Everything about The Churchill Crocodile totally explained
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
Churchill 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 couldn't 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 couldn't 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.
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.
Further Information
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