Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers

Extremely high casualty rates among engineers was one of the primary reasons for the failure of the Dieppe raid of August 1942.

In the assault, the engineers were prone to gunfire while setting charges, and became a priority target for the defending forces.

The Churchill proved ideal, having a large amount of space inside for demolition stores, and side exit doors.

The interior munition storage was removed, as was the turret basket and co-drivers seat, replaced with stowage.

The turret, initially not required, was retained allowing a spigot mortar firing a petard to be added.

With plenty of space inside the Churchill, a number of "flying dustbins" could be carried in addition to the demolitions stores.

The petard was reloaded through a sliding cover that replaced one of the forward drivers hatches in the top of the hull.

The 6-pounder gun mounting was modified, and retained the 6-pounder sights although "flying dustbin" effective range was only around 80 yards of 230 maximum.

[citation needed] Internal ammunition stowage and the co-driver / hull gunner's seat was removed to provide compartments for demolition charges.

In the remaining space, compartments in the sponsons were created fore and aft of the side hatches for "flying dustbin" ammunition.

Armed with a short barrelled L9A1 165 mm demolition gun, it entered service in 1963, replacing the Churchill AVRE.

A modified Artillery Observation Post vehicle, it was armed with the conventional 105 mm Royal Ordnance L7 rifled gun and provided with track width mine clearance ploughs instead of the dozer blade on the Mk 5.

FV4203 AVRE vehicles were almost identical to the Chieftain ARV, also based on the AEV (Winch), but added a dozer blade/bucket, deployable bridge, and the ability to launch a roadway.

With the introduction of Challenger 1, the Centurion AVRE was struggling to keep up, while military requirements needed a larger number of trackways to be carried.

[6] Each CHAVRE provided a 10 tonne winch and Atlas crane for engineering operations, along with a trackway on top for multiple fascines or stores.

[10] AVRE functions have been combined with others into the Trojan Combat Engineer Vehicle (CEV) based on the Challenger 2 chassis.

Churchill III and IV AVRE vehicles were successfully used to breach defences in the D-Day landings, and continued in use through the rest of the allied advance to Nazi Germany.

The Petard Mortar's ability to demolish obstructions and fortifications proved valuable to the allied advance, while the morale impact of seeing the large gun caused many enemies to abandon their positions.

The AVRE would crack the defences, allowing the flamethrower to soak the interior with flammable liquid, forcing those inside to surrender.

This was released by prongs extending from the front, allowing it to pivot into a vertical position before detaching from the vehicle.

Snake was a mine-clearing line charge consisted of sections of 3-inch pipe filled with explosive to extend and then detonate across a minefield.

Conger was a similar device to Snake, providing a rocket propelled flexible tube that was carried in, and launched from, a converted engineless Universal Carrier towed behind the AVRE.

[11][12][13][page needed] Giant Viper is a post-war re-working of the Conger concept using a trailer and pre-filled, safer, hose and explosive.

[16] Log Carpet could also be fitted to the unit's LVT4 Buffalo amphibious vehicles, and was particularly effective on waterlogged ground.

During World War II, the AVRE was provided with a platform allowing a fascine to be carried on the vehicle front while the turret was traversed through 90 degrees.

This could be released from within the vehicle to drop into gaps and ditches, allowing tanks (commencing with the AVRE itself) to cross, or angle up and over a ridge.

AVRE's could also be modified with mounts and supports to carry a ready-assembled Small Box Girder Bridge from the front glacis plate.

The ARK is intended to rapidly deploy a ramp or smaller gap bridge without the need for specialised engineering skillset, simply by driving into it.

An AVRE deployed fascine could be used to raise the front of the ARK if needed, such as ahead of large sea walls.

An Armoured Sled was provided for AVRE with droppable sides, allowing further engineering supplies to be dragged by the vehicle.