Churchill Crocodile

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The Churchill Crocodile was a British flame-throwing tank of late World War II, it was a variant of the Tank, Infantry, Mk VI (A22) Churchill VII, although the Chuchill IV was initially chosen to be the base vehicle. Eight hundred were built.

It was introduced as one of the specialised armoured vehicles developed by Major-General Percy Hobart (Hobart's Funnies) and produced from October 1943, in time for the Normandy invasion. The Crocodile kept its 75 mm gun in the turret, and the hull mounted machine gun was replaced by the flame-thrower.

Four hundred gallons of fuel and nitrogen propellant, enough for eighty one-second bursts, were stored in a 6½ ton detachable armoured trailer towed by the Crocodile. The thrower had a range of up to 120 yards (some sources quote 150 yards). The pressure required had to be primed on the trailer by the crew as close to use as feasible, because pressure could not be maintained for very long.

Used by the 79th Armoured Division in concert with the Churchill AVRE, the Crocodile was an effective assault weapon whose threat could induce enemy troops to retreat or surrender. The Crocodile was a specialised weapon, best used against suitable targets. Aspects of the mechanism were considered by the British to be so secret that disabled units, if they could not be recovered, were rapidly destroyed by any means, if necessary, by air strike.

British crewed Crocodiles supported the U.S. Army in the Normandy bocage and, later, during Operation Clipper, the Anglo-American assault on Geilenkirchen.

[edit] Surviving Vehicles

Mark VII Crocodiles are owned by the Muckleburgh Collection in Norfolk, the Cobbaton Combat Collection in Dorset, the D-Day museum in Portsmouth, the Wheatcroft Collection, the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia and the Museum of the Regiments, Calgary, Alberta. A Mark VIII is at the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Museum. Two (one in running order) are privately owned in the UK. One example, without trailer, on display at the Bayeux Museum of the Battle of Normandy and a trailer is held at the Bovington Tank Museum.

[edit] References

• Crocodile
• Equipment used by the Armoured Brigades
• Photos of the D-Day Museum Crocodile