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Transporting LCM's for Rhine crossing


R Cubed

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I am researching information on the operation to move Landing craft ( LCM's I think ) over land for the Rhine crossing in 1944 ? any pics, what were the landing craft what was used to move them, where they came from, how many, anything anyone knows of, please let me know.

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If you google for "LCM Rhine crossing" or similar you come across stuff like this:

 

http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/beachhd_btlefrnt/ChapterXVIII.html

 

Quite a daunting task to transport those big LCMs over land! As you can see in the picturee below they used the largest transporter they had (Dragon Wagon), but there are also pictures of Diamond Ts with Roger trailers dwarfed by their load.

 

 

lcm1.jpg

Edited by mcspool
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Did those LCMs have the same Radial R975 engine as the Shermans, or am I remembering something completly incorrectly?

I think you will find they have That Other Sherman Engine . . . the GM Detroit Diesel 6-71.

 

 

DD-71-ENGINE100000-500PIX.jpg

Edited by mcspool
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From my Dragon Wagon books.

 

Standard Dragon Wagon with M15 trailer. Trailer ramps removed and bed of trailer blocked up to let the floating things sit level.

 

Seems to have moved the load quite readily, but the author does note on one photograph the question of whether they chained the boat to the trailer of the trailer to the boat, the difference in size being so notable.

 

Gordon

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I'm pretty sure I've seen a photo of a Diamond T and rogers combination hauling an LCM3 during the Rhine build up -just can't remember where it is at the moment. Quite a bit of weight was taken up on these transporters with timber baulks to give clearance and ballast as the combination was extremely out of balance.

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There's a picture in Breakdown (A History of Recovery Vehicles in the British Army) by Brian Baxter includes a picture of a Mack LMSW breakdown tractor towing a modified Rogers 40-ton trailer being used as a transporter for a British LCM.

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There are some cracking photos of LCM IIIs and LCVPs on Diamond T transporters in Allied-Axis No.6, by Ampersand Publishing. There are also some LVT IVs on the same type of transporter.

 

The photos are credited to IWM, but without reference numbers. A search on their website might turn them up. It will be cheaper to try and find the book though, but I think it's out of print. The photos are copyright, which is why I haven't scanned them and posted them.

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