Terrapins and Buffalo LVT-4s were the two most used amphibious by the Canadian and British Armies during the Northwest European Campaign. While the Buffalo was US-built, armed and robust, the Terrapin was more akin to an amphibious cargo truck. Both were held by the British 79th Armoured Division's Royal Engineer assault teams as a 21st Army Group resource. The vehicles were allocated as needed.
LVT-4 Buffalo
Developed from earlier tracked amphibious vehicles built initially for the US Marine Corps for use in the Pacific Theatre, the LVT-4 Buffalo, carried light vehicles and guns or up to 30 troops and combinations of cargo and troops. It was 8 metres long and 3.25 metres wide. It could carry up to 4100 kg and 30 troops. It had a land speed of 32 kph and swam at 12 kph in the water. The engine was mounted at the front and there was a rear ramp. This allowed troops to disembark under some cover and facilitated the loading and unloading of cargo.
The British Army had 500 Buffalos, and while a few were used during the Normandy invasion, most were used in the Scheldt and the Crossing of the Rhine. Most were armed with two .30 calibre Browning machine guns and a Polsen 20 mm. cannon. They were sometimes armed with the Canadian Ronson flamethrower.
Terrapin Mark 1
The Terrapin Mark 1 was an unarmed British-built wheeled amphibian built essentially to fill the gap created by a shortage of US-built DUWKs for use in the Northwest European Campaign. It was ‘skid-steered’ using two engines separately powering the wheels on each side. Using two tiller bars, the driver accelerated one the sider towards which the vehicle was to be steered and decelerated on the opposite side. In the water, it was propelled by two rear-mounted propellers. It had a land speed of 24 kph and a water speed of 5 kph. It was seven metres long and 2.67 meters wide. It had a payload of 4 tons or about 20 troops.
A Mark II version was prototyped but never put into production.
Use in the Battle of the Scheldt
During the operations in the Breskens Pocket, Terrapin and Buffalo transports carried the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade in what was intended to be a diversionary attack across a mile wide Braakman Inlet on 9 October 1944. A sufficiently large bridgehead was made that the attack became the main attempt and the German defences were turned.
Terrapins and Buffalo transports were used in Operation Vitality II on 26 October to carry units from the British 52nd (Lowland) Division with supporting Royal Canadian Engineers across an 8 kilometre wide stretch the Scheldt to South Beveland Island.