British/Canadian ’43-’45 starter set. Couple of questions about the Churchill

[Mick]

I’m planning on painting my set as  ’44 era Canadians with NW Europe regimental insignia.  As the Canucks didn’t use Churchills in Normandy/France, I figured I’d make mine an AVRE variant from the Royal Engineers 80th Assault squadron which landed at Juno Beach to support Canadian infantry.  Sadly, the decal sheet that comes with the Churchill doesn’t have any RE markings.

1.  Does anyone have a source where I can get AVRE decals?

2.  Did RE tank crew wear the regular navy blue RE beret or did they wear black like other armoured crew?

 

 

(I get that the Churchill is iconic and that it’s something unique from the US lend-lease gear, but I wish Warlord had gone with something that was used by both UK and Canadian forces in Normandy.  A Sherman would’ve been an obvious choice but it’s US lend-lease.  A  Sexton or even a Wasp variant of the Bren Carrier would’ve been nice options.

[Alan Hamilton]

Decals from Warlord Games https://store.warlordgames.com/products/british-79th-armoured-division-hobart-s-funnies-decal-sheet  The AVRE markings are the blue squares with four digits.

79 Armd Div Markings described https://tank-markings.blogspot.com/p/79th-armoured-division.html

As the crews were RE not Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) they would probably wear the RE headdress including Khaki berets – the material used for berets varied in shade but from photos appears darker than the battle dress and certainly much darker than the Pixie suits.  The dark blue beret is post war.  There may well have been RAC crew on loan as drivers and other crew who would retain the black RAC beret.

Cap comforter

RAC Crew (left) Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) Badge black beret, RE crew (right) khaki side cap

Shockproof helmet (left) Khaki beret (right)

So plenty of variation!

The Churchill was an entirely British design by Vauxhall of Luton, England and is iconic as the main Allied heavy tank in the West.  Thus it was not Lend Lease.

[Jim Ripley]

While the Churchill kit gives you the Petard mortar , you still have to scratch build the side mounting brackets for AVRE equipment ( red ) and change the bow gunners hatch ( blue ) .  S&S models make these pieces in pewter .   Wish I’ld known that before I scratch built the pieces for mine

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[Mick]

Great information everyone.  Thanks!  (I also found a 3rd party AVRE model from Trenchworks that has the side mounting brackets and gunner’s hatches).

[Author]

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