IWM Archives (Imperial War Museum Collections Online Database) A Universal carrier and a Churchill tank of 51st Royal Tank Regiment during 6th Armoured Division's attack on the town of Pichon, 8 April 1943. Stretcher bearers of the East Surrey Regiment, with a Churchill tank of the North Irish Horse in the background, during the attack on Longstop Hill, 23 April 1943. Churchill tank in action, 6 May 1943. Churchill tank and infantry advance near Medjez-el-Bab, 8 May 1943. A Churchill tank and other vehicles parade through Tunis, 8 May 1943.
Movietone (Note free registration required to view, if the link fails, log in and then re-try with movietone window open) Link1 Breif Image of Churchill Tank trundling along road Link2 CHURCHILL TANKS AND 25 POUNDERS IN ACTION AGAINST GERMANS Link3 CHURCHILL TANKS IN COMBAT AT EL ARROUSSA AND SEDJENANE VALLEY Link4 Shots of Churchill Tanks during/After Kasserine Battle Link5 (massed) CHURCHILLS ON PARADE More Churchills then you can shake a stick at! (Not Tunisia) Link6 Breif shot of Churchill Tank firing Link7 Churchill Tank with Prisoners Link8 Churchill Tank breifly shown in Tunis Victory Parade Link9 Unedited footage of victory parade with more shots of Churchill Tanks trundling past
It was here that the Churchill began to prove its worth, tenaciously climbing bare, steep slopes to provide support for Tommy.
Warlord - You are right about the Churchill proving it's worth - when Gerry's "B" squadron of the NIH supported the Agile & Sufferin Highlanders up Longstop to find that the German had no anti-tank guns there as they didn't think any Tank could climb that hill - at that time there were questions in the HP sauce building about the Churchill's usefulness - this Battle proved it's case - and the developement took on the further Mrks to MkVII and various funnies for Hobo's division which proved so successful in the NWE- There were six battlions of Churchills in North Africa at that time - 21st TB with 48 & 12RTR and 145th RAC(me) ----25th TB with NIH(Gerry) - 51stRTR and 142nd RAC Gerry has the whole story including photos of the climb - naturaly while he watched from the safety of the ground below in the Squadron leaders tank - more perks for the exhalted ! No doubt he will be on shortly- to wish me Happy New Year etc Cheers
Warlord - You are right about the Churchill proving it's worth - when Gerry's "B" squadron of the NIH supported the Agile & Sufferin Highlanders up Longstop to find that the German had no anti-tank guns there as they didn't think any Tank could climb that hill - at that time there were questions in the HP sauce building about the Churchill's usefulness - this Battle proved it's case - and the developement took on the further Mrks to MkVII and various funnies for Hobo's division which proved so successful in the NWE- There were six battlions of Churchills in North Africa at that time - 21st TB with 48 & 12RTR and 145th RAC(me) ----25th TB with NIH(Gerry) - 51stRTR and 142nd RAC Gerry has the whole story including photos of the climb - naturaly while he watched from the safety of the ground below in the Squadron leaders tank - more perks for the exhalted ! No doubt he will be on shortly- to wish me Happy New Year etc Cheers Who else could it be, but the lad who was there... How was it to face the Panzerarmee on one of these coffins, Tom? Specially on tank ground like the plains of Tunis. By the way, blessings for the '11, mate.
Warlord - It was more fun in the hills and mountains of the soft underbelly - the Churchill wasn't really a coffin - it could stand a lot of punishment but of course with an 88.mm it wasnt all that good as I found - nothing was - lost a lot of souveniers of Rome when I lost that tank -never had a problem with it breaking down - breaking tracks etc - the Sherman was much more coffin like - that's why we called them Ronson's...never did like those if you sneezed the tracks were liable to break ! Had them with the 16/5th Lancers in Austria but no one was shooting at us by then it was all fun really ! Cheers
We can't really have a thread about Churchills in Tunisia without a link to Gerry's site, can we: North Irish Horse Just in case there's any silly sods left out there that haven't read it from cover to cover . (You won't regret it if you never have.)
On a recent Battlefield Tour I walked up and around the whole of Longstop hill in Tunisia - scene of the celebrated 'Churchill Tank climb' - and often wondered why the climb was and still is reported as being so remarkable. Longstop is not a mountain, it is a small, gently sloping hill (shall I post my battlefield tour photos?). Tanks are designed to drive on slopes and Longstop's are easy. The reason so many tanks do not go up gentle hills is because, first, they are slowed down (so making an easier target); second, they expose their vulnerable toe-plate (i.e. thinner armour than the glacis plate); and thirdly, they have reduced gun depression and so reduced sight-lines (should be overcome by close co-operation with the Infantry). I'm not sure about the Churchill's technical specification as regards these factors, namely power-to-weight ratio, relative plate thickness or depression angles. What makes the climb remarkable, in my view, is not the Churchill's mechanical ability to get up Longstop but the bravery of the crews for doing it in any tank. I have a hunch most Allied tanks could have climbed Longstop equally as well but I bet there is an expert out there who will prove me wrong!
Wonder what a couple of Churchills would have done in the hills of Burma... Lees went up them, all right, and the double gun gave them an edge against infantry, but the thick armor of an "I" tank on what basically was an "I" war would have been of considerable use. Now, does anyone know if the 6-pdr was capable of shooting canister?
On a recent Battlefield Tour I walked up and around the whole of Longstop hill in Tunisia - scene of the celebrated 'Churchill Tank climb' - and often wondered why the climb was and still is reported as being so remarkable. Longstop is not a mountain, it is a small, gently sloping hill (shall I post my battlefield tour photos?). Tanks are designed to drive on slopes and Longstop's are easy. The reason so many tanks do not go up gentle hills is because, first, they are slowed down (so making an easier target); second, they expose their vulnerable toe-plate (i.e. thinner armour than the glacis plate); and thirdly, they have reduced gun depression and so reduced sight-lines (should be overcome by close co-operation with the Infantry). I'm not sure about the Churchill's technical specification as regards these factors, namely power-to-weight ratio, relative plate thickness or depression angles. What makes the climb remarkable, in my view, is not the Churchill's mechanical ability to get up Longstop but the bravery of the crews for doing it in any tank. I have a hunch most Allied tanks could have climbed Longstop equally as well but I bet there is an expert out there who will prove me wrong! Picture 2 in the original post is a Churchill at Longstop. Who knows, it could be Gerry. Longstop gained its fearsome reputation on the fact that the first battle took place in terrible rain which stopped amost all vehicles approaching it from the south. Secondly, the approach from the east is indeed quite steep. The west is much more gental. I have some footage of churchills at steamroller farm somewhere... another famous climb. This time with 2CG. I think there are more Longstop churchill images about too.
Takrouna There is quite a difference in walking up a hill in peace just smelling the flowers admiring the view etc...and to try to do something that even the experts i.e - the Enemy said couldn't be done - then actually doing it under shellfire - mortar fire all sorts of stuff flying around your head..when NO ONE had done it before..even in a bloody jeep.....and the stuff was flying around - enough to kill the Argyll's Co. Lt. Col McNab- who had been Lt.Gen.Anderson's COS until he volunteered to go back as Co. and was his first action - then the other Anderson took over - and won the V.C. - on that same small hill ! Warlord - have a look at the photgraph gallery for Longstop on Gerry's web - you can see Gerry on the Tank on the right of the last photo - safely on the ground you will note and cheering the troops on ! I can get away with this as he is still in Bali ! Cheers
Takrouna There is quite a difference in walking up a hill in peace just smelling the flowers admiring the view etc...and to try to do something that even the experts i.e - the Enemy said couldn't be done - then actually doing it under shellfire - mortar fire all sorts of stuff flying around your head..when NO ONE had done it before..even in a bloody jeep.....and the stuff was flying around - enough to kill the Argyll's Co. Lt. Col McNab- who had been Lt.Gen.Anderson's COS until he volunteered to go back as Co. and was his first action - then the other Anderson took over - and won the V.C. - on that same small hill ! Its interesting to note that because of the ploughed fields to the south (north of Chassart) and that "mild" looking slope even even jeeps couldnt get up longstop originally. The closest anyone got in the first attempt was a four wheeled drive 18 set truck to the Coll. Bren Carriers couldnt make it either. I wouldnt like to be anywhere near that slope under fire.
Taken from aforementioned site. I think its from the war illustrated? Churchill related IWM footage: (Pre order only) #GWY 160 Wrecked Churchills (german film) #GWY 180 Abandoned Churchill (german film) #COI 125 Churchills being unloaded *note there are a lot more churchill related film footage at the IWM, however the IWM does not list the Dope sheet material on the catalogue website. Viewers must go through the paper records by hand. Photos and film clips updated on original posts.
Phaethon As requested, below are all from The War Illustrated, courtesy of Opana Pointer's hard work: Below: The War Illustrated, 02 Apr 1943 pg 645 Churchill tanks have played a vital role in the Tunisian fighting. In Feb 1943 these tanks followed up our success on the Sbiba-Sbeitia front. They carried men of an R.E. Company to lift mines and pave the way for a further Allied advance. Gerry stated that Malplaquet was "… one of 51st RTR HQ Troop"
Cheers DBF, the above images are from Steamroller farm, the larger being from the 1st Guards ill ordered assault on the Meftah Ridge at Sbiba.
