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buried and abandoned tanks


eddy8men

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Hi All,

 

Earlier in this thread there was information about Churchill tanks being tested at Stobbs Camp in the Scottish Borders.

 

By coincedence, yesterday my supervisor came in to work. He, and some friends had been exploring the site of the camp. they found lots of spent bullets etc, - and the remains of a tank which had been used for target practice. Although he's not an enthusiast, he reckons that it's a Churchill. Apparently badly shot up, but still tracks there.

 

He didn't take pictures, but he intends to revisit the sight, so I've asked if he can get some.

 

I haven't seen this on any of the survivors lists. Stobbs was in use until 1959, so whatever it is, it seems likely that it's a piece of WW2 armour.

 

Anyone heard of this one?

 

Dave.

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I'll be surprised if cutting up & bringing back scrap steel from Singapore would be in the least bit economical, looking at how much was lying around in Europe & North Africa and bobbing up and down in England's ports!

 

Have a look at this as a starter.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19481002&id=8rMfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DNcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3845,1859614

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The front sloped front of the buried APC is too long for an M113 or FV432 - I dont think it's an MTLB or BTR-50 as there is no change in angle to the slope - as to what it actually is I am not sure. Chinese type 63 perhaps ? could do with seeing all the road wheels to be more convinced.

Edited by g0ozs
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Sent by an ex-pat friend of mine, retired in the Philippines.

 

> Last night Merry and I had dinner as guests at the posh Casa Espanol club,

> during the conversation, out of the blue, our host told this story;

>

> During the consrtuction of the building about 8 years ago, an old man from

> the neighborhood told the crew to dig carefully over there, becasue there

> was an WWII Japanese tank buried there. He told them he saw the Japanese

> dig a big hole and cover the tank as the American forces were coming. Sure

> enough they discovered a fully equipped, not too badly damaged tank. They

> proceeded to cut it up and sold it for scrap. Don't get your hopes up to

> much for finding stuff here.

>

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Sent by an ex-pat friend of mine, retired in the Philippines.

 

>................... He told them he saw the Japanese

> dig a big hole and cover the tank as the American forces were coming. ..............

>

 

However it all turned out?....

I gotta have my doubts over his information ...

..from every thing I've ever read of the way the Japanese fought ?????

I'd have to say they were mighty unlikely to bury a tank just because the American Forces were coming ........

..more likely they'd have fought to the death in it and then got buried in it afterwards ?....

bury the thing without using it in the first place????????

I don't think so :)

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Ah, finally, found the film I was after on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0zieGfrFYw

 

It is in Polish, a comedy, from 1960, about a couple who get married and have a plot of land on which they wish to build a house - except that there is a huge mound of earth on the plot....

 

Well, it is about a buried tank.

 

Fast forward to about 25 minutes (and also see a rare view of a Communist era beer kiosk).

 

Trevor

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The story about buried vehicles in the Bristol area is interesting. When I went down to Southampton to collect the Clarkair one of the dockers was interestted in it and said

 

"When the americans pulled out of the Bristol area they drove alot of vehicles full of kit into a disused quarry and buried them"

 

He did tell me exactly where but I have forgotten. I do however have his hone number somewhere. This would have been around the end of '44

 

Another story I personally heard from an old boy fifteen years ago was that at the end of the war all the takes form Sutton Hoo tank training range were driven to some crag pits and buried with tons of other kit. This can never be proven as just after the war the area was made into an RSPB reserve. A good way to cover up!!!

 

That's what they did down in Devon on an tank old training ground near Bovey Tracy, once its its declared as RSPB or National trust you have a slim chance of doing any digging. It probably would be in an agreement with the US government so you cant pinch their gear, no matter how long ago.

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Abandonned near Rawalpindi.

I foresee a few gentlemen around here mounting an expedition!

 

These are something to do with the Pakistan Army's storage depot at Rawalpindi, one of Pakistan's biggest depots, and the nearby Army Museum which is located in the Ayub National Park. Apparently a lot of them are stored on behalf of the Pakistani Army Heritage Foundation. It's difficult to see all of them being restored or surviving locally though.

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These are something to do with the Pakistan Army's storage depot at Rawalpindi, one of Pakistan's biggest depots, and the nearby Army Museum which is located in the Ayub National Park. Apparently a lot of them are stored on behalf of the Pakistani Army Heritage Foundation. It's difficult to see all of them being restored or surviving locally though.

 

Interesting collection, nice to see they have no less than TWO Sexton GPO's (Gun Position Officer):

15031741231_180a875c3b_s.jpg 15012368976_cdcc7dff23_s.jpg

Ayub National Park, Rawalpindi, Pakistan by raihans photography, on Flickr

 

They have a third one here:

http://www.urbanpk.com/pakdef/museums/armymuseumgallery.html

 

:thumbsup:

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