How to be an Armoured Farmer, building Hobart's Funnies in Glorious 15mm (and maybe 28mm if they arrive in time!)
The Churchill Conga
The Churchill conga was a system for clearing minefields. It used the chassis of a universal carrier to carry a hose that would be fired by a rocket into the minefield. It would then be pumped full of liquid Nitro Glycerine (LNG) and detonated, activating any nearby mines and creating a cleared path for vehicles and infantry. It was extremely dangerous to operate and after a horrendous accident during the Scheldt offensive its use was stopped altogether.
During that incident at Ijzendijke, sappers from 284 Armd Asslt Sqn RE were refilling their vehicle with LNG and having not received the correct training for the use of the equipment, or received the information that the practice they were told to follow had been classified as extremely dangerous and no longer to be followed (by trials back in the UK). An explosion occurred that resulted in the loss of 41 civilians, another 16 missing and many, many more injured. From the military, 284 Sqn lost 27 men; the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps 10; A Tp 85 Bty, 11th Essex Med Regt 3 and REME 1. a further 16 were missing. The local farmhouse and countless other vehicles were obliterated.
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