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KEY: Location markers are coloured from Green meaning exact to Red meaning
gone or unknown (details here)
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Unique ID:
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88
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Added to Database:
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May 2008
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Last Edited:
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May 2008
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Type (ID):
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A22 Churchill AVRE (3905)
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Model (ID):
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Churchill AVRE (3905)
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Location Category (ID):
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Beach Exit (6020)
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Location (ID):
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Graye-sur-Mer (6020)
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Serial Number: |
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Registration: |
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Name: |
“1C” painted on rear turret stowage box so referred to as “One Charlie”. Previously carried the name “AVENGER” painted on the side air intakes.
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Other Identification: |
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Associated Tanks: |
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Location History:
(see map) |
1: Vauxhall Motors Limited, Luton, Bedfordshire, East England, Britain (Churchill design parent and primary manufacturer)
2: Portsmouth, England (General embarkation area 5 June 1944)
3: Beach Exit, Graye-sur-Mer, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France (Current location)
4: Musée Memorial, Caen, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France (Not the museum but French Army workshops in Caen 1977)
5: Beach Exit, Graye-sur-Mer, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France (Current location)
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Text in original Preserved British Tanks publication:
Armament: 290mm Petard Spigot Mortar
Text in Preserved British Tanks Update:
[No entry]
Text in original Preserved Tanks In France publication:
This AVRE is on display to the west of Graye-sur-Mer, near Courseulles-sur-Mer. It was recovered from the beach where it had foundered during the invasion landings and been buried under the sand. During the recovery in November 1976 it was revisited by RE veterans including Bill Hawkins, the demolitions NCO in the AVRE, and George Dunn, its driver. Items recovered from it included an intercom hand microphone, a safety razor, a tin of corned beef and an emergency chocolate ration (for more information contact the RE Museum, Brampton Barracks, Chatham). The vehicle was later restored by the French Army workshops in Caen and put on display on a concrete plinth by the beach exit road. It was unveiled as a permanent memorial on 15 October 1977. It is in remarkably good condition considering its history. A plaque in front of it reads as follows:
CHAR CHURCHILL A.V.R.E.
26 ASSAULT SQUADRON ROYAL ENGINEERS
7 CANADIAN INFANTRY BRIGADE |
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DEBARQUE PAR CETTE BRECHE LE 6 JUIN 1944
CE CHAR FUT IMMOBILISE
A 100M. AU SUD DE CE SITE
ET DEMEURA EN TERRE PENDANT 32 ANS.
RESTAURE EN 1977, IL COMMEMORE LE SOUVENIRE
DES MEMBRES DE SON EQUIPAGE
ET DE TOUS CEUX QUI ONT DONNE LEUR VIE
POUR LA LIBERTE | THIS TANK LANDED ON GRAYE SUR MER BEACH
AT H-HOUR ON D-DAY
AND WAS STOPPED ON ITS WAY INLAND
100 METRES SOUTH OF THIS SPOT
THE MEMBERS OF ITS CREW WERE KILLED
OR BADLY WOUNDED
IT REMAINS AS A MEMORIAL
TO ALL THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES HERE
6 JUIN 1994 |
On D-Day a Sherman Crab flail tank and an AVRE were drowned in a crater in the dunes near Courseulles. Another AVRE pushed the fascine off the first one and then lowered a Small Box Girder Bridge over the top to allow the advance to continue. The drowned AVRE is believed to be this same one now preserved (source: Sherman Register).
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August 2007
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1: Front right view
Taken: 25 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Photo ID: 1284
Added: 24 May 2009
Filename: 57CNV14_...
Views: 268
Select/Has Priority: 4/0
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2: Front left view
Taken: 25 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Photo ID: 1285
Added: 24 May 2009
Filename: 57CNV13_...
Views: 202
Select/Has Priority: 17/0
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3: Left view
Taken: 25 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Photo ID: 1286
Added: 24 May 2009
Filename: 57CNV12_...
Views: 202
Select/Has Priority: 17/0
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4: Rear left view
Taken: 25 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Photo ID: 1287
Added: 24 May 2009
Filename: 57CNV17_...
Views: 215
Select/Has Priority: 4/0
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5: Rear right view
Taken: 25 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Photo ID: 1288
Added: 24 May 2009
Filename: 57CNV18_...
Views: 208
Select/Has Priority: 17/0
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August 1982
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6: Front left view
Taken: 1 August 1982
Contributor: T. Larkum
Photo ID: 1289
Added: 24 May 2009
Filename: Scan_Chu...
Views: 202
Select/Has Priority: 17/0
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7: Left view
Taken: 1 August 1982
Contributor: T. Larkum
Photo ID: 1290
Added: 24 May 2009
Filename: Scan_Chu...
Views: 272
Select/Has Priority: 17/0
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