New recruit to researching local history

[Vonster]

Hello, I'm helping my nephew find and recover artifacts from, predominantly, WW2.  He has an ROV and is discovering some amazing things.  Items he is unable to retrieve with the ROV I go into the water in scuba and retrieve them. The latest find is a spike from a tirfor winch system.  I've started to do some research and understand this type of system was used in connection with military vehicles.   Does anyone have any information on the vehicles these would be used on and in what context.  Also can anyone point me in the right direction to do more research.  Thank you 

 

[Enigma]

Guess they could be used as a ground anchor for pontoon bridges.

[10FM68]

That's an 'AEH pin'.  AEH is Anchor, Earth, Holdfast and the photo above shows one.  They are very powerful anchors - with strength varying according to the number of pins holding them - they can be used in tandem and in 'v' formation to increase their strength.  I will dig out my RE pocketbook to tell you exactly the strengths (unless Ploughman or another beat me to it).  They have been used for generations, certainly during WW2 - though the design was slightly different then than that in the photo.  The pins, I think were the same, though.  They were universal in the G1098 stores of RE units and appear also on the front bumper of the AEC Militant Mk3 Recovery Vehicle as part of the vehicle recovery kit.

[Sean N]

I don't have my RE pocketbook or REME recovery manual or a photo handy but as 10FM68 I think of them as multi-purpose ground anchors, particularly with recovery vehicles from WW2 to at least the 1990s if not later, for anchoring vehicles, laying out complex pulls or as an anchor for self-recovery. You can see six of the ground anchors in this photo of a Militant Mk3 medium recovery:

 

[Vonster]

Thank you Enigma, 10FM68 and Sean N for your helpful information.  It has really helped.  

If you have any further info please get in touch.

[radiomike7]

 I seem to remember the pins were stored in the front bumper of the Militant and there was always an extra pin to extract the others, by turning the hexagonal section it would carve a larger hole which made them easier to pull out. The holding force in average ground was 0.5tons per pin and you can bolt the plates together but have to calculate the safe number depending on the ground conditions. It is important to line the plates up in the direction of the pull, the usual way was to knock in a pin at the end of the last plate and give a gentle tug on the winch, then knock the remaining pins in.

Edited Tuesday at 06:44 PM by radiomike7