Castle Martin Iltis?

[Baxter]

Seeing as I have a Ex Castle Martin Iltis, I'm curious to see how many others are still knocking about.

As I understand it, there were 12 there, when the base closed in 1996 they were sold on, 10 as "Good 'uns" and 2 as scrappers.

 

From what I can gather, mine has been stored for 14 years before I got it, and I don't know if the amount of missing parts is due to bits just getting lost while it's been stored, or if mine was one of the dead ones.

 

I'll start the ball rolling.

 

1. - 1982 model year badged as "FeldJaeger" with older medic markings painted out.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

 

If you have one, copy the list with your details in.

 

:kiss:

[Baxter]

Tactical markings for Castle martin Iltis.

 

 

[AlienFTM]

... there were 12 there, when the base closed in 1996

 

Closed = returned to the MOD having been made available to the Bundeswehr in 1962 in order to free up Hohne Ranges for the exclusive use of BAOR.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlemartin_Training_Area

 

At Hohne Ranges in 1980 I remember seeing an M60A1 which had suffered a split track and consequently turned right off the range road and ploughed into a rather stout tree. I was told that the M60 actually managed to crack its glacis plate. Wouldn't fill me with confidence that I'd survive a hit from a T62 if I were an M60 crewman.

 

Point here is that although we supposedly swapped Castlemartin for sole rights to Hohne, we were accommodating the US Army.

[schliesser92]

At the time the Germans came to Castlemartin (in 1961), I was a spotty-faced youth living in Pembroke Dock. My father was BSM of 53 (Louisburg) Battery (part of 22 LtAD Regt RA) at the time. They arrived with M47s and M48s, supported by M88s, Mungas, Unimog S404B and Ford G398SAM 3-tonners. They came in an LST, and disembarked at Pembroke Dock.I believe that the few APCs they had at the time were HS30s (SPz1) and Hotchkiss (SPz2).

 

I assume that the Iltis was a bog-standard machine and not one of those modified as emergency stretcher carriers, ie the medics runabout.

Edited September 14, 2010 by schliesser92

[Peter4456]

My Mum and Dad were on holiday in Pembrokeshire in my Dad's Series II SWB Land Rover when the Germans arrived. I understand that German armour arriving in the UK only 16 years after the war caused quite a stir at the time and that the press were out in force to record the arrival.

 

Apparently (and I'd love to see it for real!), my Dad got mixed up with the convoy and his civilian Land Rover appeared in the news reel footage, in the middle of a load of German tanks!

 

Fast forward to a family holiday in Pembrokeshire, circa 1975, and I watched amazed as a group of German soldiers wrote 'Deutschland' in huge letters in the sand at Barafundle Bay, not far from Castlemartin!

 

Aah, the memories....!!

[Baxter]

Closed = returned to the MOD having been made available to the Bundeswehr in 1962 in order to free up Hohne Ranges for the exclusive use of BAOR.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlemartin_Training_Area

 

At Hohne Ranges in 1980 I remember seeing an M60A1 which had suffered a split track and consequently turned right off the range road and ploughed into a rather stout tree. I was told that the M60 actually managed to crack its glacis plate. Wouldn't fill me with confidence that I'd survive a hit from a T62 if I were an M60 crewman.

 

Point here is that although we supposedly swapped Castlemartin for sole rights to Hohne, we were accommodating the US Army.

 

Thanks for the info, appreciated.

[Baxter]

I assume that the Iltis was a bog-standard machine and not one of those modified as emergency stretcher carriers, ie the medics runabout.

 

Mine left the factory as a standard vehicle, it has medic stickers all over it which have been painted out, it then has the Feldjaeger decals fitted.

 

Theres a really useful guy to know (Uwe) on the German Iltis forum found here..

 

http://www.vw-183.de/forum/

 

He served in Germany and is really into his Iltis, he seems to have a lot of archived information and was able to tell me the original BW registration plus where it was stationed throughout it's life.

 

If anyone else reads this with an Iltis and knows nothing of it's German history Uwe is a really nice guy and is more than happy to help out with information about the vehicles.