After the Normandy beachheads were secured in June 1944, the Allies began to advance inland into France. To the east, the British and Canadians became bogged down fighting several panzer divisions around their main object, the city of Caen. To the west, the US forces encountered the Normandy Bocage country which was heavily defended by the Germans and it became known as the “Battle of the Hedgerows”. American (or Yankee) ingenuity came through and a device was developed to help cut thru the hedgerows.
Normandy Bocage
Originally built by the Romans, the hedgerows in Normandy were mounds of dirt raised in irregular patterns that served as fences between plots of land. Irrigation ditches with raised sides provided water to all the fields and animals. The thick vegetation on these dirt mounds created walls up to 16 feet (4.88 m) high. A typical square mile (640 Acre) of the country side contained hundreds of these irregular hedged enclosures.
Before the D-Day invasion, the Germans prepared their defenses in the bocage. Each of these enclosures was a virtual fortress, and the Germans practiced moving through and around the hedges. They also practiced firing from trees into nearby fields. The most likely advance routes of the enemy were marked. These locations were mapped by coordinates, allowing the defenders to quickly and accurately call artillery fire onto the advancing attackers.
The boundaries of two properties were usually separated by two hedgerows with a path or narrow road between them. These made ideal defensive positions for machine guns, mortars, and anti-tank weapons. Some of these paths were wide enough for small vehicles to drive on.
GIs of the 9th Infantry Regiment, US 2nd Infantry Division, in a hedgerow near Hill 192 northwest of St-Lô on June 17th.
Film: Hedgerows – the Normandy Bocage
A M4 dozer tank of the 23rd Armored Engineer Battalion, US 3rd Armored Division plows through a hedgerow on July 13th. It was an effective method to cut through the hedgerows but there were not enough dozer tanks to accompany all the units. It also took a crane and time to mount the M1 dozer blade on a Sherman.
The US 747th Tank Battalion (attached to the US 29th Infantry Division) made the first attempts to develop a device for their tanks to cut through the hedgerows. The tanks with these devices were called “Rhinoceros” or “Rhino” tanks.
On the left is the “Salad Fork” device where two pointed timbers were mounted on the hull front. They would penetrate the base of the hedge creating two tunnels and then accompanying engineers would fill the tunnels with explosives and blow up the hedge. It was not effective because the engineers had carry and set explosives while under fire. After the Salad Fork, the 747th developed the “Green Dozer” device (on the right) which was less successful.
This is a front view of a M4A1 Sherman with the Salad Fork mounted. The timber on the left has been bent up from heavy use. Note the hoods over the driver and co-driver hatches.
On the left is another variation of the Green Dozer design, the T4 Rhinoceros device. It was effective in pushing aside brush but was not able to plow through the dense base of the hedgerow. On the right is the least common of the Rhino devices, the T3. It was the most flimsiest of the Rhino designs and it was also mounted on some M10 Tank Destroyers.
The US 3rd Armored Division developed its own distinctive style cutter, the T2 Douglas device. It can be distinguished by the triangular plates on both sides. This late production M4A1 Sherman was originally configured as a DD (“Duplex Drive” amphibious swimming) tank.
The Culin Device
Sergeant Culin was credited of inventing the hedge breaching device. From Cranford, New Jersey, Culin was serving with the 102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (New Jersey National Guard, the “Essex Troop,” US 2nd Armored Division) when he came up with the four-pronged plow device. Culin was inspired by a Tennessee hillbilly named Roberts whom he a had discussion with and he asked if some saw teeth could mounted on the front of the tank and cut through the hedges. Culin realized the potential of the idea and built a prototype created from scrap steel from a German roadblock. After welding the assembly to the front of his tank, it was successful in rapidly plowing gaps in the hedgerows. On July 14th, the device was demonstrated to Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, who thought it was a brilliant invention and ordered that as many tanks as possible be fitted with the device before Operation Cobra, the US breakout on July 25th. Being an honest man, Culin did tried to give the credit to Roberts but it was overlooked in all the publicity he got for “inventing” the device.
Culin received the Legion of Merit. Four months later, Culin lost a leg to a land mine in the Hürtgen Forest (German: Schlacht im Hürtgenwald). After he returned to the USA, he became a salesman for Schenley Industries, Inc., liquor distributors.
Sergeant Curtis Grubb Culin III (10 February 1915 to 20 November 1963)
The classic Rhinoceros device was the T1 developed by Culin mounted on this M4 Sherman.
There were several variations of the T1 such as this T1E1 mounted on a M10 Tank Destroyer (the turret is rotated to the rear). The center prong was lower.
Each device was manually manufactured in the field and each one was not exactly the same. The quality of the devices depended on the welder’s talent and the quality of the steel used. Here are some Rhinoceros device types for the M5A1 Stuart light tank and the M4 Sherman.
This M5A1 Stuart has a Rhinoceros device mounted. The tank’s right track has a single track grouser attached and a colored aerial recognition panel is on the engine deck. Note the large white circled star painted on the turret roof.
Film: M4 Sherman Hedge Cutter – Rhinoceros – Normandie – 18/07/1944
Czech Hedgehogs
General Bradley ordered the device be manufactured in quantity. This was done using steel salvaged from the thousands of obstacles, such as Czech hedgehogs, which the Germans had placed hundreds on the French beaches during the construction of the Atlantic Wall.
US engineers disassembling hedgehogs collected from Normandy beaches.
The hedgehog was a static anti-tank obstacle. It was very effective in keeping light to medium tanks and vehicles from penetrating a line of defense. The Czech name refers to its origin in Czechoslovakia where the hedgehogs were originally deployed on the Czech–German border in the Czechoslovak border fortifications, a massive but incomplete system that was turned over to Germany after the occupation of the Sudetenland as a consequence of the Munich Agreement in 1938.
The first hedgehogs were built of reinforced concrete, with a shape similar to later metal variants. But the concrete hedgehogs proved to be ineffective as they could be damaged by machine gun fire. Once fragmented, the debris provided more cover for the enemy infantry than did their steel counterparts. Therefore, only the oldest sections of the Czechoslovak defensive line, built in 1935–1936, were equipped with concrete hedgehogs, and usually only on the secondary line. The steel versions were constructed of angle beams or I-beams (lengths with an L- or Ɪ-shaped cross section) which did not fall apart when hit by machine gun fire.
Czech hedgehogs were widely used by the Soviet Union as an anti-tank defense. They were built from any sturdy pieces of metal and sometimes wood, including railroad ties. They were especially effective in urban combat, where hedgehogs could effectively block a street.
Saint-Jean-de-Daye
On 26 July 1944, two M4A1(76)W Shermans and one M4 Sherman of the 32nd Armored Regiment, US 3rd Armored Division are in the center of the village Saint-Jean-de-Daye (north of St-Lô). The GMC CCKW 2-1/2 ton truck on the left has the name “SUSAN” painted under the star.
This is a close up of one of the M4A1(76)W Shermans. The unit codes are clearly seen on front hull. An engineer is welding a hedgerow cutter (T2 Douglas devise) to be mounted on the Sherman.
Today, the location is at the intersection of Voie de la Liberté (“Way of Freedom”) and Route D445.
Film: Saint-Jean-de-Daye, Normandy, France 7/08/1944
Film: US soldiers repair tanks and weld hedge cutters on M4 tanks.
A M4A1(76)W Sherman with a hedgerow cutter carrying infantry on the engine deck punching it way through a hedge. On the left, are a couple of GIs watching.
A M4 Composite (or Hybrid) Sherman mounting a hedgerow cutter passes the German weapon which tankers feared most, the 88mm FlaK 36 anti-aircraft gun.
This is an aerial view of US tanks driving freely through hedgerows which had been penetrated by tanks with hedgerow cutters. The main roads were covered by German anti-tank guns and knocked out US tanks are seen on the road on the right.
Even with a hedgerow cutter mounted, US tanks could still be knocked out by enemy fire. The sandbags on this knocked out M4 Sherman were burst open by machine gun fire and the tank’s right track is broken and it is burnt. The prongs on the hedgerow cutters were usually all the same length. The left side of the I-beam appears to be twisted and the prong on the left end is bent downward where we are seeing the whole length. The other prongs are somewhat level and we are seeing them almost head on. This tank probably hit a thick root or a rock in a hedge.
A M8 75mm Gun Motor Carriage (GMC) of the 113th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron speeds down a road outside of St. Giles (west of St-Lô) passes a knocked out Panther on July 27th. The 113th was supporting the US 30th Infantry Division nicknamed “Old Hickory”.
In November 1944, the US Ordnance Department recommended that the M8 GMC be named the General Scott, after American general Winfield Scott (13 June 1786 to 29 May 1866), although there is no evidence that this name was ever used.
Winfield Scott joined the US Army in 1808 as a captain in the light artillery. During the War of 1812, Scott served on the Canadian front, taking part in the Battle of Queenston Heights and the Battle of Fort George, and was promoted to the brevet rank of major general in early 1814. He served with distinction in the Battle of Chippawa, but was badly wounded in the subsequent Battle of Lundy’s Lane. In October 1814, Scott was appointed commander of American forces in Maryland and northern Virginia, taking command in the aftermath of the Burning of Washington. After the end of the war in February 1815, Scott was assigned to command army forces in a district containing much of the northeastern United States. He was known as Old Fuss and Feathers for his insistence on proper military etiquette, as well as the Grand Old Man of the Army for his many years of service. Scott holds the record for the greatest length of active service as general in the US Army, as well as the longest tenure as the army’s chief officer.
The crew of M8 GMC named “Laxative”, serial number 4052227, of the US 3rd Armored Division is cleaning the 75mm howitzer and resuppling the ammo on August 9th during the fighting with the 2. Panzer-Division and the 1. SS-Panzer-Division around Barenton (just east of Mortain). Note the hedgerow cutter mounted on the front.
This is another view of M8 GMC “Laxative” from the other side with a M4A1(76)W Sherman in the background.
This is an earlier photo of M8 GMC “Laxative” taken in the UK during training. Some sources incorrectly captioned this photo was taken after Normandy where the hedgerow cutter was removed and the tactical numbers were painted over.
M4A1 Shermans supporting infantry of 15th Corps, US 3rd Army, advances through Perriers-en-Beauficel (north of Mortain) on August 12th. The nearest Sherman has a hedgerow cutter mounted.
M4A1(75) Sherman named “Battling Bitch” and a M4 105mm Howitzer Sherman near Chartres (southeast of Paris), France on August 16th. The M4(105) carries the unit codes “7Δ-31Δ” which identifies them as belonging to the US 7th Armored Division, 31st Tank Battalion. The 7th Armored Division landed on Omaha and Utah Beaches between August 13–14.
This is my close up of M4A1 “Battling Bitch” with the hedgerow cutter.
A M4 Sherman with a T1 hedgerow cutter mounted moves through Lambézellec in the northern outskirts of the city Brest, France in late August 1944.
After the Allies moved out of the Normandy Bocage area, many of the tanks had the hedgerow cutters removed. Some of them soldiered on with the hedgerow cutter still mounted into early 1945. If the tank was knocked out and/or replaced with a new tank, the hedgerow cutter was not transferred to the new tank. The tanks of new units that arrived in France after late August 1944 did not have hedgerow cutters installed.
On September 2nd, St. Amand (Today Saint-Amand-les-Eaux) was liberated by the US 79th Infantry Division. This M5A1 with a hedgerow cutter is missing its front hull machine gun. Note the circled star on the turret roof. The M5A1 tanks probably belonged to a US reconnaissance cavalry squadron.
Film: Libération de Saint-Amand-Les-Eaux 1944
A M4 Sherman supporting GIs of I Company, 60th Infantry Regiment, US 9th Infantry Division, during fighting on the French-Belgian border on September 9th.
A M4A1 Sherman of Company C, 743rd Tank Battalion in Heerlen, Holland (east of Maastricht and north of Aachen) on September 17th. Note the upside side down center prong on the hedgerow cutter.
A M18 Hellcat 76mm Tank Destroyer, registration number 40145192, of Company A, 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion, is parked alongside some bombed out buildings in the out shirts of Brest, France on September 12th. It still has a hedgerow cutter mounted on the front hull. A pinup girl is painted on the forward part of the sponson, and on the center of the sponson is the nickname “I DON’T WANT A.”
A M4 Sherman of the US 3rd Armored Division carrying GIs of the division’s 36th Armored Infantry Regiment near the town of Stolberg, Germany, 5 km (3.1 miles) east of Aachen on 14 October 1944. Note this tank had a hedgerow cutter but it was removed leaving only part of the mounting steel beams.
A M10 of the 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion with T3 hedgerow cutter in Übach, Germany, late 1944. The town is located near the border with Holland approximately 10 km (6.2 miles) east of Heerlen and 15 km (9.3 miles) north of Aachen. This M10 appears to been knocked out and burned, the tracks pads had been burnt off exposing the connector pins.
The 17th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron disembarked across Utah Beach on 15 July 1944 and entered Brittany with Task Force A on August 3rd for the advance toward the port of Brest, France. This 17th Cavalry M5A1 still with its hedgerow cutter is in a dug in position on 22 January 1945 . Note the field modified stowage rack on the rear of the turret.
This is a M5A1 from the 15th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron in early 1945. Track shoes were added to the front armor for extra protection. The 15th Cavalry was also with Task Force A during the advance on Brest in 1944.
A 105mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 Priest with a hedgerow cutter mounted on front hull in early 1945.
A M10 of the 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion supporting the US 8th Infantry Division drives through Düren on 24 February 1945. Düren is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the Rur (or Roer) River.
A M10 of the 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion with a hedgerow cutting device near Olpe, Germany, roughly 60 km (37.3 miles) east of Cologne and 20 km (12.4 miles) northwest of Siegen.
A M5A1 Stuart tank still with a hedgerow cutter in Angelsdorf (west of Cologne), Germany on 28 February 1945. This M5A1 has a Browning M2 .50 Caliber MG mounted on the turret instead of the usual Browning M1919 .30 caliber MG.
US 83rd Infantry Division
The US 83rd Infantry division landed at Omaha Beach on June 18th and entered the hedgerow country south of Carentan on June 27th. Between July 5-16, the 746th Tank Battalion was attached to the 83rd Infantry division.
In early 1945, wartime correspondents nicknamed the 83rd Division “The Rag-Tag Circus” due to its resourceful commander who ordered the supplementing of the division’s transportation with anything that moved. The division moved as fast as an armored task force with an assortment of captured German vehicles, kubelwagens, staff cars, ammunition trucks, panzers, motor bikes, buses, a concrete mixer, and two fire engines. Every enemy unit or town that surrendered or was captured provided additional transportation for the division. The newly acquired vehicles were quickly painted Olive Drab and marked with a US star before joining the division.
In late February 1945, the 83rd Division formed a small task force consisting of the 330th Infantry Regiment and tank support from the 746th Tank Battalion to seize a bridge over the Rhine at Oberkassel near Düsseldorf. The leading element of the task force had German speaking GIs and a few tanks with German markings.
This M5A1 Stuart tank on the right with German crosses was photographed after the ruse has failed and the Germans destroyed the bridge.
This is a knocked out captured M5A1 Stuart tank. The hedgerow cutter mounted on the front hull probably was not created by US Army personnel.
A M4A1 Sherman of the 741st Tank Battalion supporting the US 2nd Infantry Division, crosses a thread way bridge in Dumpelfeld, Germany, on 9 March 1945. The hull and turret are covered with Sommerfeld matting for camouflaging the tank with foliage. The hedgerow cutter still mounted on the front indicate that this is one of the original tanks that fought in Normandy.
Sommerfeld tracking (or matting) was named after German expatriate engineer, Kurt Joachim Sommerfeld, then living in Cambridge, England. It was a light weight wire mesh which was used extensively by the Royal Air Force to construct runways on their airfields, as it could be deployed quickly. It was also supplied to US forces by Britain in reverse Lend Lease.
British Tanks
The British Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) referred to the devices as “Prongs” and produced 24 from ex-German beach defenses, but thereafter Prongs were manufactured in the UK. Six hundred Mark I Prongs were delivered by August 1944, to be fitted to the Sherman Vs (M4A4). A further 1000 Mark II Prongs were produced, to be fitted on Shermans and M10 Tank Destroyers, and 500 Mark III prongs were manufactured for the Cromwell tank. The Churchill tanks were not considered to need the prongs, but some were equipped with them regardless. Since most of the prong cutters were manufactured in the UK, by the time they were shipped to the battle front, the units probably have already advanced out of the bocage and they were no longer needed.
Operation Bluecoat (from 30 July to 7 August) was a British offensive to secure the road junction of Vire and the high ground of Mont Pinçon. The attack was made at short notice to exploit the success of Operation Cobra by the US 1st Army. British Churchill tanks equipped with prong cutters were able to traverse terrain considered impassable to tracked vehicles, taking the German defenders by surprise. There is no photo evidence of this found.
Sherman tanks of the Guards Armoured Divison passes a WWI graves memorial south of Fouilloy (south of Arras) on September 1st. The AoS number 51 on the transmission housing of the M4A4 Sherman indicates that it belonged to the 2nd Armoured Battalion, Grenadier Guards. Only the one M4A4 had the prong cutter mounted. The other Shermans in the column do not have cutters.
This is my close up of IWM BU 269.
This is my close up of IWM BU 272.
Today, it is the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery along Route D23, south of Fouilloy (east of Amiens). The highway today is not as close to the memorial as the old road was in 1944.
Shermans of the Guards Armoured Divison advancing north towards Arras on September 1st. The leading sherman (probably a M4A4) has a prong cutter mounted.
This is my close up of IWM BU 261.
Brest, 14-16 September 1944
After the US Normandy breakout (Operation Cobra), the US 3rd Army passed through Avranches and the US VII Corps moved west along the Brittany peninsula to capture the ports of St. Malo, St. Nazaire, Lorient and Brest. US forces reached the fortified port of Brest on August 7 and a siege which lasted five weeks where heavy artillery shelling, air strikes and infantry assaults failed to take the port. General Omar Bradley requested special support from the British 79th Division and 141 RAC Squadron B commanded by Major Nigel Ryle which consisted of 2 Command Churchill tanks, 2 95mm support Churchill tanks and 5 Troops (15 crocodile tanks total). They were transported by the US Army transport through the US sector to Brittany. The crocodiles supported the US infantry in attacking the heavily fortified Fort Montbarey. It took the US infantry three days to take the fort.
Hedgerow cutters were mounted to some of the Churchill tanks. There is no information if they were ordered to be installed or the US engineers just mounted them.
Two Churchill crocodiles of the 141 RAC with prong cutters mounted.
This is the front of a Churchill crocodile with prongs cutter mounted. The front hull machine gun is replaced with a flame gun.
Film: West Front War Report (1945)
This is my screen capture from segment 2:04-2:05 in the above film. Note this crocodile is still equipped with a prong cutter.
This is the only photo of a British Cromwell tank with Mark III prongs cutter. The tank appears to be parked in front of a workshop building. The location is not known.
Today
A restored Stuart M5A1 Light Tank is displayed at Bastogne Barracks in Belgium. The Barracks is located at 40 Rue de la Roche (N834) in Bastogne, northwest of the city center. They open at 10am and close at 4pm. Check out their Facebook page for information about events.
Video: M5 Stuart tank with Culin hedgerow cutter device
Video: Radial engine sherman with hedgerow cutter
Video: Improvised WWII Hedgerow Cutter
In early 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, hedgehogs were used in conjunction with concrete barriers and other techniques to stop advancing Russian forces. The Ukrainian Railways repurposed new tracks to make hundreds of hedgehogs at 33 of its own shops and some other sites. The railroad estimated they had enough material for some 1800 hedgehogs. The Ukrainian military in Odessa, Kyiv and Lviv also made hedgehogs to be distributed to strategic locations. In Kyiv, hedgehogs from WWII were brought out of a museum and used at a roadblock.
Hedgehog obstacles on a street in Odessa, Ukraine.
Model kits
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Calibre 35 35-0031 WW2 Allied Rhinoceros Hedgerow Cutter (I) for Sherman Tanks (Resin) – 200?
Calibre 35 35-0101 WW2 Allied Rhinoceros Hedgerow Cutter (II) for Sherman Tanks (Resin) – 200?
Calibre 35 35-012 Rhinoceros Hedgerow Cutter III (Resin)
Commander Models 35-201 Hedgerow Cutters Type 1 (Photoetched fret) – 2013
Commander Models 35-202 Hedgerow Cutters Type 2 (Photoetched fret) – 2013
Commander Models 35-203 Hedgerow Cutters Type 3 (Photoetched fret) – 2013
Commander Models 35-204 Hedgerow Cutters Type 4 (Photoetched fret) – 2013
Def.Model DM35093 WWII US Tank hedgerow cutter set (Resin)
Jadar-Model 35543 Hedgerow Cutter for WWII Allied Vehicle (Resin) – 2007
Panzer Art RE35-133 T3 Rhinoceros Device for M4/M10 (Resin)
Hasegawa 86816 M4A3E8 Sherman w/Hedge Low (Row) Cutter – 1995
(ex-Dragon and DML kits with new parts. The M4A3E8 Sherman never had a hedgerow cutter)
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Hauler HLX48027 Rhinoceros hedgerow cutter (Photoetched fret)
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Britannia Miniatures SET1 USA Cullin Hedge Cutter Set 1 M4 Sherman (White metal casting)
Note:
A real model builder could scratch build the cutter using plastic card stock or Plastrut pieces.
Mike's Research 