Editing Military engineering vehicle (section)

==History==

===World War One===
A Heavy RE tank was developed shortly after [[World War I]] by Major [[Giffard LeQuesne Martel]] RE.<ref name="remuseum.org.uk">[http://www.remuseum.org.uk/articles/rem_article_assaultbridge.htm] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527100326/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/articles/rem_article_assaultbridge.htm |date=May 27, 2008 }}</ref> This vehicle was a modified [[Mark I tank|Mark V]] tank. Two support functions for these Engineer Tanks were developed: bridging and mine clearance. The bridging component involved an assault bridge, designed by Major [[Charles Inglis (engineer)|Charles Inglis]] RE, called the Canal Lock Bridge, which had sufficient length to span a [[canal lock]]. Major Martel mated the bridge with the tank and used [[Fluid power|hydraulic power]] generated by the tank's engine to maneuver the bridge into place. For mine clearance the tanks were equipped with 2 ton [[Mine roller|rollers]].

===1918-1939===
Between the wars various experimental bridging tanks were used to test a series of methods for bridging obstacles and developed by the Experimental Bridging Establishment (EBE). Captain SG Galpin RE conceived a prototype [[Light Tank Mk V]] to test the Scissors Assault Bridge. This concept was realised by Captain SA Stewart RE with significant input from a Mr DM Delany, a scientific civil servant in the employ of the EBE. MB Wild & Co, Birmingham, also developed a bridge that could span gaps of 26 feet using a complex system of steel wire ropes and a traveling jib, where the front section was projected and then attached to the rear section prior to launching the bridge. This system had to be abandoned due to lack of success in getting it to work, however the idea was later used successfully on the [[Leopard 1#Other modifications|Beaver Bridge Laying Tank]].<ref name="remuseum.org.uk"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.ca/wiki/index.php/Beaver_AVLB|title=Canadian Defence Force Website|publisher=Army.ca|access-date=24 November 2014}}</ref>

===Early World War II===
[[File:The British Army in Italy 1945 NA23553.jpg|thumb|A Churchill bridgelayer of 51st Royal Tank Regiment in action during a demonstration in the Mezzano area, 30 March 1945.]]

Once [[World War II]] had begun, the development of armoured vehicles for use by engineers in the field was accelerated under Delaney's direction. The EBE rapidly developed an assault bridge carried on a modified [[Covenanter tank]] capable of deploying a 24-ton tracked load capacity bridge (Class 24) that could span gaps of 30 feet. However, it did not see service in the British armed forces, and all vehicles were passed onto Allied forces such as Australia and Czechoslovakia.<ref name="remuseum.org.uk"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasenoviny.com/CovenanterEN.html |title=Czechoslovakian Service |publisher=Masenoviny.com |access-date=24 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202072541/http://www.nasenoviny.com/CovenanterEN.html |archive-date=2 December 2014 }}</ref>

A Class 30 design superseded the Class 24 with no real re-design, simply the substitution of the Covenanter tank with a suitably modified [[Valentine tank|Valentine]].<ref name="remuseum.org.uk"/>
As tanks in the war got heavier, a new bridge capable of supporting them was developed. A heavily modified [[Churchill tank|Churchill]] used a single-piece bridge mounted on a turret-less tank and was able to lay the bridge in 90 seconds; this bridge was able to carry a 60-ton tracked or 40-ton wheeled load.<ref name="remuseum.org.uk"/>

===Late World War II: Hobart's 'Funnies' and D-Day===
{{Main|Hobart's Funnies}}
[[Hobart's Funnies]] were a number of unusually modified [[tank]]s operated during the [[World War II|Second World War]] by the [[79th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|79th Armoured Division]] of the [[British Army]] or by specialists from the [[Royal Engineers]]. They were designed in light of problems that more standard tanks experienced during the amphibious [[Dieppe Raid]], so that the new models would be able to overcome the problems of the planned [[Invasion of Normandy]]. These tanks played a major part on the Commonwealth beaches during the landings. They were forerunners of the modern combat engineering vehicle and were named after their commander, [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major General]] [[Percy Hobart]].

Hobart's unusual, specialized tanks, nicknamed "funnies", included:
* [[AVRE]] (Assault Vehicle Royal Engineer), used to protect engineers in an assault role, and enable combat engineering.
* ARK (Armoured Ramp Carrier) where the tank itself was the "bridge". Multiple vehicles could be used to span gaps in both the vertical and horizontal. The tank had the turret removed and trackways fitted to the hull. Ramps were attached at each end of the trackways extending the bridging potential and allowing its use in difficult terrain. The tank would need recovery after its use was no longer required.<ref name="remuseum.org.uk"/>
* Crab: A modified Sherman tank equipped with a [[mine flail]], a rotating cylinder of weighted chains that exploded mines in the path of the tank.
* [[Armored bulldozer]]: A conventional [[Caterpillar D7]] [[bulldozer]] fitted with armour to protect the driver and the engine. Their job was to clear the invasion beaches of obstacles and to make roads accessible by clearing rubble and filling in bomb craters. Conversions were carried out by Caterpillar importer [[Jack Olding]] & Company Ltd of [[Hatfield, Hertfordshire|Hatfield]].
* [[Centaur bulldozer]]: A [[Centaur tank]] with the turret removed and fitted with a simple winch-operated bulldozer blade. These were produced because of a need for a well-armoured obstacle-clearing vehicle that, unlike a conventional bulldozer, would be fast enough to keep up with tank formations. They were not used on D-Day but were issued to the 79th Armoured Division in Belgium during the latter part of 1944.

In U.S. Forces, [[Sherman tank]]s were also fitted with dozer blades, and anti-mine roller devices were developed, enabling engineering operations and providing similar capabilities.

===Post war===
Post war, the value of the combat engineering vehicles had been proven, and armoured multi-role engineering vehicles have been added to the majority of armoured forces.