eddy8men

great post diver99, that's some scrapyard there, if you look through all the pics there's what looks like 4 or 5 grants, mostly cut up but i'd still have a go at one. i've seen this yard on youtube i wonder when this stuff will get sold off. i'm sure i've heard an old boy had it and won't let anything go but the old chap will pop his clogs one day and the family will have an auction no doubt, might be a good excuse for a jolly to oz. funnily enough i rang a guy in oz last week that's selling a matilda 2 with no turret and left a message on his answer phone but he's not got back to me, which maybe just aswell as i think my eyes were greedier than my wallet will allow but when it comes to tanks i just can't help myself eddy

great to get the engine sorted, it's the most important piece of the jigsaw and the one all the other blokes want to hear running, those flatheads do sound nice. while we're talking of engines if you don't want that one that's near to you any chance you could pass it on to me as i'll need one for the loyd. all the best eddy

"if you really want to locate buried tanks, do not speculate but investigate." hey man i'm investigating believe me, i'm investigating this hobby has a way of getting hold of you, which would be great if i was retired but i'm a long way from retiring but it's an enjoyable journey all the same, there's nothing like the thrill of a lead on a tank. eddy

bob i know parts for the cromwell are hard to come by but isn't there an easier way of getting hold of them :-D eddy

there are of course the feldom wrecks, which has both buried and abandoned tanks. for those that aren't aware feldom is a disused infantry anti-tank range in yorkshire and has several wrecks modern and ww2, there's 3 churchill hulls on the surface and one mk 7 buried. rob nixon recovered a sherman from there and also uncovered the churchill, there's a post on the forum if you type in feldom you'll see rob's pics and here's a few of my own

eddy8men and the last crusade®

ford 369, thanks for the reply but can you be a little bit more specific as we should use this thread as a tool to find and save whatever we can of these old war horses, thanks mate. below is the pic that first got me started 12 months ago on my quest for ww2 armour. it's a jagdpanzer 4 under a road bridge in gladys poland, apparently it was destroyed and left by the side of the road and eventually bulldozed into the stream to make the foundations of the road bridge you can see and it's still there today but it's definately in peices as it's upside down and you would be able to see the glacis plate and sprockets and tracks if it was complete but i've no doubt the rest of it is all in there aswell

for those that don't know about the disappearing mk7 steve is referring too. it was left as a gate guardian on an industrial estate that was built on the old churchill factory site and was the property of the family that owned the churchill factory but once the business and assets were sold the churchill was not included so in effect once the company stopped trading it had no owner, that is until some rum buggar turned up with a crane and a lowloader one night and had it away, the funny thing was i had the same idea but was going to replace it with a cosmetically restored range wreck so i was gutted to hear he'd beaten me to it, anyway all's fair in love and tank restoration steve can you let us know about the battlesbury bowl churchills, is that where the 3.7" churchills came from ? i didn't know bob recovered the otterburn churchill he was a busy fella back then and no mistake however bob did definately recover the stainburn churchill as it was him and colin that told me about it, there was an article about the recovery in after the battle no.47 i think.(no wonder it bogged down as the ground is still bloody awful now 70 years later). eddy

you're right steve a strip foundation cannot have a tank in it and must be the same substrate, otherwise you will have differential settlement which is a no no but it could be that the tank was found whilst doing groundworks ie digging out for pipework or possibly under the slab which might get past the building control, it's feasible. i was actually looking for info on wards scrapyard in sheffield which had afv's but it's long gone now, however what we have to remember is that although the yard has gone who knows what lies just under the surface :nut: i read on another forum that pounds scrapyard is going to be redeveloped and god only knows what got pushed into the mud there !!! eddy

thanks ivor for your input eddy

right then fella's i reckon it's about time we put our heads together and recorded the myths, rumours, exagerations and half truths that surround the buried tank legends we often hear about but while doing this we also might just turn up a tank or two as i'd bet my life there's still plenty to be had out there ! i'll start us off with the sherman under the postal sorting office http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?22491-sherman-still-buried-under-leeds-post-office i've also heard a tale of a churchill in sheffield buried under a coal or a slag heap but i have no articles to offer up as evidence. another one is the rumour of a tank with a small turret on stainburn moor in yorkshire, this is where the mk2 churchill that went to beverly was found and later recovered by bob grundy and co. whilst the recovery was on a couple of kids came up to the fellas' and asked if they were taking the other tank, this on it's own would not be worth investigating but one of the reme ta officers said he almost recovered the wrong tank. i went to stainburn 2 months with some poor buggars from the forum that i'd coerced into coming along to have a look around the forest but the snow lay heavily on the ground so the likelihood of finding anything was remote, although we did find a safe that somone had hacked into for it's contents !!! if you fancy a look around for it start at the main car park to the NE of the forest as this is most likely area. the forest is in bad shape and looks to be in the process of being felled so things might get easier if you wait a while but then again if you wait too long some other buggar might beat you to it . eddy

i'll start a thread on buried and abandoned tanks for us armour freaks to enjoy eddy

thanks ivor, if you could chase it up for us it might help if someone were to attempt a recovery one day. thanks again eddy

it's never too late for an intro and that was quite an intro. we need more men like you on the forum. ie blokes with loads of heavy haulage equipment :cool2: all the best eddy

welcome to the forum tony, there's plenty of like minded people here. eddy

i think if people on the forum were asked officially to help with free loan of vehicles then i reckon between us lot we could easily sort them out, then they could save a few bob and get the story told. i would certainly let them have the carrier for as long as they liked. eddy

welcome to the forum

hi fella's this is one for the sherman register :-D i came across this story while having a look for old scrap yards trying to find a tank or two that had been overlooked by everyone else (it's still possible). the link will guide you to the yorkshire evening post archives where the story is told of some builders finding a sherman while digging footings for a printworks in 1973 and apparently it's still there, which isn't that surprising as there wasn't as much interest in ww2 mv's as there is now.the site is now a postal sorting office. http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/features/Retro-January-1973--All.6021617.jp the other link will confirm the story http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messages.aspx?ThreadID=388 anyone need more stamps picking up while i'm there :cool2: eddy

welcome that's a serious bit of offroading your doing there, good to see you using and abusing it, that's what it was built for. all the best eddy ps. if you get a stolly you won't be disappointed

i'll be going with the carrier

adrian don't feel bad, owning a cromwell automatically gets you into the AHG. membership perks include. 1. unlimited use of the forum to help other members solve their technical problems 2. free use of clubhouse facilities (my shed) when the kids aren't using it 3. annual subscription to club newsletter( pm saying merry xmas) 4. free use of other members facilities, to include workshop areas, cranes/lifting gear,tools, plant and unlimited free labour, (however this rule would also apply to you ) 5. a warm fuzzy feeling knowing you've helped get my tanks back on the road membership applications should be sent to ivor biggun 20 park drive marlboro sh1 tty AHG making the dream come true :-D

alastair you're membership of the Armoured Heritage Group will be revoked if you continue to fraternise with sherman owners eddy

hi robin if the nato part number is still on this might help as the first few digits often hold the key to the vehicle ie 7bd = bedford eddy

why not just take the radio users license exam, i remember something from my sailing days about the test being about £100. you'd be legal then and could slag off all the other callsigns on the net with out them being able to legally reply to your taunts :cool2: (making friends the eddy8men way)

last june i was in corfu getting married, whilst out there i noticed a post on the forum from ferrettkitt saying there was a churchill turret for sale on ebay, i told the other half and she just gave me a knowing look and said ok. when i got back to england i did the deal and bought the turret along with a few minor accessories (the rest of the tank). now i needed somewhere to put the tank so i bought a piece of land local to me, however the local planners weren't as keen on the idea of my tank factory as i was so i was scuppered it was then that i mentioned in passing conversation to the other half that i might have to put the churchill at the end of the garden for a few years, she just gave me that look and said ok. Now that's a good wife (i haven't told her about the 2 cromwell's yet but i'm working on it) eddy