Falklands CVR(T)s

[saxmanguy]

On 12/3/2017 at 10:30 AM, ferretfixer said:

Would the commander be Stuart Read by any chance?

It certainly is Stu Reid 😁

[saxmanguy]

14 hours ago, Frankeden said:

Hi everyone - recently 03FD38 has come into my care -I see there’s a photo of her getting loaded into HMS Fearless in this thread and I would love to hear any further /all information relating to her and her service . 

look forward to hearing from you all 

frank 

Hi Frank, not sure how much use I would be, now, but any info you require, ask away 😁

[ferretfixer]

4 minutes ago, saxmanguy said:

It certainly is Stu Reid 😁

I knew Him well. & met him again when i was at Warminster LWC.

[saxmanguy]

11 hours ago, ferretfixer said:

I knew Him well. & met him again when i was at Warminster LWC.

I last saw Stu in January 84, at Windsor, when i was posted out

[ferretfixer]

8 hours ago, saxmanguy said:

I last saw Stu in January 84, at Windsor, when i was posted out

He was probably propping up the bar in the Mess, long after you left!  

Very nice guy, Quiet & knew His stuff. 

[Jan Meyer-Kamping]

On 1/4/2015 at 11:18 AM, saxmanguy said:

Blues & Royals CVRT's lined up at Southampton waiting to be loaded onto the MV ELK.

 

Hi, thank you a lot for posting these fotos. I am very interested in the falklands war and as the Blues and Royals seem to be the only unit of which no one has written a book about the experience of it and there is not much information availabel online. Therefore it is nice to see some "new" fotos from your perspective.

I am currently trying to research the history of your units involvement in the Falklands war for a littel Video about that topic on my very small youtube Channel (Säbelzahnmöwe). Which I run as hobby.

Normally I do book reviews (in German and English), but seeing that there is nothing much on this specific topic yet, I thought it would be a good start for some more history oriented videos. Especially because the 40 Years anniversary of that operation is comming up.

But getting visiuals and details about your deployment is not easy. Your unit is often only mentioned as a sidenote in many accounts.

Even finding out if the Scorpions and Scimitars used passiv image intensifiers or already thermal sights in 1982 wasnt as easy as one would think.

Would you be ok with me using your pictures to illustrate my Video ? I would of course blure the faces and quote you as the source. Other then that you would have my eternal gratitude and if you ever come to Hannover Germany (maybe to visit the German Tank Museum in Munster) a free beer and lift to it

Also if you have any further infomation or sources you could point me to, that would be greatly appreciated.

Have a nice day and stay safe

Jan

[David I]

Don't know if it has been mentioned in this thread, but Eden Camp at Malton have one of the Scorpions, and one of the Scimitars from the machines sent to the Falklands. Scorpion 03 FD 38 (23A), and Scimitar 06 FD 06 (23B). 

[David I]

I know that this is an old post so I'm probably giving reproducing information that you already know. A search of this post, the Eden Camp Facebook page, and Google came up with the following on the Blues and Royals Falklands vehicles:

Alvis FV101 Scorpion x 4

Call signs - 23, 23A, 23B, 24 (I think there could be a mistake here as one of the Scimitars is 23B.)

Reg numbers - 02 FD 76, 02 FD 92, 03 FD 38 (23A), ?

(The three with quoted Reg numbers still exist going by this thread, but two are now sabres.)

Alvis FV107 Scimitar x 4

Call signs - 23B, 23C, 24B, 24C

Reg numbers - 06 FD 06 (23B),  06 FD ?4 (possibly 06 FD 34?), ?, ? 

( 06 FD 06 is still around)

Alvis FV106 Samson x1

Call sign - ?

Reg number - 00 GM 45

(Unknown.)

[Barrym]

just as an update, Eden Camp in North Yorkshire, has three of the CVRTs from Op Corporate, 1 a Scorpion and 2 x Scimitar, they have either undergone or undergoing full running restoration. 

 

[David I]

I've just been reading the latest edition of Classic Military Vehicle. In it there are two articles relating to 2 Squadron Blues and Royals in the Falklands campaign.

One of the articles by Roger Field mentions that it was  Scorpion commanded by Lieutenant Mark Coreth, Troop leader with 4 Troop  which was disabled when it hit a mine. So would I be correct that  this identifies Scorpion / Sabre 02 FD 76 as the former  Callsign 24 of 4 Troop?  

If Scorpion / Sabre 02FD92 is also an ex Falklands Scorpion, that would narrow if down to either Callsign 23 of 3 Troop, or 24A of 4 Troop.

[David I]

Found this picture on Facebook on Eden Camp Restorations. It shows their Scimitar 06 FD 06 Callsign 23B, and  also Scorpion 24A which seems to have a number starting 03 FD ?? 

If  Scorpion 24 A has an 03 FD number, and if Scorpion / Sabre 02FD92 is definitely a Falklands veteran, that would make it the former Scorpion 23. That would mean that all of 3 Troops vehicles still exist. I'm no expert though. Just been trawling through Google. Can anyone confirm that this is correct?

Slowly piecing together the identities of the CVR(T) sent to the Falklands. So in theory five are still around.  Wonder if others survive?  

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by David I

[Charlie2356]

Slowly but surely..... this is what i have peiced together... some things dont add up though. The eden camp has 23A , 23B and 23C but not 24A.

Scorpion 23: 02 FD 92

Scorpion 23A: 03 FD 38

Scorpion 24: (could be 03 FD ?4 or the one below)

Scorpion 24A: 02 FD 76 (got mined in the falklands, i looked on the pics from withams and it had 24A on the back so it wasnt just 24)

Scimitar 23B: 06 FD 06

Scimitar 23C: 06 FD 97

Scimitar 24B: (dont know)

Scimitar 24C: (looks like 05 FD ?? from a photo)

all in all we basically dont have anything on callsign 24, only one number which could be either of 24 or 24A and a part of another number feel free to fill in some gaps

 

image of 24c and others

Edited April 25, 2022 by Charlie2356

[robin craig]

Charlie tremendous work

[Charlie2356]

9 hours ago, robin craig said:

Charlie tremendous work

Thanks mate, ive tried to peice together some info about any of the callsign 24 but all i have is that image and 24/24A..

24B could either be 03 FD 34 or 03 FD 84? Maybe something like that but i cannot confirm it as that image is quite blurry. All in all there is quite a few survivors around.

all of callsign 23 im pretty sure exist? Not too sure about ‘23’ havent seen many photos of it…

 

anyways im no expert at all, just piecing together information here and slamming a lot into google!

[sirhc]

If 24B is a Scimitar it will not be 03 FD xx since that would make it a scorpion. 

[Charlie2356]

So that will make 24 03 FD xx and 24B unknown

[fv1609]

This table covers the callsigns of interest for an Armoured Regiment that appears in Armour, Volume II, Part 4, The RAC Compendium 1971.

[Charlie2356]

8 hours ago, fv1609 said:

This table covers the callsigns of interest for an Armoured Regiment that appears in Armour, Volume II, Part 4, The RAC Compendium 1971.

Thats a great table! thanks for that

[David I]

I've had another look at the notes I had made based on Google searches, last month's Classic Military Vehicle, and the posts on this thread and here is a revised list of possible identities for the Blues and Royals CVR(T)s sent to the Falklands. There is some guesswork here, so it might be totally wrong, but hopefully the posts might uncover some more info on these machines and find out if there are still any more of them still around.  

3 Troop

23   Scorpion   02 FD 92 (?).  Scorpion / Sabre 02 FD 92 is pictured in page 2 of this thread in a posting by teletech. I am assuming that it is in the thread as it has been identified as an ex Falklands Scorpion. As 23A has been identified, 24 is most likely 02 FD 76, and 24A has a VRN starting 03 FD, by process of elimination 02 FD 92 would most likely be 23.

23A Scorpion   03 FD 38 Confirmed. At Eden Camp.

23B Scimitar    06 FD 06 Confirmed. At Eden Camp.

23C Scimitar    06 FD 97 Confirmed. At Eden Camp.

4 Troop

24   Scorpion   02 FD 76 (?) This was the Scorpion damaged by a mine (photo evidence on this post). So this was the vehicle of Lieutenant Mark Coreth, Troop leader with 4 Troop. There is also a picture showing the rear of 24A with the VRN appearing to start 03 FD , so therefore 02 FD 76 is unlikely to be 24A.

24A Scorpion   03 FD ??

24B Scimitar    0? FD ??

24C Scimitar    05 FD 72 (?)  Unfortunately, both the line-up picture at  Southampton and the rear view taken on Ascension Island are not great quality, and my attempts to enlarge the images weren't a great success, but based on these two photos 24C could be 05 FD 72.

REME

28A(?)  Samson   00 GM 45  Confirmed VRN, as on pictures on this post.  The Callsign 28A is based on the post by FV1609 earlier today.  Was it written off, or rebuilt as it was only a few months old?

Edited April 25, 2022 by David I

[sirhc]

https://merlinarchive.uk/vehicle/00GM45

[David I]

Thanks for sharing this latest piece of information sirhc. So it seems likely that the Falklands Samson could still be around.

I take it that it was cast in 2013, but taken back on strength by the Blues and Royal after that date? Sort of full circle.

If they do still have it, hopefully it will be earmarked for preservation in future.

.

Edited April 25, 2022 by David I

[Charlie2356]

3 hours ago, David I said:

I've had another look at the notes I had made based on Google searches, last month's Classic Military Vehicle, and the posts on this thread and here is a revised list of possible identities for the Blues and Royals CVR(T)s sent to the Falklands. There is some guesswork here, so it might be totally wrong, but hopefully the posts might uncover some more info on these machines and find out if there are still any more of them still around.  

3 Troop

23   Scorpion   02 FD 92 (?).  Scorpion / Sabre 02 FD 92 is pictured in page 2 of this thread in a posting by teletech. I am assuming that it is in the thread as it has been identified as an ex Falklands Scorpion. As 23A has been identified, 24 is most likely 02 FD 76, and 24A has a VRN starting 03 FD, by process of elimination 02 FD 92 would most likely be 23.

23A Scorpion   03 FD 38 Confirmed. At Eden Camp.

23B Scimitar    06 FD 06 Confirmed. At Eden Camp.

23C Scimitar    06 FD 97 Confirmed. At Eden Camp.

4 Troop

24   Scorpion   02 FD 76 (?) This was the Scorpion damaged by a mine (photo evidence on this post). So this was the vehicle of Lieutenant Mark Coreth, Troop leader with 4 Troop. There is also a picture showing the rear of 24A with the VRN appearing to start 03 FD , so therefore 02 FD 76 is unlikely to be 24A.

24A Scorpion   03 FD ??

24B Scimitar    0? FD ??

24C Scimitar    05 FD 72 (?)  Unfortunately, both the line-up picture at  Southampton and the rear view taken on Ascension Island are not great quality, and my attempts to enlarge the images weren't a great success, but based on these two photos 24C could be 05 FD 72.

REME

28A(?)  Samson   00 GM 45  Confirmed VRN, as on pictures on this post.  The Callsign 28A is based on the post by FV1609 earlier today.  Was it written off, or rebuilt as it was only a few months old?

Some great information there David, its great that everyone here has banded together over many years to collect all this info!! Onto the search of 24A and 24B…

 

Edited April 25, 2022 by Charlie2356

[Charlie2356]

Ive put a FOI request in to see if there are any official records or anything of the VRMs of the CVRTs sent. Even if they dont have anything its worth a try

[Charlie2356]

Got the haynes cvrt book for my birthday (today) Further confirms 24 was the scorpion that was mined. And that it was 02FD76

[David I]

That's great. Another piece of the jigsaw in place. It's good that we now know that 02 FD 76 is definitely confirmed as 24.

Hopefully, the identities of the others will be found as well.

And Happy Birthday by the way. Hope you've had a great day.

 

David