Assault Squadron, named Bulldog. My sincere thanks to Michel Sabarly and Kevin Tucker for their detective work.

In addition, I came across a newsreel which appears to show the same tank, I only got a fleeting glance at the time as it was on someone else's computer. Now I've tracked it down on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHRA-FH_S70
at about a minute in. It zooms in to a face which I swear is my dad - he's in the right place, in the gunner/mortarman's seat in the right of the turret, peering out and not wearing a helmet, but a beret, as he was too tall at 6'1 or 2 and only wore the helmet when absolutely necessary.

Does anyone recognise the newsreel? Would people agree that this is the same tank?

Sorry about the multiple posts, but it's quite something to think you've seen a picture of your own father in action 70-odd years ago.