- Yes
- No
Hello, I’m suggesting the Churchill Gun Carrier used by Canada, as far as I can find is the only other nation than the UK to ever use it.
(There doesn’t seem to be any photos of the units used by Canada nor are there many photos of the Gun Carrier in the first place, so I’m using what has been attached to my sources)
History:
On the 8th of April 1942, the headquarters of the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade would receive a letter, which indicated that the General Headquarters, Home Forces had given a recommendation to the War Office for several army tank brigades to receive nine of the Carrier, Churchill, 3-inch Gun, Mk I. This would include the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade. Each of the brigades would be formed into three troops with three Carriers each, with attaching one troop to each army tank battalion. There would be no additional personnel authorized and the Carrier would be carried as extra for the war establishment of each army tank battalion. It would be on the 23rd of April of 1942 the Headquarters, 1st Canadian Crops attached to the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade, it was confirmed they would receive the nine Carriers as a temporary measure to deal with enemy heavy tanks until the 17-pdr could be issued.
On the 30th of June 1942, the Headquarters of the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade would order the three tank regiments of the brigade to perform the rapid formation of the 1st Canadian Army Thank Brigade Heavy Support Company. They were to make it an efficient fighting unit as quickly as possible. To make it more efficiently it was decided that all personnel would be taken from the units of the brigade. By the 3rd of July, 1942 each of the regiments were to nominate one officer to become a troop commander, who would select the personnel which would make up a complete troop.
It wasn’t until September of 1942 that the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade Heavy Support Company would begin receiving the Churchill Carriers. They would have received five of the Carries all based on reworked Churchill IIIs by the 19th of September. At this point, the crews would discover that the Carriers have a tendency to throw their tracks when turning at 10mph or higher. Another thing to note is that in October of 1942, the company would be redesignated as a squadron to conform with the Canadian Armoured Corps nomenclature. In the same month, namely on the 10th of October, the squadron would receive three more of the Carriers bringing their total up to eight, and by the 7th of November, they would receive the final few Carriers bringing the total up to ten, giving them one surplus(The models the squadron had would be as follows: S31274R, S31275R, S31276R, S31277R, S31278R, S31279R, S31280R, S31281R, S31283R, and S31284R). The surplus Carrier would remain with the unit until the 23rd of January 1943, as one Carrier that had been in workshop since the 26th of December 1942, had been turned into No. 1 Sub-Depot of No 1 Canadian Base Ordnance Depot, Bordon Camp, Hampshire.
It would be on the 15th of February in 1943 it was announced that the squadron was to be broken up, this would be reconfirmed on the 21st of February. By the 4th of March in 1943 all vehicles and equipment would be returned on all the personnel had been dispersed.
Other photos
Specs:
Crew: four (commander, gun layer, loader, driver)
- Weight: 39 tons
- Length: 26 feet 1 inch (including gun)
- Width: 10 feet 8 inches (with air intake louvres on sides)
- Height: 9 feet 1 inch
- Length of tracks on ground: 12 feet 8 inches
- Width over tracks: 9 feet 1 inch
- Clearance under hull: 1 foot 9 inches
- Armour thickness: Superstructure: frontal plate (basically an extension of the vertical driver’s visor plate) 89 millimetres
- Side plates: 76 millimetres
- Rear plate: 76 millimetres
- Roof plate: 15 millimetres
- Road speed: 15½ mph
- Cross country speed: 8 mph (approximately)
- Engine: 12 cylinder Vauxhall Bedford twin-six 350 horsepower
- Weight of engine: 3,376 lbs (dry)
- Fording depth: 3 feet 4 inches (without preparation)
- Trench crossing ability: 10 feet
- Vertical obstacle capacity: 2 feet 6 inches
- Turret: Fixed
- Main armament: 3-inch, 20-hundredweight – high velocity anti-aircraft gun
- Elevation main armament: minus 10-degrees to plus 15-degrees
- Traverse main armament: 5-degrees either side of the centre line
- Muzzle velocity main armament: 2000 feet per second (able to penetrate 100 millimetres of armour at 200 yards)
- Ammunition stowage: 49 rounds of armour piercing and 16 rounds of high explosive
Remarks: Each tank was also supplied with one .303-inch Bren (Mk I) machine gun with an anti-aircraft mounting and six 100-round drum type magazines, and two .45 calibre Thompson Sub-Machine Guns with thirty-two 20 box type magazines each, and six Grenades No. 36 Mk I
Sources
The Carrier, Churchill, 3-inch Gun Mk I | CSMMI MILART
A.22D, Churchill Gun Carrier - Tank Encyclopedia
List of specialist Churchill tank variants - Wikipedia
Panzerserra Bunker- Military Scale Models in 1/35 scale: Churchill 3 inch 20CWT gun carrier - case report
Tank Archives: Quick-Fix Tank Destroyer