As far as I am aware no Covenanter Bridgelayers were deployed to Italy, as Valentine Bridgelayers were specifically requested. Would be amazing to discover that some were, though.
Prepare to be amazed... These pages from WO 169/8718 - 5 Div HQ RE - September 1943. See entry for 1205. I had wondered if they'd mistaken a Crusader for a Covenanter but the entry for 1355 suggests they could tell the difference! And sadly the well-known Covenanter reputation for poor reliability isn't helped by the entry at 0845 on 14 September 1943: Regards Tom
Neither of these entries suggest they are bridgelayers though. Crusaders shouldn't be there either, so I wonder what was going on. It looks to me like these are being used as command or liaison vehicles. There were six Covenanters sent to Tunisia for the Brigade HQ of 25 Tank Brigade, but were burnt out after their ship was bombed and deposited at Oran. I wonder if these were subsequently refurbished and sent on to Italy. I see there are war diaries for 245 Field Company and 254 Field Park Company.....
I found this today in the war diary of 254 Field Park Company RE (WO 169/10673): See entry for 8 October 1943! "2 Covenanters carrying Scissors bridges." I'm wondering if they came with the armour support for 5th Division as I don't think they would necessarily belong to an infantry division. Regards Tom
Will be interesting to see if the 38 Field Company war diary has a mention (WO 169/10588). Still wonder what the Crusaders were doing there...... I don't think the Covenanter Bridgelayers made a good impression, as one of the military missions from the War Office visited Italy in 1944, and they specifically stated that Valentine Bridgelayers were wanted in Italy but definitely not Covenanter ones. It should be said though that both these bridgelayers were less durable and reliable than their parent tanks because they were considerably heavier.
I found a further clue earlier in the 5 Div HQ RE diary: And went off to look for 'ad' entries in any of the landing tables. That led me to the war diary of 11 Cdn Army Tank Regt (T12701) and there I found the entry for 26 August 1943 which seems a hot lead: Tomorrow evening I'll see if I can find the war diary of the 1st Canadian Tank Brigade and hopefully that will resolve this particular rabbit hole... Regards Tom
And of course I couldn't resist so took a look in T-10631 (1st Cdn Army Tk Bde diary) and found this for 12 August 1943 1600 to 1800 entry: Now wondering if those fine Canadian chaps took some photos of the demonstration! Also interested to know who put those brackets around the "demonstration" entry - official historians? Regards Tom
Not a photo Tom but I found the attached which at least shows 3 Covenanter Bridge layers in Italy with the Canadians. Source Canadian Heritage T10632. Cheers Kevin
Apologies for the digression but that’s the first time I’ve seen a Sherman referred to as a Cruiser tank!
This was quite common in 1943 - "Cruiser tank" by that juncture just meant a tank allotted to an armoured division rather than a tank brigade.
Well, FWIW, the Kiwis declared 9 Covenanter and 7 Valentine bridgelayers surplus in March 1944. Canadian Military Headquarters, London : T-17890 - Héritage
What else would one call it, though, from a British point of view? Although, while one could say "clearly it's not an infantry tank", various tank brigades were equipped with them due to a lack of Churchills as I am sure you know. Did the British stop referring to them as cruisers at some point?
I think the term "Cruiser" just kind of dribbled away, even for Cromwells and Comets - it seemed to get used less and less as time went on. The A41 was initially referred to as a Heavy Cruiser, but that term was dropped fairly early in its development. It seems to me that "Cruiser" was from the very beginning a more vague concept than "Infantry Tank", and I think people in hindsight have made a bit too much of it. As time went on it was used more as an accounting term than anything else, so that "we need 5000 Cruisers in 1943" just meant that they needed 5000 standard tanks in that year.
Idling looking at some IWM films today and spotted this rare beast!! GENERAL MONTGOMERY VISITS 1st CANADIAN ARMY TANK BRIGADE [Allocated Title] No, not Monty! A Covenanter scissors bridge-layer. That's made me very happy - only wish the cameraman had taken more interest in the bridgelayer! Now to find the Crusader! Regards Tom
