Thread: Hobarts Funnies

The demolition charges used by the British ‘Funnies’ were nearly all carried by Churchill AVREs, for the emplacing of these special powerful charges was one of the tasks for which the AVRE was intended. The charges themselves were special obstacle demolishing packs of high explosive that had to be placed against the target, which might be anything from a sea or anti-tank wall to a blockhouse or an offending building. Sometimes the charges were large single chunks of explosive, and in others they were small charges set in a pattern and held in a steel frame. One thing all the various charges did have in common and that was odd and even bizarre names. One of the more straightforward of these charge devices was the Bangalore Torpedo. These pipe charges were intended for mine or barbed wire clearing, but could be used for other purposes and on the AVRE they were held in front-mounted frames, also used for the Jones Onion. The Jones Onion first appeared in 1942 and was the codename given to a frame onto which various charges could be attached. The frame was carried on two arms, one on each side of the AVRE, and was held upright as the target was approached. Once in position the frame was released by pulling on a cable and two legs on the bottom of the frame were so arranged that the frame always fell against the target obstacle. The charges could then be fired electrically by a trailing cable after the AVRE had reversed away. The side-mounted arms could then be jettisoned if required.
Another device that appeared in 1942 was the Carrot; this was a much simpler device than the large Onion and consisted of a charge held in front of the AVRE on a simple steel arm. The idea was that the AVRE simply moved up to the target and the charge was then ignited. The charges involved ranged in weight from 5.44 kg (12 lb) up to 11.34kg (25 lb), the smaller charge rejoicing in the name of Light Carrot. The Carrot was used extensively for trials but was abandoned during late 1943 and was not used in action.
However, the Goat was used in action, This may be considered as a development of the Onion but it was much larger and involved the use of a frame 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in) wide and 1,98 m (6 ft 6 in) long. Onto this frame could be arranged up to 816 kg (1,800 lb) of explosive, and the whole device was carried on the AVRE by side arms. The Goat was so arranged that it could be pushed against the structure to be demolished and the frame would then automatically release in a vertical position. The AVRE would then reverse away leaving the charges in position to be fired either electrically or by means of a pull ignition. A close cousin of the Goat was the Elevatable Goat.
This was intended for use against high obstacles such as anti-tank walls, and when fitted on the AVRE was carried on the nose of the hull rather like an assault bridge. The ‘bridge’ was in fact a frame on which linked charges were slung. The frame was placed against the wall to be demolished and then released from the AVRE. Once in position another release cable allowed the linked charges to fall away from the frame. The top section of the frame was above the top of the wall, and this allowed the charges to fall onto each side of the wall, which could then be destroyed once the AVRE had moved away

The Jones Onion, seen here carried by a Churchill tank, was a demolition device carried on a steel frame that could be placed against an obstacle such as an anti-tank wall. The frame was then released to allow the tank to retire and detonate the charge.

The Bangalore Torpedo is an ancient combat engineering device that was revived during World War I for clearing barbed-wire entanglements. In its simplest form the Bangalore Torpedo is a metal tube filled with explosive and sealed at both ends. Most types have attachment points at each end to enable other torpedoes to be joined to make up extra lengths. The charges are set off either by a burning fuse or by some form of remote detonator. These torpedoes were soon in use by armoured combat engineers to clear paths through minefields, and simple delivery devices such as that fitted to the front of a Churchill AVRE were soon devised.

However the normal Bangalore Torpedo is only about 1.5 m (5 ft) long and armoured engineers were often called upon to bridge minefields many metres deep. It would obviously save time and effort if longer torpedoes could be joined up to clear paths through deep minefields, and this course of action was followed to produce the 76.2mm (3-m) Snake. On the Snake the lengths of explosive-filled tubing or pipe were 6. l m (20 ft) long and could be joined together into lengths of up to 366 m (1,200 ft) to enable them to be pulled across a minefield and then detonated to clear a path up to 6.4 m (21 ft) wide. It was better if the Snake tubing could be pushed across a minefield, but when this happened the lengths involved were less. Only 122 m (400 ft) of Snake tubing could be pushed in front of a tank with any degree of control. The tanks involved with Snake were usually Sherman’s or Churchill AVREs, but the Royal Engineers did also have small numbers of a special vehicle. This was known as the Snake Carrier and was a conversion of the Churchill Gun Carrier, a Churchill variant with a box superstructure that had been intended to mount a 76.2-mm gun for use as a tank destroyer. For a number of reasons the Churchill Gun Carrier was not accepted for service and the few vehicles involved carried Snake instead, on both sides of the box superstructure. The Gun Carrier moved the tubing to a point close to the target, and here the crew assembled the Snake, which was then pushed into position across the minefield and detonated. Although Snake was used for training and trials it was not used operationally. The Conger was towed behind a Churchill AVRE or a Sherman in an engineless Universal Carrier that carried a rocket, a length of hose and a tank of liquid explosive. The rocket carried the hose across the minefield, and when in place the hose was filled with the liquid explosive and detonated. The Tapeworm was another hose device that was carried in a trailer to the edge of a minefield where it was deposited. A tank with a CIRD (Canadian Indestructible Roller Device) then moved across the minefield and as it proceeded the tank pulled the explosive-filled hose across the minefield. When the full length of hose (457 m/500 yards) had been pulled from the trailer the explosive was detonated to clear any mines that might have been missed by the rollers. The 15.2 m (50 ft) of hose nearest to the towing tank was filled with sand for safety purposes.
Perhaps the smallest of the Bangalore-type devices was the Flying Bangalore. This was used on Sherman’s fitted with CIRD rollers and was intended for barbed-wire clearing.
Each of the CIRD arms carried a Bangalore Torpedo fitted with a rocket motor. The rockets carried the Bangalore’s across the wire and as they landed small grapnels held the torpedoes against the wire for exploding.

The Snake was a form of Bangalore Torpedo used to clear large minefields. Seen here carried on a Churchill, the Snake was assembled on the edge of a minefield, pushed across it by the tank and then detonated to clear a path.

Another picture of Two ARK's Mk II’s which are been used to allow other vehicles to cross a deep ravine. The first ARK was driven into the ravine and the second ARK was then driven onto it, after which its ramps were lowered to form a bridge. The ravine was formed by the River Senio in Italy, April 1945.

By late 1943 plans for the amphibious landings in northern France had reached the stage where it was decided to have deep-wading recovery vehicles on hand at the beaches to assist any vehicles that got bogged or broken down while still in the water, It was decided to convert Churchill and Sherman tanks for the role but the Churchill conversion did not get past the prototype stage and all work concentrated on the Sherman.
The result was known as the Sherman Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle (Sherman BARV). It was little more than an ordinary Sherman with the turret replaced by a tall superstructure. This superstructure was open at the top and had plates that sloped to a boat bow profile at the front. The turret opening was closed off and all air intakes and cowls were extended upwards, Waterproofing was extensive and a bilge pump was added to the hull.

The Sherman BARV featured a high box-type superstructure that allowed the BARV to be driven in to deep water to recover stranded vehicles. At the front it mounted a nudging nose to push vehicles out of trouble, but failing that it could be used as a straightforward recovery tractor. It did not have a winch.

The first BARV was ready for trials in December 1943 and these trials proved to be so successful that a request for 50 conversions (later increased to 66) was made immediately. By the time the D-Day landings were made in Normandy there were 52 BARVs ready to hand, and one of them was actually the first armoured vehicle to touch down on the beaches. They had plenty to do for the weather on D-Day was rough, to the extent that many armoured and other vehicles were swamped as they made their way from the landing craft to the safety of the beaches. The BARV was thus used as a towing vehicle to get them ashore. It could tow only, for in the haste to produce the BARVs it was decided to omit the usual winches. In their place some measure of assistance to stranded vehicles could be provided by nudging them with baulks of timber secured to the BARV nose. These nudgers could be used not only for vehicles but with small landing craft that got themselves stuck on the beaches.
The BARVs could operate in up to 3.05 m (10 ft) of water, depending on weather conditions, and often took on a nautical air enhanced by the use of lifelines fixed around the upper superstructure.
Many BARV crews included a diver in their number and life jackets were frequently worn. The BARVs were a REME responsibility as they were primarily recovery vehicles. The REME even had a hand in their production, for this corps supervised BARV production in two small Ministry of Supply workshops, The BARVs went on to a long postwar service career during which they acquired the name Sea Lion. They were eventually replaced by the Centurion BARV which closely followed the general outlines of the Sherman BARV. Over the years the Sherman BARVs were gradually updated with better radios and such refinements as ropes to soften the impact of their ‘nudgers’, but they never acquired winches or any form of earth spade to enable increased-capacity pulls to be made.

The Sherman BARV (Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicle) was developed during 1943 to tow bogged-down vehicles from deep water during amphibious operations. It was a tractor device only, and the crew usually included a trained diver to secure towing cables to stranded vehicles for towing..