Author: Zoe Tolman, Assistant Archivist

Normally I have a ‘reason’ for why we’re looking at a particular vehicle in the article, often a way to relate it to the previous one. This time it is simply because I liked the names. In a world of Scorpions, Crabs and Crocodiles, today we’re looking at the Carrot, Onion, and Goat.

The Carrot

The Carrot was the very basic idea of a long, rectangular, explosive charge carried ahead of a tank in order to blow up obstacles impeding the tank without its crew having to get out and expose themselves to potential fire. A charge of 12 to 25lb could be carried on a bracket attached to the tank, but heavier charges of up to 664lb could still be used. These were instead attached forward of an Anti-Mine Reconnaissance Castor Roller (or AMRCR, similar to the Canadian Indestructible Roller Device featured in one of our earlier articles).

Carrot fitted to a Churchill tank.

With the larger charges, once they were positioned, an electric fuse would blow out the hinge pin from the AMRCR’s rear brackets and detach the whole thing from the tank hull, leaving it to back away safely. Whilst reversing, wires attached between the tank and the structure would pull the safety pins from percussion igniters which would light safety fuses, designed to give the tank time to clear fully before the full detonation triggered.

A heavy Carrot.

First developed in July 1942, no real fault was found with the device but it simply didn’t perform well enough in terms of anti-concrete and anti-minefield for development to be continued. It was therefore abandoned in November 1943.

A Churchill attempting to pass through the breach left by the Carrot.

The Onion

The Onion was a similar principle to the heavy Carrot, developed at roughly the same time, but designed to fit on any tank, rather than requiring a roller structure on the front. It was first developed by the Department of Tank Design after the Dieppe Raid in August 1942 showed that unprotected Sappers were frequently unable to reach their targets whilst under heavy small arms fire and a more armoured approach was needed.

The Onion.

The framework was 9' wide and 4' 6" high, carried vertically by two side arms attached to the tank. On arrival at the obstacle, a mechanical release cable inside the tank was pulled, allowing the framework to fall. Two bent legs behind the bulk of the framework actually hit the ground first and meant that it would fall forward onto the obstacle and stay in place against it. The tank would then reverse away safely and the charge could be detonated electrically through trailing cables.

A pre-Onion obstacle.

Trials in February 1943 showed that it could clear paths for tanks through a series of obstacles including dragon’s teeth, reinforced concrete posts and 4-foot reinforced concrete cubes, but it failed against a 6-foot by 6-foot reinforced concrete wall. Also, actually getting the device in place was also more awkward than it should have been for consistent use. As a result of the trial, it was decided not to continue development.

The post-Onion passage.

After the Carrot and Onion were discontinued, the Goat emerged in October 1943. Development took place at the Obstacle Assault Centre in Aldershot and in January 1944, the Goat Mk III was ready for presentation with 12 prototypes made.

The Goat

Goats were designed for the AVRE (Assault Vehicle, Royal Engineers). The charges would sit on a front-heavy horizontal platform above the tank’s nose, supported mainly by two struts which had forked lower ends to fit over a special bracket attached to the nose. Two other uprights, one each inserted through the rear corner of the platform, fed down with forked ends to special brackets adapted to the normal Churchill front bracket attachment studs in order to provide lateral stability as well.

A Goat mounted on a Churchill.

When the antennae at the front of the platform made contact with an obstacle, the wires holding them in position would shear and the antennae would spring back and trigger the release mechanism. This sat between the rear of the platform and the top of the hull visor plate. At the same time, two legs would also be released which would drop down and help the Goat to pivot in place properly. The weight and positioning caused the platform to drop forward and downward, and the tank would then further push it into place against the obstacle before backing away, the legs again helping to keep it in the correct position. The charge could then be detonated electrically by trailing wires as with the Onion. 

An initial order of 200 Goats was delivered between March and May, with user trials by 79 Armoured Division taking place in March, and a follow up order for another 200 placed in July. This makes it easily more successful than its vegetable counterparts, but sadly we have no real data on how well it performed in the field. Probably not the greatest of all time, but certainly a fascinating invention nonetheless!

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Information and images in this article are taken from E:05.0177.01 and E:05.0177.04.

Published in The Craftsman, July 2025.