steveo578 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Couple of old feldom photos 99SP29 in daylight and Feldom Churchill 4 75 shown on the good side. Steve 99SP29.jpg pho044.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 During the recent snowy spell, I reviewed the current condition of the Churchills on the former A/T range at feldom. The remains of the Churchill Mk4 with Applique armour is shown in the following 5 photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 (edited) The second Churchill still visible at Feldom is the remains of the late production Mk7. It is sad to see these 2 vehicles in this state. Considering for many years these vehicles redundant as targets could have been recovered as a whole, certainly the Mk4 which was almost beyond the range of weapons used on 3D had only a few hits and further was only partially filled with concrete, but stripped piecemeal over the past decade and laterly the tearing out of the transmissions, engines and roadwheels, leaving quantities of loose concrete and steel strewn around the range will have done nothing to engender good relations between military enthusiasts restorers and MOD, landowers, farmers and environmentalists. Steve Edited January 29, 2010 by steveo578 grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy8men Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 i think "death of a churchill" might have been a good name for the before and after shots of the mk 4,bloody criminal!!! I understand using these vehicles for spares i've no problem with that but why did they have to cut up a totally good churchill with a gas axe. unlike nearly all the other range wrecks it had no shell damage and was straight as a die and was probably the best churchill left out there.these vehicles are part of our armoured heritage,show a bit of respect,use a spanner next time whoever you are!! p#ssed off eddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 (edited) i think "death of a churchill" might have been a good name for the before and after shots of the mk 4,bloody criminal!!! I understand using these vehicles for spares i've no problem with that but why did they have to cut up a totally good churchill with a gas axe. unlike nearly all the other range wrecks it had no shell damage and was straight as a die and was probably the best churchill left out there.these vehicles are part of our armoured heritage,show a bit of respect,use a spanner next time whoever you are!! p#ssed off eddy Without knowing the whole story Eddy, I would refrain from being too critical. It certainly did have damage, some of which is visible in the pictures above and on the Churchill gallery thread. Having said that, it was very restorable before being stripped. It is not always possible to 'do it right'. I and others on here have a lot of range experience and know that sometimes you have to make the most of an opportunity. Oh and no, it wasn't me! Edited January 29, 2010 by Adrian Barrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnixartillery Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Here are some detailed pics of the Sherman taken the day we pulled it from its grave. This really turned out to be some task ,it took me 10 minutes to locate this Sherman through memory of where it stood 10 years previous and about a week to recover it. Once the pit was dug we turned it over onto its belly,dug the ramp and pulled it out. If I remember correctly the hull weighed 48 ton full of concrete and the turret 8 ton which is why it was seperated on sight and moved in two loads. The remaining Churchills on the surface had been robbed of there guns and mantlets about 9 years ago,all cut out. The remaining parts were removed about 3 years ago,I have been told that the parts have gone to aid several restorations. Rob...........rnixartillery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Hi Adrian Perhaps I shouldn't have posted these photos, I don't know the whole story either however to remove the amount of stuff that has been removed from the two churchills would involve a lot of equipment and I am fairly certain from what I have been told that after the Sherman was recovered the site was cleaned up. When stuff is salvaged from a range it is reasonable for those taking the stuff to make an effort to tidy up, in this case no effort has been made. In addition when the OTA churchill was recovered in 2002 alot of effort was made to dispose of trash and back grade the area from where the tank was salvaged. While I take your point that Eddy has gone off half cocked (well it is a military term), I can understand his annoyance, I believe he received a "bollocking" when he enquired about the range shortly after I had been there in the New Year. I too had a very cold reception when I called for permission during the Xmas break- I've had permission at various times to go onto this range back to when Major Wilson was R.O. When I got up there it was not difficult to understand why the range guy was so negative, it wasn't good and had there not been a thick covering of snow and my camera was intermitantly shuting down because of the extreme cold I would have been able to post photos of the state the range is in. There is little point in me wasting my breath asking people to do things correctly when they get the sharp end of the stick because of the previous actions of others. Anyway enough said, I am reposting a photo of the Mk4 turret that I think I put on another thread and two other photos all showing the (comparatively light) left side damage from 1993 and again from 2002 when the turret was popped and the deterioration started, that was when the gun breach was cut out of the Mk7 and tracks hatches and other components were removed - the barrels were cut off earlier. As I said and you have confirmed pior to this time it was a reasonably restorable tank with alot of character too. Regards Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 No problem Steve, I was perhaps over generalising a little, I'm glad you posted the pictures. I have to agree, the parts removals does look a bit savage but it may be removal of the whole vehicle was not allowed and a small window of time available for parts retrieval, I don't know, just speculating! I do know the removal of the guns was commisioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy8men Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 now i knew when i posted my reply that i was poking a stick into a hornets nest and to be honest i did think twice about posting it especially as i want to actively become a member of the"armour brigade"and as such need friends not enemies and i can understand the pressures put on people to get what they can while the opportunity presents itself but if it were me i believe i would have done it differently,i don't know, maybe whoever did it thought it wasn't salvageable and as such had no use for the hull but it saddens me to see that churchill stripped and chopped so much and to be honest i had my eye on it for myself as a project so i'm maybe a little bitter.seeing those before and after pics got my blood boiling,anyway i've said my piece.incidentally i believe it could still be salvaged with a lot of welding and together with the warcop churchills maybe someone could get a runner together but it would have to be a braver man than me. eddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy8men Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 hi rob nice pics ,very interesting recovery and captured forever on google earth(it was flying over just after you did the recovery),did you remove the concrete from inside and if so what was it like to get at.i've got my eye on a wreck that's also full of concrete and wondered about the logistics. do you know the condition of the buried churchill would it be restorable or was it too far gone. cheers eddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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