Specialized armor is always an interesting area. A bit sticky for the manufacturers because many of us make noise about wanting them, but how many hand over their money when the products arrive?
Anyway - the British were mad about the "funnies" and some drifted into US use. The list includes (but is not limited to;
Churchill AVRE - used as the basis for the "bobbin" carpet layer, the fascine carrier", the ARK bridging tank, etc.
Churchill Crocodile - one of the most successful flame tanks of WW2. Crocs not only supported the Commonwealth forces across Europe, but there were several instances of them supporting US units.
Sherman BARV - a weird looking thing, but used to help save vehicles or landing craft at the shoreline.
Sherman Duplex Drive - an effort to provide the assault troops with armored support while not risking valuable LCTs. THere were three types - Sherman IIIDD (based on M4A2) and Sherman VDD (based on M4A4) used by the British and Canadians and the M4A1 DD, the US copy, used by the US and Canadians. DDs came ashore at Normandy and Southern France plus they were used in the Rhine crossings. This would be a complex and frail model but would be fascinating!
Sherman Crocodile - only a few (4) converted from M4s and used by the Ninth Army's 739th Tank Battalion. By the way, there were some US flame throwers issued to tank battalions in the ETO, they replaced the bow machinegun in the hull, so for a model they don't stand out.
T1E1 Mine Exploder - a US roller system that was pushed by a modified M32 recovery vehicle. Nicknamed "Earthworm". Used in limited numbers by the 738th and 739th Tank Battalions (Special).
T1E3 Mine Exploder - the larger mine roller pushed by an M4 or M4A1 medium tank. Nicknamed "Aunt Jemima" because of the big pancake-like rollers. Used by the 738 and 739th Tank Battalions (Special) plus at least one was used by the 6th Armored Division in France.
Canal Defense Light - A huge amount of effort was spend on Project Cassock to provide tanks equipped as armored searchlights. The project ended up being defeated by its own secrecy - the tanks were barely used. There were several British regiments and US battalions earmarked for the night combat mission, but with the collapse of the project and need for tank units, most were converted to regular tank outfits. The US used two of the units, the 738th and 739th Tank Battalions as "Special" tank battalions. These were the operators of most US "funnies" in Europe. The British-designed CDLs were converted from Lee and Grant tanks (British) and M3 or M3A1 mediums (US).
Tank Dozer - probably the most successful and practical specialized tank conversion
Sherman Crab Flail - built by the British for mine clearance, also used in limited numbers by the US Army. British flails also supported US units in several actions. The US Army built a flail in North Africa, but it didn't become a major program like the British. The USMC also built their own flail in the Pacific.
T34 rocket launcher - not truly a "funny", these were 4.5in rocket launchers that were made available to several US units late in the European campaign. There were mixed feelings about them by the tankers. The British Guard Armored Division also added 60-pounder aircraft rockets to some of their Sherman V (M4A4) tanks in Europe.
T40 Rocket Launcher - originally intended to be used on DDay but the 7.2 in demolition rockets were found too inaccurate and were removed before combat. Saw limited use in Italy with the 752nd Tank Battalion.
The US 1st Armored Division in Italy experimented with several types of bridging tanks built from Shermans or M31 recovery vehicles. These were to be used in the 1945 campaign in northern Italy to speed stream cossings.
In addition, the British 79th Armoured Division operated LVTs and Terrapin amphibians in Europe.
The "Kanagroo" APCs were more of an adaptaion versus specialized armor. The first ones were built from surplus M7 "Priest" howitzer carriages and later ones were converted from Canadian Ram tank chassis (Ram was a "cousin" to the Sherman).
Gary B.
,Churchill Ark bridgelayer would be good too.Churchill fascine?
