was reloaded through a sliding cover that replaced one of the forward drivers hatches in the top of the hull. Together the vehicle was named Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers. Trials of the new vehicle were undertaken throughout 1943. The vehicle was not known as "Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers" at this time. Production commenced in 1944 based on a mixed fleet of Churchill III and IV vehicles. These were assigned to three regiments of the Royal Engineers forming the new 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers, part of the 79th Armoured Division. The vehicles became the basis for a range of modifications and additions as part of Hobart's Funnies. Nomenclature AVRE vehicles have been known by several different names through their lifespan. Secrecy over the meaning of the codenames given to Hobarts Funnies in the lead-in to D-Day led many to refer to the AVRE simply as an "engineer tank", most not knowing the AVRE name or what AVRE stood for. This led to confusion with other types of engineer tank, such as recovery vehicles. In October 1943 an army training memorandum was issued removing the ambiguity in naming and defining the "Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers" name for all users. The majority of documentation continued to refer to the abbreviated "AVRE" (or "A.Vs.R.E." in plural). Even the Churchill AVRE's own instruction book did not explain what A.V.R.E. stood for. With infrequent use of the full form, naming became confused. At the end of the war, the Final Report of the 79th Armoured Division, the records of the Department of Tank Design, and the official history of the 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers, all use the "Assault Vehicle" terminology. The official history of the 79th Armoured Division states "Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers" however, although notes that it was rushed into print. As the latter was provided to all members of the division, the "Armoured Vehicle" terminology gained significant traction. The vehicles continue to be referred to primarily in the abbreviated "AVRE" form. When rarely defined, both the Churchill VII AVRE and the Centurion AVRE became known by both Assault and Armoured terms interchangeably, with the latter Armoured term becoming more common. Nomenclature settled on Armoured Vehicle with the introduction of the Chieftain Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers. "Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers" has since become the accepted term, retrospectively applied to previous vehicles in most references. More recently, the AVRE designation appears to have been