How to be an Armoured Farmer, building Hobart's Funnies in Glorious 15mm (and maybe 28mm if they arrive in time!)
Churchill AVRE Onion and Double Onion
A bizarre name for a funny, although it is not 100% certain it is most likely named because the boxes of explosives looked like strings of onions and it would be just like sappers to pick a name that was amusing and had a slight dig at the French!
What it was, was a framework fixed to the front of the vehicle that had boxes of explosives secured to it. It travelled in a horizontal position, which swung down when it got close to its target. This would be either a concrete emplacement, obstacle, or on D Day and sea wall. Once at the target hooks on the top of the frame would hold the onion onto it, and the framework lowered so that the AVRE could retire to a safe distance before detonation. They trialled very well but were never deployed on D Day due to the concern that incoming rounds might set off the explosives prematurely and blow up the AVRE, which given that any direct artillery/tank hits on an AVRE normally denotated all of the explosives it carried within and obliterated it, meant crews weren’t particularly keen to use this Hobart funny.
AVRE Onion
AVRE Double Onion
Prepping the onions
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