Churchill Tank Project - working Churchill Tanks

The tanks are being restored, and were acquired, with help from the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset, which is the National collection of tanks in the UK and is located close to the historic training ground for generations of tank soldiers in Britain. They comprise:

A Mk III with appliqué armour that was, at one point, converted from a gun tank to an AVRE (that is, an Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) equipped with a Petard mortar. It was hit on the turret by a shell or mortar and has sustained damage under the front of the turre

t which may well be the result of an explosive charge being placed there, and one of its pannier doors was forcibly removed – again probably by an explosive charge. These charges are likely to have been detonated on a firing range in the UK after the war, as this tank, like many others, was taken out of service and used for target practice. Other than the external damage, the fighting compartment has been burnt out, although the engine and gearbox were undamaged – save by the ravages of rust.

A Mk IV, with its hull, dated 1941, that was later used as a post War Twin Ark, a form of mobile bridge that was used in pairs to enable Conqueror and Centurion tanks to cross large ditches. The turret comes from a Mark IV Churchill gun tank that was, again, converted to an AVRE. As with the Mark III, this conversion used the same turret and mantlet as the gun tank, but retro-fitted a Petard mortar in place of the main gun.

A Mark VII gun tank that was converted after the w

ar to an AVRE, this time not with a Petard mortar, but with a 165 mm breach loading howitzer. This tank was used on a firing range as a marker and occasionally shot at by infantry, thus sustaining little damage externally, other than to the howitzer barrel, which was blown up with another explosive charge, and to one of the pannier doors that was blown off.

The project involved rebuilding each tank’s engine completely, shot blasting the hulls – in one case taking the side armour off as rust had expanded between the mild steel inner plates and the armour - and restoring their gearboxes, re-fitting the driving compartment and fighting compartments.

As we build the website, we will post photographs of the restoration in progress and commentary on the work, the tanks and their equipment.

TO SEE THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS, CLICK HERE

TO SEE THE BESA MACHINE GUN BEING TEST FIRED CLICK HERE

This website is for those who have an interest in these tanks, how they work and what goes on inside them. It is for those who want to find real information about the Churchill – painstakingly researched and documented by completely restoring three of them from a bare hull upwards. When we say what goes into one of these tanks, we know, because we took them apart and rebuilt them. This means that modelers and computer gamers who want to design with more accuracy can find what they need. Historians, students and teachers can discover unparalleled levels of detail about the construction of the tanks, and all that is previewed on this website will be available in much greater detail on the forthcoming DVD - including the sounds and sights of the tanks on the move and firing its guns, inside and out.

When the restoration is finished, film and documentary makers will be able to hire the tanks and purchase footage of them manoeuvering, firing and being maintained.

The website will be updated as the restoration progresses, and regular news and photographs will be added.

We can be contacted by email (see Contact above) and will endeavour to respond - but please be patient! We are particularly keen to hear from those with experience of Churchills and photographs or memories of them in service.

Links to other sites that may be of interest are shown on the Contact Page.

Churchill crews and their tanks served with distinction in almost every theatre of World War two, notably in North Africa, Italy and North West Europe. Examples were also to be found in the Far East and India. The Churchill was not only used as a gun tank, but also as the basis for many variants for clearing or surmounting obstacles, as well as the well known ‘Crocodile’ flamethrow

er version of the Mark VII

The Churchill tank has a strong case to be acclaimed the best British tank of World War 2. This is not to discount the achievements of the Comet, but this tank only arrived as the Rhine was being crossed and saw limited action. The Churchill slugged it out in all kinds of terrain – and proved itself to be capable of absorbing an astonishing amount of punishment. When hit, these tanks were less prone to catching fire immediately than the Sherman, and certainly much better armoured. They were less fast than the Cromwell, but their distinctive purpose was to be an Infantry tank – to fight alongside men on foot. In this role, they performed superbly.

THE RESTORATION PROJECT