A 1944, Churchill Crocodile Mk VII, flame-throwing tank, on display in the grounds of the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy, Bayeux, France
The British Churchill Crocodile “flame-thrower” tank was produced from 1943. Only 800 were built and the tank was allocated to engineering units, specifically General Hobart’s 79th Armoured Division which was in Normandy from 6th June. The example located outside the Bayeux museum, a rarity nowadays, was found at a scrap merchant’s in Portsmouth in the UK in the early 1980s. Its flame-thrower, with a range of about 120 metres, was mounted in place and in the position of the hull-mounted “Besa” machine gun, leaving the other weaponry mounted on the original tank in place. It towed an armoured trailer (not present) weighing tonnes and carrying 1,800 litres of fuel. Weight: 45 tonnes (including trailer) Weaponry: 1 x 75mm canon, 1 coaxial “Besa” machine gun, 1 hull-mounted flame-thrower Crew: 5 men Speed: Max 20 km/hr Tank range: approx 150 Km. The thrower had a range of up to 120 yards (110 m),[18] some sources quote 150 yards (140 m).[19][20] but generally the range was around 80 yards (73 m)[21] To ignite the flame, the projector used a fine spray of petrol from the Crocodile's main fuel tank; this was ignited by a spark plug, and in turn ignited the main fuel jet. The operator could spray long or short bursts of flaming fuel onto the target. The operator could also spray the target with fuel, then ignite it with a short, lit burst.[22] There was sufficient fuel for 80 single second bursts or equivalent continuous fire.[23] The trailer could be jettisoned if it was hit, or once empty to give the tank greater freedom of movement. The trailers were fitted with towbars so they could be collected after the action by unit transport. Refuelling took at least 90 minutes and pressurization around 15 minutes; the pressure required had to be primed on the trailer by the crew as close to use as feasible because pressure could not be maintained for very long. The fuel was projected at a rate of 4 imperial gallons (18 L) per second.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy, Boulevard Fabian Ware 14400 Bayeux France
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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