EXTRACT FROM BRITAIN AT WAR

A CHURCHILL EXHUMED

THE DISCOVERY OF A BURIED WARTIME CHURCHILL TANK

The recovered Churchill tank, reunited, after nearly fifty years, with its tracks and turret, looks out over the one time South Downs Training area.

IT WAS BRITAIN'S MOST MODERN HEAVY TANK PROTECTED BY THICK ARMOUR-PLATING AND EVENTUALLY ARMED WITH A SIX-POUNDER GUN, THE CHURCHILL TANK WAS DESIGNED TO BE CAPABLE OF BREACHING DEFENCES AS STRONG AS THE GERMAN SIEGFRIED LINE.  UNFORTUNATELY, IT KEPT BREAKING DOWN!  ONE OF THESE FAMOUS TANKS, ABANDONED IN 1942 BECAUSE OF MECHANICAL FAILURE, WAS DISCOVERED IN A FIELD IN SUSSEX.  BUT, ASKS ALEXANDER NICOLL, WHERE DID IT COME FROM, AND WHAT WAS IT DOING LYING UPON THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH DOWNS?

The first plans for a heavy infantry-support tank had been drawn up in September 1939, following the declaration of war with Germany.   Designated the "General Staff Specification A.20", the first prototypes — built by Harland and Wolf in Belfast — were completed and tested by the middle of 1940.

From the outset, the mechanical performance of the tank was poor, with both the engine and gearbox being considered unsatisfactory.   Vauxhall Motors Ltd., manufacturers of Bedford trucks, was therefore approached to design a new, more powerful engine.   Along with the improved engine was a revised body, the new tank being designated as the Infantry Tank Mark IV — and soon to be known to the world s the Churchill Tank.

At the start of the project this was all that could be seen of the buried Churchill.   This is in fact part of the rear offside bogie wheel and frame.   The actual Bogie wheels and suspension springs, along this side of the tank, had been removed and were subsequently dumped inside the hull.   Needless to say, having such a tiny proportion of the tank protruding from the ground made the task of finding the site on the top of the South Downs all the more entertaining!

By May 1941, the Mark I Churchills were rolling off the Vauxhall production line.   Though serious faults had been discovered in the suspension components and the engine heads during the early trials, the urgent need for these tanks meant that production continued regardless.

The original armament for the Mark I consisted of a 2-pdr gun and coaxial 7.92 mm Besa machine-gun in the turret, and a 3-inch howitzer in the front of the hull next to the driver.    However, a supply of the howitzers could not be maintained at the rate of the production of the tanks, so a number of Churchills were fitted with a second machine gun in the hill-mounting as an alternative.   This variant was designated the Mark II.

Amongst the early recipients of the Churchill tanks was the Canadian Army.  The first Canadian troops had arrived in Britain in December 1939, being moved the following year into Sussex to help defend the South Coast.   Included amongst the Canadian divisions was a tank battalion.   This battalion was posted to Seaford in East Sussex in the early days of 1941, and was equipped with Mark I and Mark II Churchills.

Re-named the 14th Canadian Army Calgary Regiment (Tank). the regiment was incorporated into the Canadian 2nd Division and began training for an assault upon the French coast.   The regiment was structured along the same lines as a British armoured unit, with three squadrons, each consisting of three troops of four tanks — giving the regiment a fighting-force of thirty-six tanks.

After a period of intense exercises and training in amphibious operations in conjunction with infantry and engineers on the Isle of Wight, the Calgarys returned to Seaford.   The exercises had highlighted the Churchill's unreliability, with problems occurring in the cooling system, the transmission and even the engine itself!

Once 118 Recovery Company, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, TA., became involved, using the recovery as an opportunity for a training exercise, progress was rapid.

This series of photographs show the tank being rolled out from its grave, the top sides finally seeing daylight for the first time in many years.  

What these images do not show is the timescale involved — it took some forty minutes for the hull to be rolled this far.   The danger of the chains snapping was only too real — as those present found out on one occasion when flying steel links sent everyone diving for cover!

It took over a year to clear the tank to a sufficient level to enable the Territorial Army to finish the task.   The whole interior had been filled with chalk and tank parts, all of which had to be removed.   This was achieved through the herculean efforts of team-member Robert Chalk, who would squeeze himself through the rectangular engine

On 15th January 1942, a report was produced which stated that forty-two per cent of service Churchills were out of operation at that time due to one problem or another.   The Mark Is and IIs of the Calgarys were no exception.   During its stay at Seaford "A" Squadron suffered a number of what they called "dead heads", which were those machines which had suffered serious mechanical failure.  Lieutenant-Colonel C. R. Sharp, recalled one Mark II in particular which was removed from the training area and hauled to the workshops because both the engine and gearbox were inoperable.

As it happened, the new Mark III Churchills armed with six-pounder guns in enlarged turrets were being distributed in the various tank regiments to replace the earlier versions.   The old "dead-heads" were no longer worth repairing.

A superb view of the upper surfaces of the Churchill's hull.  Note the turret mount and rotary base still present inside the turret ring.  Here staff from the Tank Museum at Bovington are removing an air vent which was to be used on one of their restoration projects.  Aside from the markings on the tank, and the subsequent research they sparked, it was features such as the vents, turret shape (and method of manufacture), and side access doors that helped in identifying the actual Mark of Church that was uncovered.

Courtesy of Marcus Grehan.

In August 1942, the Canadian 2nd Division, including the Calgary Regiment, put its training into practice with the "super-raid" upon the German-held French port of Dieppe.   The raid was a disaster, particularly for the Calgarys.   The beach at Dieppe was composed of chert stone.  As the tanks crossed the beach, these hard stones became jammed in the drive wheels, throwing the tracks.   None of those that landed at Dieppe returned.

After its terrible mauling at Dieppe, the Calgary regiment returned to Seaford but, in December 1942, the regiment moved along the coast to Worthing.   The Calgarys disposed of the few remaining "dead-heads" in their possession, including the Mark II from "A" Squadron which was stripped of its armament, engine and transmission before being handed over to the Canadian 2nd Division, which was then based at Parham House to the north of Worthing.

The tank was dumped in a field close to the South Downs Way at Springhead Hill, overlooking Parham House.   Here the tank was used in training exercises by the Canadian infantry and engineers, as well as the 1st Canadian Anti-Tank Brigade.

Though the Calgary Regiment left Sussex in the spring of 1943, to see action in Sicily, Italy and then north-west Europe, the old Mark II remained in the field on the Downs and continued to be used for target practice.

At one point, and instead of pulling the buried tank from the hole, it was one of the T.A. Foden recovery vehicles which found itself being pulled along the ground towards the Churchill.

With the end of the war, hurried attempts were made to clear the Downs of dangerous military material before handing the land back to its original owners.   In an effort to speed-up this process the Home Office employed a large number of Ukranian and Polish refugees, and with them created Ordnance Clearing Teams, whose sole task wa to clear those parts of the British Isles contaminated by military activity. 

In 1946, one of these men, Ludwig Citek, found himself clearing an area of the South Downs above Parham Estate.  He recalls that his biggest task wsd to clear a field at Springhed Hill, where a Churchill tank had been left.  The old Churchill was far too heavy to be moved, so it was tumbled, upside down, into a nearby bomb crater.  The tracks were removed and thrown into the crater alongside the tank.   The Churchill was covered over with soil and stones and abandoned.

Fitting the chains and shackles to commence the final pull.   At this point, the turret, both tracks, and assorted other parts, still lie under the hull.    (Courtesy of Marcus Grehan).

For the next forty-eight years the tank sat in the hole but, with part of the vehicle protruding above the earth, it was a troublesome obstacle to the farmer who worked the field.  Yet, with a gross weight of around thirty tons, it seemed that the tank could never be removed.   Then a number of local military enthusiasts took matters, quite literally into their own hands — they began to dig the tank out!

One of the tracks being returned to its original place on the tank.

After two years of disappointments, bad weather, and much hard work, the Churchill had been partially cleared of the surrounding earth but had not moved an inch.   However, after a photograph of the exposed wreck had been sent to the Bovington Tank Museum, the Army was called in to help.   The Royal Electrical and Mechanical engineers, in the form of 118 Recovery Company, T.A., drove down from Northampton with two Foden Wrecker trucks and a Scammell Crusader to assist with the recovery of the Churchill as a training exercise.

The two Foden recovery vehicles from 118 Recovery Company, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, T.A., operating in tandem, pull the exhumed Churchill to the edge of the field.   It can still be found here, minus its turret today.

A view inside the hull of the Churchill, looking at the driver's position.   On the very left edge of the picture is the hand brake lever, whilst crossing across from the left is what remains of the main steering handle bar fittings.   The two pedals comprise the clutch pedal, on the left, and the foot brake pedal.   The gear lever and gear lever gate were still in situ and are just out of the picture on the right.

The Warrant Officer in charge of the recovery unit decided that the best method of dealing with the problem was to dig one of the Fodens firmly into the ground, at about thirty metres from the tank, and winch it in.   The winch has a pulling strength of seventy tons, so a thirty-ton tank should be no problem.

Duly attached via a pulley and chain, the Foden revved fiercely into action.   But instead of dragging the tank from the hole, it was the Foden which was being pulled along the ground towards the Churchill!

The second Foden was then bedded next to the other.  The cable from the first was passed through the pulley block and attached to the rear of the second Foden.   On went the power and all eyes again turned to the Churchill.  As the whine of the winch motors began to increase in pitch there was a loud crack and bits of chain link flew through the air, sending everyone present diving for cover!

Eventually after protracted operations with pick and shovel, and with cables attached at either end of the tank, the Fodens pulled the Churchill upright and then dragged it to the corner of the field.   Feint markings visible on the tank confirmed that it was indeed from the 2nd Troop, "A" Squadron of the Calgary Regiment.

Though parts of the tank have been used to aid restoration of other surviving Churchill tanks, such as one that can be found at the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset, the shell of the old Mark II still sits proudly in the corner of "Tank Field".

Looking down on the turret, resting back in its original location, gives us an excellent opportunity to look at the positions that fur of the five crew of a Churchill would normally have occupied.  The furthest hatch on the turret was for the tank commander, whilst nearest us is that of the Radio Operator.  The hole behind his hatch is the aperture for the main aerial.   Two further hatches can be seen in front of the turret.  On the right is the driver's hatch, that on the left for the front gunner.

It serves as a poignant reminder to future generations of the times when the South Downs was a restricted military zone.  An area where bullets and shells filled the air.   A place where men stumbled and tanks rumbled over what are now silent fields — men who went on to fight on foreign battlefields, some never to return home.

To many, the recovered Churchill serves as a fitting memorial to all those men who trained on the South Downs — many of whom went on to fight on foreign battlefields, never to return home.   Some of these men would have been from the very regiment that once operated "our" Churchill — the 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment, The Calgary Regiment (Tank)  The "Calgarys" suffered appallingly in the Dieppe raid.   None of their 27 tanks that got ashore, such as this one , returned.