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- Crocodile
The Crocodile was a
British tank based on the Churchill Mk. VII, and modified to incorporate
a flamethrower in the hull, replacing the bow machinegun. The vehicles
were used by the British 79th Armoured Division in North-West Europe
during the Second World War. They were tasked to different formations of
21st Army Group as needed, including Canadian units on occasion.
The vehicle towed an armoured trailer with 400 Imperial gallons of fuel.
The flamethrower had a range of over 120 yards.
History
British research into flame tanks dated back to 1938, though the first
prototypes were not produced until 1942. Three Churchill Oke conversions
were ready for Dieppe, but they proved unsuitable for consideration for
mass production. A reluctant acceptance of the need for a fuel trailer
led to the conceptual basis for the Crocodile. A trailer had been
produced for a flamethrowing Valentine variant and in early 1943, the
first Churchill tanks underwent conversion to Crocodile configuration.
Six Churchill IV tanks were fitted with lightly armoured trailers which
included projector mechanism, tanks and gas bottles. The trailer had a
sophisticated hitch assembly, which had to be able to transfer fuel from
the trailer to the actual projector nozzle fitted in the bow of the
tank, replacing the Besa machinegun there. The trailer did not hinder
mobility to a great degree, and a rush order for 250 production models
was placed in Aug 1943, based on the Churchill VII.
The trailer was
connected to the tank by a link unit which acted both as a towing
connection and as a flexible pipeline for the flame fluid. If the
trailer was hit by enemy fire or otherwise damaged, the link could
be severed by a quick-release device and the trailer dropped, after
which the tank could continue in action as a normal combat tank.1
The Crocodile carried a
standard 75mm gun-armed turret. The Churchill was more heavily armoured
than the Sherman used by armoured regiments, though the top speed was
much less.
Employment
By the time of the D-Day landing in Normandy, only a handful of tanks
were available, and plans to equip all Churchill-equipped British army
tank brigades with a proportion of Crocodiles (in the same manner as
Fireflies were distributed among Sherman-equipped armoured regiments)
were changed. The Crocodiles were eventually issued to special purpose
regiments; in Normandy this was the 141st Regiment (The Buffs), Royal
Armoured Corps. Just three vehicles landing on D-Day itself.
The Crocodile was
not faultless: it was prone to gas and fuel leakages, needing
careful control and filling-up of the bottles before each
action...the trailer proved vulnerable...when directly hit (and)
Crocodiles also brewed up when hit near the flame nozzle itself, on
the hull front. But it was a terrifying, formidable and effective
weapon: vehicles, tanks, buildings, bunkers were all vulnerable to
its flaming jets, and the soldiers' death was dreadful. It was
therefore an important means of dissuasion and persuasion, and many
surrenders occurred after a simple demonstration of the Crocodile's
firepower. On the other hand, the vehicle was hated by the enemy and
with experience the Germans took them as primary targets, especially
trying to hit the trailer. It has also been reported that Crocodile
crews were executed on the spot after their capture, with at least
one confirmed occurrence: that of Lieutenant Harvey and his men,
from "A" Squadron, The Buffs on the Caen-Tilly-sur-Seulles road in
mid-July 1944.2
The 141st Regiment was
moved to the British 79th Armoured Division (a formation devoted to
specialized armour including engineering vehicles such as bridge layers,
AVsRE, and mineclearing vehicles as well as eventually including the
APCs of 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment) and was later joined by
two more Crocodile regiments (the 1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and the
7th Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment). Crocodiles were also used in Italy
by the 51st Battalion, RTR. A troop was composed of four vehicles, later
changed to three in some units. In all, about 800 sets of flame
equipment were produced to convert Churchills into Crocodiles, but not
all were employed in combat.
Notes
-
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of
20th Century Weapons and Warfare (Purnell & Sons Ltd., New
York, NY, 1969) p.654
-
Fortin, Ludovic British Tanks in
Normandy (Histoire & Collections, France, 2005) ISBN
2915239339
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