The Royal Engineers prepare for D-Day

5th January 1944: The sea front at a British resort town falls victim to the destructive power of a new secret weapon

The 29cm Petard spigot mortar on a Churchill AVRE of 79th Squadron, 5th Assault Regiment, Royal Engineers, under command of 3rd Infantry Division, 29 April 1944. A 40lb bomb can be seen on the right.

Churchill AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) armed with a 290mm spigot mortar which fired a 40lb (18kg) charge up to 80 yards (72m). Its purpose was to destroy concrete.

Following the disaster at Dieppe in 1942, the British had become very wary of making an opposed amphibious landing.

They were now developing a range of new specialised tanks for use in the invasion of France. Correctly known as AVREs - Armoured Vehicle, Royal Engineers - they became more popularly recognised as 'Hobart's Funnies' in tribute to the man responsible for developing them, General Sir Percy Hobart.

Major General Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart commander of 79th Armoured Division, who was made responsible in March 1943 for the development of specialised armoured vehicles, known as 'Hobart's Funnies', to spearhead the assault phase of the invasion

As the name suggests the Royal Engineers operated the various tanks, although the drivers were men from the Royal Tank Regiment. Each was designed to deal with a particular problem such bridging a tank ditch, or destroying mines with flails and they included the Duplex Drive - DD - swimming tanks used by both British and American forces on D-Day.

AVRE Bobbin placed a track laying roll in front of the AVRE over which the AVRE drove (known as "carpet laying"). This provided a roadway over soft ground which the tanks would otherwise sink into.