steveo578

Original is best -everything fits together without un necessary modification, however it depends on whats available, if for example you are having to sit around for a motor to turn up it might be an idea to fit a modern motor as a temporary fix- however its almost certain that start a conversion and a flathead will turn up. remember the important thing is to have fun Steve

I think the Haustenbeek Porsche Tiger 2 (now at Bovington) had a petaled barrel when it was captured by the US Army in april 1945. It might be a weakness in the 8.8cm KWK43 that caused a failure of barrel near the muzzle brake as is the case of the Swiss Tiger 2, rather then demolition or enemy action, -some crews were known to operate their gun even after loosing the barrel extremity- dependant on battle circumstances and commitment of the crew. In the case of a lost muzzle brake the gun would over recoil which is not fixable by the tank crew and would lead to the recoil failing.

The transporter would have been moved forward to allow the BREM in to right the SU100, note though that very little effort was made to protect the SU100 or the road way during recovery. The bottle looks like beer rather than the hard stuff:beer:but I think booze would have been involved:-D

You do realise the oracle at delphie was the first recorded case of substance abuse (sniffing toxic gases):nut::cool2:

I don't know about a Sdkfz251/22 in Banja Luka -any photos would be of interest but in Belgrade museum there was a unique Sdkfz250 with a Pak38 -like a baby 251/22. If you get back to the West Coast of Canada there is a nice Ram at Cambie Str Depot in Vancouver. Steve

I've PM'd you a solution, if that doesn't work ring me.

I'm not too sure that they were used by the Canadians and not by British in ETO although some use within UK in late 1944-45 Some use in India and by Australia before end of hostilities but probably not in combat as is sometimes mentioned in publications. The Canadian Windsor is probably the big UC seen in use by the Canadians -from Oct 1944, a windsor is like a TI6 but with a leading arm on the rear bogie and of course warp steering. And what do you mean, Canadians don't have an accent Steve

The VEA was not a cheap version for training, it was produced by vickers as a commecial venture -but only sold to India (there should be some photos on the Warbirds of India site). I believe those bought for BATUS training were the rump of the Indian order. There was/is reputed to be a VEA on Otterburn Training Area but I am not sure it is actually a VEA as it could be a prototype. I would have thought the BATUS VEAs would have been disposed of locally either to scrap or targeting -there would be little incentive for the MOD to bring them back and I never heard of any in private hands.

Last I heard was some-one called Andre (not sure if thats a first or surname) in belgium- stuff does move around- it could wel have been sold to Netherlands first.

Chris Wilkinson had 2 Grizzlies in the 80s- early 90s, one Shop No 7- an early model without applique armour on the hull went to Belgium. The other Shop No129 was a later model with the hull armour thickened in lieu of the applique armour- don't know where that one is now. Steve

It belongs to the tramp that the crewman swears distracted him, honest- or do the Russians use the "hip Flask defence" when found "driving under the influence":police: Steve

There have been photos of the M4A1 DD memorial tank posted on the Forum, that's why the forum has a search facility. As far as other tanks being over the beach at Slapton Sands, I think there were at least 3 DD sunk of the beach (two certainly visible in a air recce photo taken of the area after training) but all but one was recovered in short order. There is a rumour (discounted by Ken Small the guy who recovered the M4A1 DD memorial tank) that a standard M4 or M4A1 fell off a Rhino at the north end of Backpool Sands during training with Rhinos as both ferries and causeways. Photographic evidence confirms that area was used for training with Rhinos. At least one of the LSTs involved in the Tiger disaster was either carrying or towing a Rhino when the S boats attacked the convoy. The area where the tank is aleged to have sunk is further out, deeper and rockier than the area where the M4A1 DD was recovered and certainly merits further study. Steve

looking at the transporters with T34s in the background, they are easily high enough to allow a comparatively low in height SU100 to turn over if a track was allowed to slide off the trailer while loading, note the damage to the curb, the original tracks on the SU100 might have added to the problem, I don't know if modern Russian tank transporters have an inner rail. Steve

Yes if there are any for 50,000 euros I'll have 2 please:nut: Steve

Great pic of the guy on his mobile -I wonder if he was phoning the Automobile Association:D but I wouldn't surpirsed if when put back on its tracks it was still a runner. Steve

Nic pics Bob The Cent looks interesting, was the Grizzly recovered? Steve

I thought leaving a ram on its back was classed as cruelty to a licenced animal.:police: If you want to see AFV ignorance have a look at June Military Machines int. there is a Sherman spread, -a quote from the author "As this tank has solid bogies it is most likely a Sherman I." it was a Sherman V.:shocked::shocked: Evidently there was a churchill article in April, it's a shame I missed it, I need a laugh at the moment:-( Steve

Other photos Renault FT turret Berliet turret although on a bunker it was not part of the strongpoint at St Peters Cross roads, as a museum exhibit to draw in tourists to the pub, -can't understand that, put up a sign saying PUB or BEER:-D The strong point had a mount for a heavy machine gun which was original. On the same site a 2cm St5 naval A/A gun found in a field margin in1971. A search light, A horse drawn GS wagen, A type 82 An unidentified heavy car, having lost the grill I'm unsure to type, no doubt some-one will correctly ID it. Steve

Some Jersey pics -however not great photos as they were taken with an old 126 kodak which gives a 8x8cm print on a fixed lens, rather like using one of those disposible cameras. first set are of the FT 17 renault turret the one bolted together with flat plates. the Stellung covered a large instalation -just visible in the forground was a cutting and shelter for a rail mounted weapon, which could pull back into a "culvert" for protection, the opening starts at the corner of the roofless building. Only the rails remained but it must have been a reasonable size weapon to make this amount of effort- although it must be remember that the "effort" involved were slave labourers. The un cropped photos to give an overview. The exact location I can't recall but it was very close to a holiday camp, "the good morning campers" could be distinctly heard distinctly. I think it's on the North Coast and can't be that far from Les Landes- which is where I was going that day, Les Landes is where many of the heavy guns were chucked over the cliff onto a fairly inaccessable beach. Steve

None taken it's a friendly forum:-) yep I know what things are like politics and property rights wise, I don't have any reason to travel to the C.I.s these days the friends of my parents passed on many years ago -in fact I just realised how long ago it was, I feel old, remember the Bristol Freighters?:-D Steve

Tony As I said I have no reason to doubt your source- especially as you are talking directly to some-one involved, As to my confusion between Jersey and Guersey my memory is obviously not as good as I thought, I remember getting a bollocking aged about 12 when I got into the large coastal OP tower on the North coast of Guernsey (very similar to the one at the battery for 14.5cm guns at Noirpoint in Jersey) by using a length of rope and going in through the lower OP slit, it was probably then I was made aware of the kids being killed in a tunnel, but I recall work being done in Guernsey in the 1970s to clear, close and landscape a tunnel near St Sampson, obviously any efforts were made on those near the population centres, I suppose now they are all near population centres. Steve I've looked at the link you posted and the tanks are what I would expect Standard Char B1 bis battle tanks and the flame thrower tanks the Renault 4.7cm Pak (t) auf Pz Kfw 35(f) and the Renault Ft. There was suposed to be a FT dumped in a lake in Alderney. could find anything on this recent discovery- I would think bearing in mind the condition of the 4.7cm SPG in 1945 that if anything was buried it could be one of these. The SPG on Char B1 I was blathering about is this one

Hi Nigel While not discounting your post it has remarkable similarities to the first paragraph of my post#14, in that "two tanks were buried" (being fuel tanks burial protected them from enemy action). Why I am skeptical about some of the stories of burials of WW2 AFVs (and I know that some are true) is that I spent some time in the Channel Islands mainly on the Guernsey in the 1970s and the local authorities had problems with tunnels. If I recall correctly the tunnel near the victoria hotel was a major problem as were others, never being properly sealed the tunnel became a target for youths, causing a tragic incident that made the States act, the tunnel was cleared, having been used as a dump by the British Army for small size equipment such as helmets and gas mask containers, another nearbye one was used as a dump for barbed wire -but that did not attract much attention - I wonder why:-|. The stuff was dumped in trenches dug in local fields and covered over, most of it was pretty crap by then anyway as I said previously the mudstone strata in many tunnels makes them quite wet. Of the other tunnels I remember, the Sur l'eglies (Under the Church) was pretty empty apart from water and a couple of light horse drawn mess wagens, the famous Mirus battery was regularly used as a dump for old burnt out cars and again was heavily flooded but was still open as late as 1976. There were also quite a few small tunnels about 5metres deep let into the hills and cliffs overlooking the coast which were positions for mobile guns such as 7.5 FK 16 and french equivelents, but guess what they were always empty, and it must have been a real effort to get them in and remove them in 1945. However I can recall that there was still a strong point near the "pontins" camp on Jersey that still had an emplaced FT turret and a 2cm naval A/A gun and shield was once dug out of a hedge. I'll see if I can find the photos- which are very poor because instamatics were very poor. While I am the first person to say that "hope springs eternal" in that some-one might find a missed piece of equipment- I wouldn't hold my breath, as to the story that this or that was removed by these guys or the other, -its like UFOs why aren't there any photos? we are taking of a holiday islands with umpteen chemists and tourism shops (even pre war) and unlike the brave channel islanders who actually took photos of german stuff during WW2 -and could have paid with their own and their families lives there was certainly no such danger in the 1950s and 1960s. This does not mean I doubt Tony B recent post, I have no reason to, he will have done the research I'm sure. I am still very curious about the 7.5cm gun on the B1 bis as there are stories that 10.5cm leFH 18/auf GW B2(f) were taken to the Channel Islands, I would actually like to be prooved wrong another example of Adolfs super weapons cobbled together from french scrap would delight me. Steve

the most likely suspect for in service SU100 would be North Korea although Yeman might still have some -but its unlikely as most of its T34 seem to be rotting away as coastal defense lines. Other than that maybe Morocco. The only really still active user of T34 in Africa Togo never had any. The SU100 shown on parade in moscow seem to be genuine SU100 rather than SU100M -lack of stowage box on the right front flank -obvious sign. I was down at Bovington when they moved the ex Eygptan SU100M after many years standing, alot of smoke, cranking and inevitable tea breaks by the moving crew and it ran without any major mechanical intervention. Steve

schliesser92 Yes I'm aware of Portugal being the sole user of the EBR ETT, as I said I don't know if M3 was used in full service in Portugal and Spain, Spain in particular has a diverse military forces including Gardia Civil and Spanish Morocian "foreign legion". Bosnia has also received some M3 support vehicles -Aumbulance,command and recovery from an unnamed Mid East benefactor in the last few years. Steve

I think Portugal and Spain (marines) used M3s in the 1980s, whether it was trials or full service I don't know. Steve