Wednesday 25 February 2015

Lend-Lease Support Vehicles

CAMD RF 38-11355-3046

"List of steamships with samples of English tank armament

Steamship Benjamin N. King #5282
Bill of Lading 180: two "Churchill Crocodile" flamethrower tanks
Bill of Lading 97: flamethrower equipment for "Churchill Crocodile" tanks - 24 places
Bill of Lading 119: two "Sherman Crab" minesweeper tanks
Bills of Lading 119,18: equipment for "Sherman Crab" minesweeper tanks - 87 places
Bill of Lading 209: two AEC armoured cars 

Steamship Samaritan #5283
Bill of Lading 144: one "Churchill Crocodile" flamethrower tank
Bill of Lading 148: flamethrower equipment for "Churchill Crocodile" tank - 11 places
Bill of Lading 143: one "Sherman Crab" minesweeper tank
Bills of Lading 143, 123: equipment for "Sherman Crab" minesweeper tank - 26 places
Bill of Lading 147: one AEC armoured car. Packaging for flamethrower and minesweeper equipment is labelled in both Russian and English: "Flamethrower Crocodile" and "Minesweeper Crab".

April 20th, 1945"

In 1944, Soviet engineers were sent to England to familiarize themselves with some support vehicles. Here are photographs of them examining some bridgelayers on the Covenanter chassis. 

CAMD RF 38-11355-2193

Ultimately, the engineers went with Valentine bridgelayers. The Covenanter was a much less reliable platform, and the Red Army already had Valentines in its supply chain.

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