Rhino tank

US M4 Sherman with 'Rhino' bocage breaching modifications, Normandy 1944

Another M4 Sherman with bocage breaching modifications

The Rhino tank (or "Rhinoceros") was the American nickname for Allied tanks fitted with brocage-breaching "tusks" during the Second World War Battle of Normandy, which took place during the Liberation of France in the summer of 1944. The British nicknamed the devices prongs.

Background

Moving inland after their successful D-Day landings, the Allies found themselves operating in the Normandy bocage countryside; a landscape of high, thick hedges and narrow sunken lanes that severely restricted tank movement and prevented them from bringing their superiority in vehicles to bear. A way was needed of overcoming the constraints of the bocage. Infantry found themselves fighting from field to field against prepared German defences; the lack of clear views limited the ability of artillery to support the infantry.

American units developed methods of making gaps large enough for tanks: explosives, tanks with bulldozer blades or extemporised bumpers

Invention

The invention of a hedge-breaching device is generally credited to Curtis G. Culin, a sergeant in the 2nd Armored Division's 102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron. However, military historian Max Hastings notes that Culin was inspired by "a Tennessee hillbilly named Roberts", who during a discussion about how the bocage could be overcome said "Why don't we get some saw teeth and put them on the front of the tank and cut through these hedges?" Rather than joining in the laughter that greeted this remark, Culin realised the idea's potential and put together a prototype tusk-like assembly welded to the front of a tank. In due course this was demonstrated to General Bradley, who "watched in awe as a hedgerow exploded ... to make way for the Sherman bursting through". According to Hastings, Culin, "an honest man", attempted to give credit to Roberts but this was forgotten in the publicity surrounding the invention. Hastings concludes: "[Culin] became a very American kind of national hero".

Usage

Around 500 of the assemblies, called the "Culin Rhino device" or "Culin hedgerow cutter" by the Americans, were manufactured from steel salvaged from the plentiful obstacles that the Germans had placed by the thousands on French beaches during their construction of the Atlantic Wall. These were used to modify nearly three-quarters of the US 2nd Armored Division's M4 Sherman and M3 Stuart tanks, and M10 tank destroyers, in preparation for Operation Cobra.

The British REME referred to the devices as "Prongs" and also produced an initial few from beach defences, but thereafter production was located in the UK. Six hundred Mark I Prongs were delivered by August to be fitted to the Sherman V. A further 1,000 Mark II Prongs were produced for Shermans and the M10, and 500 Mark III prongs were manufactured for the Cromwell tank. The Churchill tank was not considered to need the Prong but some were equipped with them nonetheless.

Military historian Steven Zaloga claims that the devices "were not as widely used as the legend would suggest", and neither were they as effective as is often believed. However, Hastings credits their invention with restoring battlefield manoeuvrability to the Allied force.

See also

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