Range Targets - 1950s

[ajmac]

OK, it's 1950(?) something.... how did the tanks get selected for target duties? Was it centrally organised or local arrangement? Was it a case of, well we (War office) can sell those, but these are unsaleable so they can be targeted / put up for tender?

 

I've no idea at all how the 'system' operated.

[Adrian Barrell]

A certain amount was due to clearouts from various establishments. Chertsey put their stuff onto Pirbrite and Lulworth received a lot of German armour presumably from Bovington.

 

I've been looking through Key cards for Cromwell and Comet recently and the disposal seems random with some vehicles going for export, some to scrap and others to hard targets. I imagine it was geography that determined final location as much as anything.

[steveo578]

The Churchill cards show the Tank number -overwritten with the post war 6 figure index, shows type (but oddly this is incomplete as it doesn't show the original configuration -another story) with weapon in the case of specialist vehicle it is endorsed B/L AVRE etc. the final fate of the vehicle is noted with a depot for example Ruddington and struck off (s/o)- target -(sometimes with range),- scrapped. Vehicles generally include to which scrapper the tank was sent-(Cohens Wards etc) and of course the date.

 

I would think that dispossal to ranges depended on whether the scrap demand was high or low, in the 1950s it tended to be high and the majority of s/o tanks would have been sold for scrap. No doubt the Government controlled exports quite tightly -they would want to avoid stuff ending up in the "wrong" hands but the vehicle depots would decide which were fit for export. However both Finland and Israel received vehicles clasified as scrap -this was possilby political -but certainly Israeli stuff (Cents M3H/T) weren't in the best condition.

 

AFVs such as Universals were often scrapped by under utilised ROF factoies- being light and often riveted they were easy to reduce without large amount of gases or costly equipment.

Others such as Cromwells and Sextons that were too trashed for export were also broken up without a great deal of effort. The Churchills seem to have hung around longer although the Mk1-6 were riveted the Mk7-8 were not easily cut up -there is a story the Irish buried at least one after trying to cut one up.

 

As Adrian said locality would also have an effect, certainly Comets were depoted near training areas for annual camps by TA and reservists. My local training depot 43rd RTR had several in Newcastle in the 1950s and the local REME even had its own training hulks well into the 1970s. I could imagine the maintained comets were disposed onto ranges, hence those that were obviously driven on, probably the same fate befell the last of the local training hulks -a Cent and a Saracen. Local training establishment could have an effect although this in the case of tanks was probably more of a wartime factor. Artillery ranges may have received tanks more commonly associated with that arm of service, such as O/Ps.

 

However things that make research difficult, in the 1950s nobody photographed wrecks, additionally wreck in certain circumstances were cut up as soon as gunnery camps ended for security reasons ( the British seemed unaware that the Soviets were already aware that HESH existed).

 

One other factor would be disposals by new C/Os getting rid of unwanted previously cherished gateguards.:shocked:

 

Steve