Robin,
Withams would not have bothered drilling holes in them, I have been in and bought many vehicles from there which were full of water, including Al's Scimitar which had water about 12" deep in it when I first saw it! Most owners have drilled holes in them when restoring them, I have done it to most of the ones we've had. The petrol Spartan came from the MoD with some holes already drilled in it.
Glad the horrible noise was just the fan bearing. At least it didn't fall to bits while out on the road like mine did once!
Chris