EWK Gillois

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EWK Gillois from French holdings in the Technikmuseum Speyer

EWK Gillois was a military amphibious vehicle that could be used to build rapid swimming bridges and ferries .

technical description

For land travel, the main floating body was provided with four driven wheels. These were withdrawn for the water journey. The propeller was driven by a 360 degree rotatable propeller . It was at the end of a swing-out diving arm that was lowered 270 degrees from its transport position above the cab. To increase the load-bearing capacity and stability during navigation, the crew attached plastic hoses from DSB to both sides of the hull . They were inflated with the vehicle's compressor to a length of 11 m and a diameter of 1.4 m. The bridge deck, 8 m long, lay sideways during land travel and was hydraulically positioned 90 degrees transversely for retraction and pulled apart to make space for the middle section. In this way a 4 m wide roadway was created. On both sides 700 mm wide pedestrian walkways could be unfolded. Ramp vehicles were required for the connection to the bank. Instead of the bridge elements, these each had an 8 m long ramp with them. The ramps were hydraulically coupled to the bridge and ferry, after which the ramp vehicle moved away. For a 100 m bridge of the MLC 50/80 13 vehicles with a crew of 50 were required. The bridge could be retracted in 45 minutes. Two to four vehicles could be coupled to MLC 40 to 90 transfer ferries. Bank heights of up to 3 m could be overcome with the ramps.

There was also a version in which individual vehicles were configured as ferries. The loading took place via a hydraulically operated 5 m long ramp at the bow. MLC 20 was the regular load on these vehicles, up to MLC 25 was possible. The four-man crew were able to get the vehicle ready for water travel in 40 minutes. Embankments of up to 1.70 m could be overcome.

Technical specifications

EWK Gillois
Manufacturer EWK
crew 4 soldiers
Weight 29,000 kg (MLC 36)
length 12.3 m
width 3.19 m
Width with floats approx. 5.80 m
height 3.90 m
Max. Gradeability 50%
engine Deutz F 12 l 714 air-cooled diesel engine
Speed ​​on land max 70 km / h

Mission history

The device was invented by Colonel Jean F. Gillois in the 1950s and built for the French army by Eisenwerke Kaiserslautern . Other NATO countries did not take over the device, as the Bundeswehr had meanwhile commissioned the more modern M2 system . EWK was also involved in its production. The British Army ordered seven Gillois vehicles for test purposes, but based on the results also decided on the M2. The successor to the Gillois in the French army was the EFA from the nineties .

The Israeli army was looking for the Six Day War bridge device with which they could cross the Suez Canal in another war with Egypt . Since this offensive intention to use it was obvious, NATO states refused to supply Israel with military bridge equipment. In the absence of alternatives, Israel bought around 60 Gillois as scrap vehicles in Europe in 1971, of which around 20 could be made ready for use again by the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War . They were given the Hebrew name Timsah ( alligator ). The Gillois played a crucial role in the Yom Kippur War. They were used as ferries after Israeli forces crossed the Suez Canal in a counterattack. Until the first floating bridge was built after two days, tanks could only strengthen the bridgehead on the west bank via the Gillois . The ferries carried 120 battle tanks as well as armored personnel carriers and supplies across the canal. A major disadvantage of the construction became apparent under artillery fire: if shrapnel penetrated the floats, the air escaped and the vehicles overturned in a very short time, especially if they were loaded. One day after the start of the mission, only eight of 17 Gillois were still operational. The Timsah were still in use until at least the early eighties

Preserved specimens are exhibited in Yad LaShiryon (memorial and museum of the Israeli tank troops in Latrun ), in the Museum of the Israeli Army Batey ha-Osef ( Tel Aviv ) and in the Speyer Museum of Technology .

literature

  • Jacob Even, Simcha B. Maoz: At the Decisive Point in the Sinai: Generalship in the Yom Kippur War , Univ. Press of Kentucky, Lexington 2017, ISBN 978-0813169552
  • Amiram Ezov: Crossing. Suez, 1973: A New point of view , Contenttonow 2016, ISBN 978-965-550-549-8
  • François Quiri, Les engins amphibies Gillois ou l'idée d'un génie, Génie Édition , coll. "Les Véhicules du Génie", 2013, ISBN 978-2-7466-5701-4
  • Abraham Rabinovich: Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East , New York, NY: Schocken Books 2017, ISBN 978-0-8052-1124-5 , pp. 400-467

Web links

Commons : EWK Gillois  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ JH Joiner: One more river to cross. The Story of British Military Bridgebuilding Leo Cooper, Barnsley 2001, ISBN 978-0-85052-788-9 , pp. 303ff
  2. ↑ https://www.armyrecognition.com/vehicules_et_blindes_a_roues_france_armee_army/efa_cefa_description_identification_pictures_picture_photo_image_french_wheeled_mechanised_bridge_ve.html
  3. ↑ http://olli.illinois.edu/downloads/courses/2017%20Fall/War%20That%20Changed%20the%20World%20The%201973%20Arab-Israeli%20War,%20The/THE%20WAR%20THAT%20CHANGED% 20THE% 20WORLD% 20Week% 203.pdf
  4. ↑ Amiram Ezov: Crossing. Suez, 1973: A New point of view , Contenttonow 2016, ISBN 978-965-550-549-8 , pp. 68f
  5. ^ Abraham Rabinovich: Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East , New York, NY: Schocken Books 2017, ISBN 978-0-8052-1124-5 , pp. 466f
  6. ↑ Amiram Ezov: Crossing. Suez, 1973: A New point of view , Contenttonow 2016, ISBN 978-965-550-549-8 , p. 68
  7. ↑ http://gpophotoeng.gov.il/fotoweb/Grid.fwx?archiveId=5001&SF_LASTSEARCH=%28FQYFT+contains%28BMP+or+FPIX+or+JPEG+or+PNTG+or+8BIM+or+PNG+or+ QDGX + or + PICT + or + QTIF + or + SGI + or + TPIC + or + TIFF + or + NEF + or + PCDI% 29% 29 & SF_FIELD1_GROUP = 1 & SF_GROUP1_BOOLEAN = and & SF_FIELD1_MATCHTYPE = exact & SF_FIELD1 = ferry & SF_SEARCHINRESULT = 0 & SF_FIELD3_MATCHTYPE = exact & SF_FIELD3_BOOLEAN = and & SF_FIELD3_GROUP = 1 & SF_FIELD3 = & doSearch = Go # Preview35