Fugly Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 (edited) I live near an old WW2 airfield , Church Broughton, used as a vehicle storage depot by the army just after the war. Additionally there was a REME depot about 6 miles away at Marchington, and another army depot at Hilton. A few years ago my dad was stopped by a motorist who was searching for a nearby camp he used to serve on whilst in the army. He recounted the tale of taking an amphibious jeep for test on a nearby pond , and the vehicle quickly sank. He and his buddy returned the paperwork to the office and claimed to have parked the vvehicle back in the ranks along with several hundred other / jeeps bedfords etc. The lost vehicle was not missed and the event went by unreported. The locality has changed so much that he was unable to get his bearings and was asking my father for help. My dad was unable to help and the motorist departed . Does anyone know anything of this story - there are several ponds that fit the bill, and one was searched by police years ago when several Vickers Machine Guns were recovered during a dry spell when they were spotted sticking out of the bank, but no Jeep. I know it will be a rusting heap by now but its would be an interesting item to search for? Any old soldiers remember this ? Edited December 15, 2009 by Fugly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
private mw Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 no but wheres my snorkel and flippers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugly Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 Well that sounds like a good start ! If they can pull a WW2 Russian tank out of a pond in the middle of a forest (and have it running within weeks) then we stand a good chance !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil munga Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 Don't know about this story but I was told of an old military store up at Scotch-corner A1(m) junction with A66 ,, Was a place that i think had Blue in the name possibly Blue Bell ?? and when it shut they dug a hole and buried some jeeps , I've asked people if they new of this place but don't seem to be able to pinpoint where it is because so much has changed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 (edited) Hi Phil problem is the A1 road widening schemes and roundabout approaches means the whole area has been probably dug and redug over the years. However one tool which could be of use is that one of the Mapping Sites (I can't remember which at the moment and it's about a year since I used it) has a old Map overlay which is the O/S layout in 1958 so basically the same map layout prior to the major road building and probably would similar to that of WW2. I think there should be an urban legends thread and FYI the russian T34/76 Hex turret which was recoved in Lativa, it started as soon as they cleaned the injectors and put a new battery pack on, that is at the seen of its recovery, I believe some people wanted to see if the weapons still worked. Steve Edited December 16, 2009 by steveo578 addition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajmac Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Well that sounds like a good start ! If they can pull a WW2 Russian tank out of a pond in the middle of a forest (and have it running within weeks) then we stand a good chance !! It's all about metallurgy, those Russian swamps have little or no dissolved oxygen in the layers of silt / mud at the bottom, without oxygen the metals will not corrode. You wouldn't find the same conditions in many places in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 It also has to do with relative acidicy of bogland and pine forests, in areas of alkalinity for example southern England steel rots in the soil. On moorland areas oxidation is less of a problem, at least for buried steel items. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajmac Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Spot on, corrosion is a very interesting subject, it costs the world economies hundreds of millions each year, and keeps many University Professors in gainful employment. Not to mention the myriad of Riggers and painters throughout the North Sea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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