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Posted on 01/09/2004 2:31:28 AM PST by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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Necessity is the mother of invention, as the old saying goes; and in warfare, necessities can be urgent indeed. As a result, many technological innovations occur during wartime. The First World War brought us huge advances in aircraft design; the Second World War brought us atomic energy. But on a less grandiose scale, technical innovations occurred all the time in response to the immediate needs of the opposing forces..An article by Phil Llewellin in the June issue of Automobile Magazine recently brought some technical innovations that may not always have received their due: "Hobart's Funnies." D-Day was the greatest amphibious operation in history. General Eisenhower's plan called for the Allies to put ashore 120,000 troops and 14,000 vehicles by the end of the first day. More than 6,000 vessels supported the assault.  Among the vehicles put ashore by the slab-sided landing craft were some of the strangest machines ever seen on a battlefield--and many of them had their genesis in an earlier raid whose name is all too familiar to Canadians: Dieppe.  In August, 1942, the Allies raided Dieppe with 6,000 troops and a force of Churchill tanks. They lost 3,500 men and most of their armor. One result of that disaster was further fortification of the French coast by the Germans, with steel and concrete obstacles designed to cripple landing craft, plus barbed wire, forts, pillboxes and huge, fortified artillery emplacements. But another result was a recognition by the Allies that they would need new, specialized kinds of armored fighting vehicles if they were to successfully invade France.  In March of 1943 Major General Sir Percy Hobart, who had commanded the famous British "Desert Rats" armored division in North Africa, was summoned to London to meet with General Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Brooke wanted to raise a new armored division charged with developing, training and using a variety of special-purpose armored fighting vehicles to lead the Allies into France. Hobart was put in charge of Britain's 79th Armoured Division, devoted to that purpose. When the Allies hit the beaches on D-Day, many of "Hobart's Funnies," as the products of the 79th Armoured Division were known, were also thrown into the fray.  One of the things Dieppe had made clear was that a landing craft big enough to carry nine tanks was also a dangerously inviting target for enemy gunners, offering them the opportunity to eliminate a large chunk of the invading force's armour with a single well-placed shell. For D-Day, the answer was to build a tank that could "swim" ashore after emerging from the landing craft at a relatively safe distance from the enemy. Tanks had been floated before, but conventional flotation devices wouldn't fit in the landing craft. The new solution for D-Day was a nine-foot-high canvas screen attached to the vehicles hull with a waterproof seal. Air-filled rubber tubes and a simple metal frame gave it a boat-like shape--and also enabled the tank to float, just as you can make a brick float by putting it inside a floating bucket. The canvas walls took no more space than the tank did on the landing craft, could be raised in about 15 minutes, and too only seconds to lower once the tank hit the beach.  In addition to their treads, the "Duplex Drive" tanks had two propellers, driven by the main engines, which enabled them to glide through calm water at a brisk walking pace. Unfortunately, they were vulnerable to waves. The U.S. Army, for example, launched 64 floating Sherman tanks off Omaha Beach. Thirty-two of those were intended to support the First Infantry Division; all but five of them sank.  Hobart's 79th Armoured Division, however, had better luck: 33 of the 40 Churchill tanks they launched almost three miles offshore of Sword Beach reached the shore. The canvas hulls looked so harmless that no case was reported of anti-tank fire being directed at them while they were afloat. The amount of armour successfully landed was thus doubled over what might have been expected with traditional methods. Many other of "Hobart's Funnies" were also modified Churchill AVRE tanks (AVRE stands for Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers). One problem faced by armoured vehicles on the beaches of Normandy was areas of blue clay that could swallow vehicles. The solution was a device called the Bobbin: an enormous reel of course hessian cloth, reinforced with steel poles and carried on a frame at the front of the Churchill tank. As the tank advanced, the cloth unrolled beneath its treads, providing a relatively secure footing for itself and following tanks until combat engineers could provide a more permanent solution in the form of perforated steel plates.  Mines were exploded by tanks equipped with hefty chains that ended in fist-sized steel balls. The chains flailed the ground as the tank inched forward. These specially equipped tanks were known as "Crabs." The military still uses similar devices to explode mines: in the IMAX movie Fires of Kuwait, there's a scene of a mine being detonated by a remote-controlled device that also flails the ground with chains.  Among the defenses faced by the invaders were ramparts and ditches high and deep enough to stop tanks. But the Allies also had special machinery to overcome them, beginning with an armored bulldozer used to fill in craters and recover bogged-down machinery. Then there was the Fascine, a bundle of wooden poles about eight feet in diameter, lashed together with stout wires, sort of like really heavy-duty snow fencing. It rested on the front of a Churchill tank and could be released to bridge a ditch or form a step at the base of a wall. Unfortunately, it was so bulky it required the tank's commander to either operate blind or direct operations from the top of the bundle, not the place you wanted to be during a battle.  A more sophisticated solution was the Armored Ramp Carrier, built by, among others, the MG Car company. This was a turretless tank that had ramps attached to the front and rear that could be extended to almost fifty feet. . Other vehicles could roll up one set of ramps, across the flat top of the vehicle, and up the other set of ramps to scale all kinds of awkward obstacles, such as seawalls.  Finally, there was the SBG (Small Box Girder) assault bridge, a huge device transported on the nose of a tank that could be lowered to span gaps as much as 30 feet wide, and which could support loads of up to forty tons.  Not all of Hobart's Funnies were purely engineering-related. The most spectacular came along just after D-Day. Called the Crocodile, it was a Churchill tank whose machine gun was replaced with a flamethrower with a range of about 200 yards. The Crocodile pulled a trailer containing about 400 gallons of fuel.  The 79th Armoured Division eventually totalled almost 7,000 vehicles. It was disbanded on August 20, 1945, just five months after one of its amphibian vehicles carried Prime Minister Winston Churchill across the Rhine River. Field Marshall Montgomery wrote, "The record of the Division is unique and its contribution to the winning of the Campaign in northwest Europe incalculable." Not bad for a bunch of "funnies."      |
24 October 1944 marks the official birth of the Regiment as an independent entity. On that day, an official communication was received which indicated that ...By authority of the GOC 1st Canadian Army, 19 October 1944, the 1st Canadian Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron ceased to exist as a separate entity and became a squadron of the newly-created 1st Canadian Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment. The Regiment to be commanded by Lieut. Col. Gordon M. Churchill, formerly 25th Canadian Armoured Delivery Regiment (Elgin Regiment) and 10 Canadian Armoured Regiment (Fort Garry Horse) with Major F.K. Bingham Sherbrooke Fusiliers and 1st Hussars as Second-in-Command. Regimental Headquarters to be at 83 van Ryswick St., Antwerp.
Lt. Col. Churchill was truly the right man for the job. A Sergeant-machinegunner in WW1, Churchill knew the face of war. With the new regimental status, he was now able to indent for the thousand-and-one things which the previous squadron had depended on others for. At the same time, Col. Churchill set about creating the trappings of a unique identity for this already unique unit.
Amongst the first on the list was proper unit identity. Thus was born the classic 'Kangaroo' cap badge. As a mother kangaroo protects and transports her young within her pouch, so too did the Canadian Kangaroos for the infantry. The Regimental motto was decreed as ARMATOS FUNDIT, loosely translated as "Bearing Armed Men'. It was incorporated into a scroll on the bottom of the badge. Shoulder titles for the new regiment were manufactured locally, orange letters (representing Holland) "ARMD CARRIER REGT Canada" embroidered on a black felt backing. The 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment had come of age.
At this time, the Regiment also came under command of 31 Brigade of the famous British 79th Armoured Division. Previously, the association of the original squadron with the British had been long and successful, and the whole concept of specialized armour fit perfectly within the infrastructure of the "Funnies" of this valourous assault division.
Accordingly, the Canadians of 1CACR were authorized the wearing of the 79th 'Bullshead' flash, and the same was painted on their vehicles, along with the unit designation "157" in white on a green-and-blue square.
On 1 November 1944, RHQ moved formally to Tilburg, Holland, the 'birthplace' of the Regiment. Luckily, deteriorating weather conditions - which were to lead to the worst winter in Europe in 50 years - permitted the new CO to concentrate on building the new organization.
To quote Ken Ramsden, in THE CANADIAN KANGAROOS IN WW2: ...Developing a strong unit with high performance standards was not an easy task. With a suddenly assembled strength of 268 all ranks, no regimental home in Canada, no regimental traditions, and a group of newly-arrived officers, NCOs and troopers, it was a challenge of considerable proportion.
Fortunately, all progressed smoothly. The new faces were integrated quickly, and through labourious indents and some good, old-fashioned scrounging (for which the Canadians in Europe were famous), the Regiment was brought quickly to a state of battle readiness. At this point the combat strength of the Regiment was 106 carriers, and it was contemplated increasing the two existing squadrons to four, but this move was held in abeyance indefinitely, due to the logistical difficulties. By now, 1CACR also had a sister regiment in the 79th Armoured Division, the British 49th Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment (also equipped with Ram Kangaroos), and it was determined that, between the two, the assault requirements of 21st Army Group would be satisfied.
Towards the end of December, Col. Churchill has also finally won the battle to have 1CACR formally known as the '1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment', dropping the word 'Personnel'. This was significant, as elements within the Canadian command infrastructure had long campaigned to make 1CACR a part of the Service Corps, due to its transport function; the men of the Regiment were vociferously opposed to this categorization, as in combat they were exposed daily to the same hazards as were the infantry and armoured corps. The Regiment was back in action in January 1945, and stayed in the thick of things until the end of the war. 'A' and 'B' Squadrons functioned pretty much independently from the crossing of the Rhine until the official Cease Fire order on 5 May 1945, causing no end of headaches to the administrative staff attempting to keep up with the lads. However, both squadrons rendered yeoman service to many British and Canadian infantry formations through this final victory campaign.
The following units of the 21st Army group were lifted into battle by 1CACR at one time or another. If you know of any veterans who have memories and stories of the Kangaroos they would like to share, please contact the WEBMASTER. 2nd BRITISH ARMY
3rd Infantry Division
1st Bn Suffolk Regiment
7th Armoured Division
1/5 Bn Queen's Regiment
2nd Bn Devonshire Regiment
9th Bn Durham Light Infantry
11th Armoured Division
4th Bn King's Scottish Light Infantry
15th Infantry Division
8th Bn Royal Scots
6th Bn Royal Scots Fusiliers
6th Bn King's Own Scottish Borderers
9th Bn Cameronians
7th Bn Seaforth Highlanders
2nd Bn Glasgow Highlanders
10th Bn Highland light Infantry
2nd Bn Gordon Highlanders
2nd Bn Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
43rd Infantry Division
4th Bn Somerset Light Infantry
4th Bn Wiltshire Regiment
5th Bn Wiltshire Regiment
7th Bn Hampshire Regiment
4th Bn Dorset Regiment
5th Bn Dorset Regiment
7th Bn Somerset Light Infantry
5th Bn Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry
49th Infantry Division
2nd Bn Essex Regiment
2nd Bn Gloucestershire Regiment
Hallamshire Bn
51st Infantry Division
2nd Bn Seaforth Highlanders
5th Bn Cameronians
5th Bn Black Watch
1st Bn Gordon Highlanders
5/7th Bn Gordon Highlanders
1st Bn Black Watch
7th Bn Black Watch
7th Bn Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
52nd Infantry Division
7/9th Bn Royal Scots
4th Bn King's Own Scottish Borderers
5th Bn King's Own Scottish Borderers
53rd Infantry Division
6th Bn Royal Welsh Fusiliers
4th Bn Welsh Regiment
1st CANADIAN ARMY
2nd Cdn Infantry Division
Royal Regiment of Canada
Royal Hamilton Light Infantry
Essex Scottish Regiment
Regiment de Maisonneuve
Calgary Highlanders
South Saskatchewan Regiment
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada
3rd Cdn Infantry Division
Royal Winnipeg Rifles
Regina Rifles
1st Bn Canadian Scottish Regiment
Highland Light Infantry
of Canada
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders
North Nova Scotia Highlanders
4th Cdn Armoured Division
Lake Superior Regiment
Lincoln and Welland Regiment
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada
And in addition...
Elements of Royal Artillery and Royal Canadian Artillery, i.e. Forward Observation Officers & Men
Elements of Royal (Assault) Engineers
Kangaroos also carried hundreds of wounded and prisoners away from the line in the course of normal ops.
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I was tasked with covering the "funnies" while Sam concentrates on the more "serious" tanks for Treadhead Tuesdays at the Foxhole. ;-)
There's a warm spot in my heart for the *funnies*. For a few months, I was crosstrained as a AVLB *scissors Bridge* driver/commander after our tank battalion was assigned two of the things. Since the version then in use was based on the M48A3 tank, it was a particular sweetheart for me, as I missed the old M48's *butterfly* steering wheel, replaced by a T-bar setup in our HQ tank section M60A1s.
Once the bridges were dropped off, there were still a couple of interesting tasks for the vehicles, which we more or less used as backups to the motor pool's pair of M88 tank recovery vehicles. Less the weight of bridge or a turret, the AVLB tracks could usually do a pretty good job of unsticking an M60 that had picked the wrong spot in a river to ford. We once hauled one out that had found a hole in what they thought was an easily fordable Bavarian springtime stream bed, dropped into an underwater channel, and went under water over the top of the turret. The good news was that nobody drowned- everybody was hedging their bets and riding with open hatches and the suspicious gunner had chosen to ride on the back deck. And we had no problems finding the vehicle, since the antennas were sticking out of the water, though it took both our AVLBs and a VTR combined to pull the thing out; neither was hooking up the tow cables a whole lot of fun. The bad news was that the crew got to buy a new pair of PRC-125 radios, the only thing that didn't work after the vehicle was pulled out, drained and dried out.
Those bridge tanks of *Hobart's Funnies*s were the granddaddies of our own scissors bridges, though we had a couple of nasty little surprises that weren't available to Hobart's lot. We could erase a bridge just as easily as we could emplace one....
-archy-/-
Under the heading.."Strange WW-2 stuff"...
National Archives photo of a B-17 with an experimental Turbine Engine in the nose.
Patriot Bump
Hard to remember Clint Eastwood being that young.
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