Introduction
I came across three books on Churchills in a library,
including one called simply "Churchill Tank" by HMSO, which reprinted most
of the instruction booklet which was issued to crews of the Churchill VII
and VIII. This includes detailed diagrams of much of the vehicle,
including photographs of stripped down equipment, and told me where to oil
all the various things which need oiling, how often, and with what kind of
oil in what conditions. The detail on some things was amazing, with every
single component of the Besa MG discussed in technical detail, with much
use of terms like "flange" and "retaining pin".
Equipment
The stowage drawings were informative. It's amazing what was in there:
- a bren gun
- Thompson MGs
- a map board
- a signal pistol with 12 signal flare cartridges
- gas capes and gloves for the crew
- 6 hand grenades
- binoculars
- range-finder
- clinometer
- helleson lamps
- cooker
- extinguishers
- rations
- blankets
- water bottles
- 15 tins of biscuits (9 on gunner's side, 6 on loader's)
- spare periscope prisms
- 2 stretchers
- many "smoke cartridges" which are not the same as the -
- 20 smoke "bombs" which are also carried (one picture of the tank's
outside rear supposedly shows "the smoke generators" which I can't see)
for the 2" mortar, and -
-
every kind of oil and brush and bag for storing and maintaining all the
various bits.
External stowage included:
- 8 blankets wrapped in 2 ground sheets turret (R side)
- 7 blankets wrapped in 3 ground sheets (L side)
- set flags tank distinguishing (sic)
- 2 extinguishers either side of the turret bin
- a sledge hammer
- crowbar
- 2 shovels
- a pickaxe (in 2 parts)
- a jerry can of water
- a flimsey of oil
Turret bin contents
- covers for all the guns
- 5 greatcoats
- waterproof cover for the tank
- camouflage net
- matchet in sheath
- oil tin
- rope for tracks
- 3 staves
- intermediate and stave end
Also, on the back of the hull, (but not on the Airfix kit), is a box containing
an infantry telephone and a small first aid kit (no mention of a first aid
kit on the inside of the tank, oddly enough).
Other Equipment
There was a chapter on the 2" mortar, which told me how to load and fire
it, and a few dos and don'ts in this operation. The muzzle was at a fixed
angle, and there was a gas valve regulator on it which had three settings
for three ranges: 20, 70, and 110 yards. There were two kinds of round,
the Mk I or II (II had delay) which was filled with smoke producing
powder which came out of 18 holes in the tail (painted green), and a
"bursting" Mk III bomb with an impact fuse, which was filled with white
phosphorus (red and white band). An HE round is not mentioned. Safe to
say, then, that the 2" mortar is not for close defence. Why one would
choose to use one kind of smoke rather than the other was not discussed.
A "mud plough" could be engaged to scrape mud off the tracks as the
vehicle went along.
The gun could be depressed more broadside than facing the front. A
different source gave the elevation as -12.5 to +20 degrees.
The turret's electric turning mechanism needed the tank's engine to be
running to be used, though there was a manual back-up.
The hull MG had a single telescopic sight (one eye only). Interesting
that the British hull MG gunner did not have to operate the radio, as did
his German counterpart. I wonder what difference this made. He had
little to do, most of the time, I'd have thought.
The Besa MGs had a few kinds of bullet, all of which were steel
plated. "Tracer" rounds which had lead-antimony (white metal) front ends,
but a red "tracer composition" in the back end, which looks to me as
though the bullet would be a lot lighter than the "ball" rounds which had
much more lead in them, and the tracers would presumably get lighter as
the trace (which worked for 900 yards) was used up. I'd have imagined
that this would mean that the tracers and the other rounds wouldn't end up
in exactly the same place. "AP" rounds had a steel core. There were also
"incendiary" rounds, but these were not detailed.
"FUNNIES"
Mine-roller version:
Used more for detecting rather than clearing mines.
Drive forward until you hear something go bang, then get a plough to
plough up the area now known to contain mines. Teller mines sown at least
7' apart, because if not, they would set each other off when one was
detonated. Best mine clearer of all was flail, but couldn't use turret
and clear mines at the same time.
Petard:
Original idea was to have a Churchill with two men who stayed with
it, and an engineering team which would pile out of the side doors and rig
explosives on the thing to be demolished, retreat to the tank, and then
set everything off. This was not done, however, because the petard tank
was invented, and this could do the job without men having to dismount.
40lb bomb, also refered to as a "26pdr", range 200 yards, but crews didn't
like to shoot at more than 50 yards due to innaccuracy. The bombs were
used to clear mine fields by airbursting in front of the tank. One
vehicle recorded as clearing a 28' swathe through a mine field, and then
firing 12 rounds at a 6' thick concrete wall, creating a whole big enough
to drive through. 700 mk III and IV Churchills fitted with this weapon.
Bridge-layer:
The box-girder bridge made it VERY slow, and the tank could
not carry it across rough ground, because it would sway too much and fall
off. Couldn't go under bridges, and had trouble with telegraph wires.
Propping the bridge up against a wall or similar rise was easy, but
dropping it into a ditch was very difficult.
VARIANTS
Turrets: the LT versions of the later Churchills had the earlier cast
turret. The snag with casting a turret in one piece was that in order to
make the front and sides thick, it was necessary to make the roof thicker
than desired. The Churchill VII got round this problem with a unique
design which had the front and sides cast in one piece, while the roof was
welded on afterwards. This gives a distinctive rim to the edges of the
roof which IS on the Airfix model (huzza!). Now, with this next bit, I'm
guessing: the LT turrets must be the very rounded-looking ones, and I
notice that these rounded ones when shown in photographs taken in the late
war European front, are festooned in spare track links. The roundedness
of them, and these track links make me guess that these turrets were NOT
upgraded to 6" thickness. It is surely easier to attach a 2" slab of
metal to a flat surface.
Up grades in armour reduced speeds from 18mph to 13 mph. Other sources
say 16-12mph, and others put the VII speed at 12.5mph. Splitting hairs,
now.
Airfix model
Every photograph and drawing of the Mk VIII howitzer
version shows two clear bulges either side of the mantlet. With the VII,
though, it is not so clear. Even in the instruction manual for the VII
and VIII, the VII is sometimes shown with, and sometimes without the
bulges. Another feature of the VII turret is a bulge which runs all the
way round the bottom of the turret, a thicker band of armour to further
protect the turret ring. The Airfix kit does not have this, and even
Churchill VIIs shown without the mantlet bulges, have this band.
The details on the top of the Airfix turret conform with the Mk VII,
although they are a little vague, being somewhat flatter and so I suppose
easier to mould than the real things. The overall shape of the turret is
MkVII also. In some photographs and drawings, the turret bin is the same
shape as the model, in others a different shape. In short, I'm now fairly
convinced that the Airfix model IS a MkVII turret, but that to be
absolutely sure, one should add the band around the bottom, and perhaps
the mantlet bulges (certainly for the VIII). It could well be that some
VIIs did not have the bulge at the bottom.
Interestingly, the barrel brake has holes in the top and bottom, not just
the sides. they are egg-shaped.
After all that time spent trying to get the air louvres on the sides of my
old Airfix Churchills to butt up against the sides of the tank properly, I
see that in fact they do hang off the sides in a Heath Robinson fashion.
The hull periscopes are in reality tall enough to see over the track
guards sideways. There are two on the driver's side, not one, and they
have shades on them.
The bottom of the tank has one large square hatch, four circular ones of
differing sizes, two plugs and two drainage holes. The three circular
hatches on the model are nothing like reality (does it matters to you
what the underside looks like?).
The headlights are not built-in, but are separate stuck-on things.
Most diagrams show three aerials on the turret, though photos often show
only two. One is on a tall stalk with a metal hoop around the top of it.
The diagramme of the turret-wiring for the VII labels one aerial the
"main" aerial, another just like it the "No. 38 WS aerial, and the one on
the stalk the "troop set aerial" which is between and slightly forward of
the other two. I can't follow the wiring well enough to tell much from
this. The 38WS aerial's wire goes to the "No38 wireless set" which is a
separate box from the much bigger "radio" which seems to be connected to
both the other two aerials. The name "troop set" suggests to me that
messages going in and out via this one would go to the rest of the troop
only, and not the whole battalion. The reprint of the instruction manual
did not, alas, include the chapter on the radio equipment.
Conclusion
From what I've read, it seems that the Churchill was a pretty darned good
tank. It had room for an unusually large amount of ammunition, was roomy
for its crew, had armour half again as thick as a Tiger, was, in its later
versions, very reliable, had side escape hatches which were very useful,
was very low profile, had unrivalled terrain crossing ability, had the
first allied all-round vision cupola, was a survivable tank for various
reasons, was very adaptable to other purposes, and was named after a stout
chap. It had a mediocre AT gun, though, although the turret seems to have
so much room in it, that I don't understand why it couldn't be up-gunned.
They managed to get a 17pdr in a Firefly turret somehow.
Footnote
2" Mortar:
The WP is antipersonnel. WP produces smoke but it is also incendary and
burns when exposed to air. 75mm WP shells and WP grenades were also used.
There was a long thread in AFV-News discussion group site on the use of WP
in 75mm guns.
