Churchill Avre log carpet

[Mark W. Tonner]

Hi Johnny;

The image that Hanno posted on 16 Oct 2013 (see attached), is an accurate representation of the AVRE with Log Carpet Device, which was developed for the Normandy landings - description: a carpet of one-hundred 6-inch (15.2 centimetres) diameter logs, each 14-feet (4.3 metres) long, which were bound together with wire rope, and was mounted (looped) on a removable steel frame, above the AVRE itself (as in the attached image). The looped carpet of logs, was released over the front of the vehicle by the detonation of a light charge, from within the turret of the AVRE.

Later, as the crossing of the Rhine river was being planned, the 79th (British) Armoured Division, devised a similar device, in the form of a log carpet, looped on a removable steel frame, mounted on a Buffalo amphibian (LVT), with the looped carpet of logs being released over the rear of the Buffalo, as it climbed the bank, which was meant to provide a firm base for following DD tanks climbing the river bank

Cheers