Rare Tank uncovered in Poland

losthorizon

Looks to be in very good condition as well once they get it cleaned up.

bluecode

A Valentine it's rare but not that rare. I'm pretty sure some do exist in running condition.

Nice find. I hope they look after it. Not like a Stug III in Russian which was recovered virtually pristine and essentially wrecked afterwards.

tac foley

8000 built in total, of which 40 survive on land, and a number underwater in shipwrecks.

Of which 1420 were built in Canada. Of these, 20 were kept in Canada for crew training and the rest sent to the Soviet Union. This tank in the movie is one of those.

There are four runners left in the world -

1. Bovington tank museum.

2. Australia - one in private collection - also here a number of hulls were sent for use as heavy-duty agricultural tractors.

3. New Zealand - one in private collection.

4. UK - the only surviving duplex drive version in existence.

tac

Capt'n Midnight

At times it seems that every second bog/lake in Finland and the Baltic States has a Russian tank at the bottom of it.

tac foley

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

At times it seems that every second bog/lake in Finland and the Baltic States has a Russian tank at the bottom of it.

...or, in this case, a British or US-made one. A couple of Shermans have been resurrected, too.

tac

Del2005

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

At times it seems that every second bog/lake in Finland and the Baltic States has a Russian tank at the bottom of it.

They did loose quite a few during the war(s) there. They also had plenty so recovery wasn't as big a deal as for the Germans/Finns.

Manic Moran

tac foley wrote: »

8000 built in total, of which 40 survive on land, and a number underwater in shipwrecks.

Of which 1420 were built in Canada. Of these, 20 were kept in Canada for crew training and the rest sent to the Soviet Union. This tank in the movie is one of those.

There are four runners left in the world -

1. Bovington tank museum.

2. Australia - one in private collection - also here a number of hulls were sent for use as heavy-duty agricultural tractors.

3. New Zealand - one in private collection.

4. UK - the only surviving duplex drive version in existence.

tac

We have one here (Mk V) which is a runner. The turret interior is a complete mess, so it's not restored, but they tell me it'll drive. Haven't tried it myself.

tac foley

Manic Moran wrote: »

We have one here (Mk V) which is a runner. The turret interior is a complete mess, so it's not restored, but they tell me it'll drive. Haven't tried it myself.

Kay.

I know about the one that is in the Littlefield collection, but was unaware of one on the west coast, especialy a runner.

Would you be kind enough to PM me details so that I can forward them to the AVC Bovington?
l
TIA

tac

Manic Moran

Littlefield collection -is- on the West coast! It's the Mk V above. I was inside it last month, looking to see about making a video on the operation of the tank. Had to abandon the idea, due to the lack of useful turret interior.

tac foley

Manic Moran wrote: »

Littlefield collection -is- on the West coast! It's the Mk V above. I was inside it last month, looking to see about making a video on the operation of the tank. Had to abandon the idea, due to the lack of useful turret interior.

Sorry, I meant another one on the west coast.

Great loss to the world of 'hobby armour' and a great shame I never got to meet with him. However, his collection is firmly stuck in the state south of Oregon, and I get the shibbers going any further south there than Crescent city.

tac

enricoh

nah, its a copy, me n a few mates went over to the euros in the summer in it, too thirsty on juice so ended up binning it!

Manic Moran

You going to the MVPA National in Portland next year?

tac foley

MM - if your post is aimed at me, sadly, no, we'll be in Orygun for most of June, but visiting friends in the NE of the state around the Wallowas.

tac

seanmacc

Did they mention whether or not there was any bodies recovered from it? You would think that a tank would sink like a stone and that back then they weren't designed with fantastic health and safety features like emergency exits.

Beano

seanmacc wrote: »

Did they mention whether or not there was any bodies recovered from it? You would think that a tank would sink like a stone and that back then they weren't designed with fantastic health and safety features like emergency exits.

There is a hatch above the driver as well as in the turret. I assume we can discount the hatch under the driver. plenty of time to escape i'm sure.

Manic Moran

OK, I saw a running MkIII at the Virginia Museum of Military Vehicles over the weekend.

tac foley

Large envy is mine.

tac

PS - don't 'spose you took pics, dijja?

Manic Moran

Not any good ones, but you should be able to find something on Google easily enough.