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Thread: Lost Armour in Australia.

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  1. #1
    Legacy Member Bruce_in_Oz's Avatar
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    Lost Armour in Australia.

    Here's one for South-East Queensland types.

    Back in the 1960s, there were lots of WW2-vintage vehicles still on the roads

    I was just a lad growing up in Redcliffe, just north of brisbane and noted the folowing:

    The M3 and Matilda parked opposite the Woody Point Ice works.

    The turret-less Matilda fitted with a 'dozer blade that was the working bulldozer at the local council rubbish tip.

    Several Oz-pattern "Bren" Carriers used as farm tractors in the nearby small farms.

    Further afield?

    The retied landing barges that ran across Pumicestone Passage to Bribie Island.

    The M3 Tanks parked in the bush where the Mt. Gravatt "Garden City" shopping centre was built.

    The scrapyard on the old road to the Gold Coast that featured several US 155mm M1icon guns.

    The ex-US military semi-trailer buses operated by the Hornibrook Highway Bus Comapny between Sandgate and Scarbotough.

    More "topless" carriers in the hills near the site of the North Pine Dam.

    Another one on a cattle property out on Cooper Creek, near Windorah.

    The rarest of the rare: possibly the ONLY example of an Oz-built "Tracked truck", found in the scrub south of Brisbane. That one seems to have made it to a museum..

    The old wrecking yard west of Toowoomba that contained the remains of a lot of WW2 aircraft; Anson, Wirraway, P-40 plus the aft section, including turret, from an Oz-built Lincoln bomber.

    The Brisbane City Council operated a Scammel wrecker as a recovery vehicle for errant buses, trams and "sanitation" trucks.

    Jeeps and Studebaker trucks were everywhere.

    Having a Dad who was a WW2-vintage motor mechanic and familiar with a lot of this stuff, sort-of got me looking for these things.

    All I ever owned were a few Airfix models of some of those vehicles.

    Way back, I posted the pix of an LVT-4. It was used in the early 1970's to drill the test bore-holes for the replacement bridge joining Brighton to Redcliffe: bright yellow and with a drill rig attached to the tailgate. The short ride the operator granted me really made my day!. Last seen in a wrecking yard near Bald Hills. Is this the one now at the Armoured Museum?
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    Contributing Member CINDERS's Avatar
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    This Bren gun carrier at the Merriden museum we visited last year a 2Pdr on a 360 traverse but I tell you the driver and the passenger would not be happy with it firing over the front the driver would have to be 3 foot 2 inches to fit into that drivers compartment with its BBQ top hatch cover!!!

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    Legacy Member Sunray's Avatar
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    "..."Bren" Carriers used as farm tractors..." That was pretty common here in the late 40's, 50's and maybe 60's. Or so I've been told. I was still a gleam until the mid 50's. I did see a few in farm yards years ago though.
    There's a rumour that a Centurion sank completely into mud on CFB Shiloh(Manitoba). CF is alleged to have left it there because it would have cost too much to dig out. I've heard a lot of stories from older Armoured Type guys that are decidedly unbelievable though.
    Very much doubt the 2 pounder would have been fired over the driver's head. Concussion would have severely damaged him.
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    Legacy Member Bruce_in_Oz's Avatar
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    Thread Starter
    Regarding the "creative" use of Bren carriers and the fitting of bigger guns than a Boyes, our Teutonic cousins apparently also had a go:

    It's a "gamer" site, but has some interesting pics.

    Universal Carrier in German service | For the Record

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    Legacy Member Daan Kemp's Avatar
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    A colleague of mine often spoke nostalgically of one he used on his farm in Northern Rhodesia in the fifties. And other farmers who also used them on their farms. Tractors were almost unobtainable and these vehicles were used in their place.

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    Advisory Panel browningautorifle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce_in_Oz View Post
    the fitting of bigger guns
    Anything to get the guns to the front easier...
    Regards, Jim

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    Contributing Member CINDERS's Avatar
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    Yeah ya gotta think that Sunray but what of a mischievous gunner and a hung over driver now there is the ultimate hangover cure.......

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    There is a carrier engine and gearbox, (NOS in the crate on Milweb) I enquired about the price £15,000.00

    I was offered a complete carrier with a Diesel engine fitted 2 years ago for the same price.........

  13. #9
    Legacy Member Bruce_in_Oz's Avatar
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    Fifteen GRAND?

    For a Ford side-valve V8 and gearbox. Even "factory new" that's a bit rich. I'm obviously in the wrong line of "business".

    The Ford "Blitz" trucks were similarly equipped; there must still be millions of them out there.

    I guess the captured carriers that were used by the Germans as remote-controlled demolition vehicles in Russiaicon would also fall into the category; "vanishingly rare".

    Mallory in the US are making NEW distributors, including the Bakelite "crab" cover, in early and late versions. This means there is a market, which in turn means that if you have a vehicle powered by one of these mills, you can probably get any part you need for it. Gratuitous link to their promo:

  14. #10
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    This is the advert on the link below.

    Universal Carrier Engine and Gearbox Assy


    Forgot to say its Price on request........
    Last edited by bigduke6; 08-03-2019 at 11:19 AM.

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