Moyens Chespale launcher

[sapper740]

One of the major drawbacks to the standard method of carrying Chespale fascines on top of tanks is that the bundle usually blocked the driver's forward vision. Experiments were done with periscopes which proved less than satisfactory so the accepted method was for a crew member to exit the tank and guide the tank to the obstacle...a less than perfect position to be in if one was under fire. Nearly all the pictures I have seen of fascines carried by tanks during the war showed the same basic system: two cables wrapped around the bundle which sat on the forward deck of the tank's hull and were released from inside the tank. I do have have two pictures identified as the "Moyens Chespale Launcher" which show the fascines carried on a cradle above the turret, thus allowing the driver good visibility. However, I have never seen this system before and cannot find any info regarding it. It may have been an experimental prototype which never saw service. The AVRE carrying it is marked with the 79th Armoured Division flash and has white stripe painted on the turret. The whole set up made for a very tall carrier and might have not been feasible for combat. I don't know if anyone has any info regarding this carrier, I'd be interested in learning more about it. Derek.

[Rob Beale]

as used by 28th Assault Squadron of 2NZ Div in Italy in 1945.

These were turretless Sherman II (M4A1) with either: a fixed frame that sloped down towards the front,
or a frame mounted on a turntable on the turret race(?) that seems to allow two fascines or cradles to be carried.

Images from Turnbull Library, Archives NZ