Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers

Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE), also known as Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers is the title given to a series of engineer tanks, or armoured Military engineering vehicles operated by the Royal Engineers (RE) for the purpose of protecting engineers during frontline battlefield operations.

In protecting engineers, the vehicles also became a mobile platform for a variety of engineering purposes, mounting large calibre weapons for demolition, carrying engineering stores, mine clearance explosives, a variety of deployable roadways, and modified engineering bridges for gaps that the related Armoured Ramp Carrier ("ARK") vehicles could not overcome.

Extremely high casualty rates among engineers was one of the primary reasons for the failure of the Dieppe raid of August 1942. Engineers were tasked with getting the tanks off the beach, destroying obstacles and building ramps. In the assault, the engineers were prone to gunfire while setting charges, and became a priority target for the defending forces. Those that did make it to the point where ramps could be built had lost much of their supplies on sunken landing craft. With tanks unable to leave the beaches, the raid stalled and failed.

Following failure of the raid, a Canadian engineer attached to the Department of Tank Design proposed a vehicle to protect engineers during assault operations. Development commenced based on the experiences at Dieppe. Experiments used Churchill, Sherman and Ram tanks. The side door became a critical component for the new vehicle, allowing engineers to exit the vehicle under protection, and retreat back inside while blasting. In October 1942 a prototype based on the Churchill tank was ordered. 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. This provided space for 36 cu. ft. of demolition supplies and tools.

The turret, initially not required, was retained allowing a Petard mortar to be added. The Petard mortar was a separate development, firing a large demolition charge that became known as the "flying dustbin". Development on this began in September 1942 and was united with the Churchill turret following experimental use on a Covenanter tank. 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.

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Wikipedia