DUKWMAN Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 After a busy few days with a Komatsu wrecker grab and a gas axe I have cleared the field of the rotting DUKW's at Wymeswold (as mentioned in DUKW's not for sale). Amazingly some of these towed out of their shallow graves with wheels turning and some steering! Some of them just fell into halves, prompting a colleague to suggest we restore them as Short wheelbase DUKW's , Short DUKW's, or SUKW's for short? Another colleague suggested they were Finished, fragged or F#KW's for short ! I'm confident there are 4 of out of the field which will restore , the rest will contribute to the parts bin. I'm now dissmantling them in our yard in leicester and storing those parts of use. A couple of the complete ones will be heading to my leeds factory as soon as economic transport can be found, the rest will go north in skips. Thanks to those who've been in touch over these and have a common interest in the preservation and restoration of DUKW's and other amphibs I will start taking photo's and make a blog if anyone's interested , although such evidence may be used by my wife to get me sectioned when you look at the state of them! :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyFowler Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 I'm very interested to see your blog please mate ! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honeileen Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Nice to see an end to rumors about them and hopefuly something positive will happen now. have you got any more photos to post? And yes please get a blog started! Christian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodger Baz Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 good on you mate, best of luck restoring them. Nice to see some brave (or mad) people out there :-) i have a dukw in wait for me as a future project, belongs to the father in law, bought it in 75 for £300 had 300 miles on the clock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rippo Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Well done dukwman, nice to see they've found a good home. With you being the dukwman, can you shead any light on the fate of the Royal DUKW? A chap local to me knew one of the crew that took king george ashore on it after d-day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUKWMAN Posted December 11, 2009 Author Share Posted December 11, 2009 Thanks Bodger - I will post more photos and keep updating. Good luck with your project, when you get it - good job it wasn't a 5000 mile example then! A local quarry owner bought one surplus in the late 60's for the cost of the axles (his father ran GMC tippers) which was still in it's preservation and unissued. He ran it for a few years then sold it to someone who swam it to Holland ! and returned!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodger Baz Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 it now has 3300 miles on the clock as it did a few tours to France, Holland and Belgium, swam the Seine in Paris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Well done mate. Keep us up to date with any restoration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Yes please DUKWMAN - a blog would be great! And just get your wife a bunch of flowers - that should sort the problem out......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUKWMAN Posted December 11, 2009 Author Share Posted December 11, 2009 Thanks Rippo - as for Royal DUKW's? Yes I've seen the photo's and there are pic's of Churchill ,Monty, Eisenhower - and that Frenchman all getting off DUKW's somewhere on the beaches at diferent times. I'm pretty sure Churchill and DeGaulle wouldn't have been in the same vehicle, as for the others it's impossible to say as even if you get the boat number (Navy) off the photo I'm told these were swapped around over the years and only the chasis number was permanent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex van de Wetering Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Good to see the Dukw's have been saved and good to hear that some will be restored. Sadly a lot of Dukw's were eaten by the elements over the years....not only in fields in the UK, but even in museums......I've seen pictures of a Dukw with British registration at the Utah beach museum and a Dukw in the Dutch Overloon museum.....sadly both have been scrapped a long time ago.... And a blog? Yes, please! Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.