Carrier stolen
 

Bob Drysdale has just called me devastated. He's been working abroad for 6 months and returned to find that his lovely original MkI* carrier has been stolen from the farm where he kept it. Two guys saying they were friends of his appeared at the farm, spoke to the farmer and uplifted his carrier onto a low loader just before Christmas and took it.

Bob asked me to put this up in the hope someone somewhere may have seen it being transported, been offered it or heard of someone offering it etc.

It was very distinctive being in desert camouflage of sand base, green and brown patches.

WD No. CT 65296
S/N 3821

It was fairly complete with certain parts missing. If any carrier friends here or abroad hears anything please contact me or Bob when he gets on line (his membership has been stopped because he has been away for so long and is having to re-register).

Thanks
Nigel

it has to be a collector but to what end ? surely they know it cannot be sold on as the community is so small ? methinks this will end up in bits......absolute tragedy !

Could be worse, as scrap.... here in Holland a funfair? attraction worth of €200.000,== war stolen just for the price of the metal..... :no4: :no4:

Hope we find it back

Best Regards

Hendrik

Carrier stolen
 

My greatest fear Richard, though won't stop looking for her!

get on to CMV and every military forum infact Lads you can cut and paste this link to any other forum you may be on.... unfortunately other than the bluebird K7 forum, this is all iam on these days.... i would go in to all the scrap metal dealers in the area with a photo....

the only other thing....which you may not want to hear is the carrier may have been mistaken for tracked plant.... 99% of stolen plant in the UK is exported to Eastern Europe... and there is a frightening amount going out on a weekly basis

Carrier stolen
 

Thanks for the advice Richard. Have several scrapyards in area.

Really sorry to hear this news, the scary thing is scrap was £200 a ton around christmas time. I would be really shocked it was a collector. I will spead the word in the museum circles.

Carrier stolen
 

Thanks Shaun. Its not just the fact that its my carrier.....even after ten yrs of ownership was still exciting taking off the tarpaulin every weekend when i took her out......its the destruction of our history!!!

Carrier
 

Hi All

That was not good news, but I suggest it would have been someone who has been on the property before and knew the owners movements. All I hope is it was not someone known in the MLU fraternity. There are some real low lifes out there!!!

I hope the carrier turns soon and the cuprits caught.

Tony :no4:

Lets find it.
 

Glad you're back on Bob. I hope we can all help with this. It is what we all fear so if we can sort this one way or another it would be a great message. Please ask around, anyone you know and report any new carriers appearing on the scene worldwide that have new paintwork etc.

This will be hard for you Bob, but I for one will be on this with everyone I know in carrier circles. If it would be helpful I would put a leaflet with every book that goes out. Let me know.

A word of caution. If you suspect/see anything please don't use the forum for any special information, contact Bob privately. This forum could be being monitored for our reaction. If you know the carrier I think its important not to divulge too many things about it.

Lets find it. Contact everyone.

Nigel

hi rob sorry to hear the news but if it's any consolation i doubt it's been stolen for scrap, there's not enough weight to make it worth while but that means it's possibly been stolen to order for a collector and most probably a european one as i doubt anyone would be stupid enough to keep it in the uk. if it were me i'd put a pic of it on the classified section of milweb with a brief description and see if anything comes of it.
just another thought but why did the farmer let someone he'd never seen before take the carrier without word from yourself, sounds a bit fishy.

good luck with your search and put up a pic and some details on here so we can keep our eyes peeled.

eddy

aye i would be having the farm hand arrested conspiracy to steal... he would have contacted you surely before allowing expensive machinery to be removed !

That's sure bad luck, I use a farm to store all my parts and the two wrecks, but the farmer is a friend so I doubt he would let anyone touch anything without my say so.... he is one for tight security, it can be a pain, but after hearing this it is probably a small price to pay.
The trouble is it was taken such a long time ago (my Dad found his stollen company truck just 36 hours after it was stollen and it already had every number cut out or ground off), it will be long gone by now.... even so I would contact the local BBC news, they would love a story like that, and it may jog peoples memory for the time around christmas.

It does sound like it was taken to order, think of all the trouble to organise a low loader or a 10 tonner to take it away, even then, driving away / across the country it would stick out like a sore thumb.

Try contacting Jack Beckett at HMVF, may get it in the news section of Pathfinder, etc...

I am sorry to hear this bad news, something that we all dread. However, I am really suspicious of the farmer in all this. I just dont think, anyone would allow a vehicle to be moved without speaking with the owner direct. Did you have any issues with him? I wonder whether it has gone at all, or whether its sitting in a shed making you sweat!

Carrier stolen
 

Many, many thanks for all your support and advice guys. Have spent the day examining the scene. CID now on the case. Will keep you informed.

Ouch
 

Case for stamping your hull number somewhere inconspicuous on the hull where it wouldn't get ground off by someone with ill intent I think?

I might just double-up on my truck chassis number stampings then.

Hope you get it back

Please talk to Jack Beckett and put it on HMVF as well

other have posted other stolen gear

R

Stolen carrier
 

Anyone got Jack Beckett's contact details?

hi rob
go on www.hmvf.co.uk and jack is the main man but you don't have go through jack just put up a thread on the tracked section with a pic and explanation. hmvf is definately the place where all the top mv guys in the uk check on things and i doubt there is anything going on in the uk that someone on the forum doesn't already know about. they also have an online magazine called pathfinder which is worth a try but you would have to go through jack for that.

give it a go, it's free and really does have a wide reach

eddy

You could email Jack direct on jack@hmvf.co.uk I know he wont mind.

Ron

Many thanks guys.

I've mentioned thius to Jack
 

Pleas let him have the details on;

webmaster@hmvf.co.uk]


And he'll pu tthe word out on the forum and in Pathfinder Online.

Gordon

Will do,thanks again

an extremely disturbing story. but alas not the first time this has happened, An Iltis jeep was stolen from storage here in Canada not long ago.

My own fear is that a collector would not do this as a collector knows the community is small and people know people, and know parts etc...also the vast vast majority of collectors recognize the historical value and appreciate each others efforts... my fear is the scrap yards and this would be the first place to look.

Sadly breakers are not a reputable bunch, and recognize instantly that something is obviously stolen. many many cases of theives stealing bronze and brass plaques off cenotaphs in Canada... these end up at the breakers, 100% obviously stolen, but no breaker ever calls the cops.

A partial answer i suppose, if stuff is stored elsewhere is to advise the property owner to NEVER let the items off the property without direct personal contact from you...no notes, no verbal assurances from strangers.. only direct personal contact...and very sturdy locks and chains.

No mention on HMVF ?
 

Not seen this mentioned on HMVF yet - anyone told Jack in detail ?

I would have thought the word needed to get out as widely as possible.

Have let Jack Know. Sending pics to him asap

Marc

why dont you post some details of the said stolen Iltis?

R

someone on another forum mentioned they saw this advert on Kijiji. ( few months ago)..so a second hand posting and so I dont know if the original owner is even involved in any kind of collector group...might simply be an offroader.. original advert posted below...

"Someone stole my Iltis, out of the Keswick (New Brunswick) area, a few weeks ago. There are a few of these around, mine had damage to the front bumper, hood, and quarter panel. It was most likely taken for spare parts. It wasnt running at the time, so it would have been towed on a trailer or flatbed. If you have any information, please let me know, I'd like it back. Thanks." Licence plate in images reads: GMT 012"

***Note: there have been Iltis offerred for sale but without proper papers. ALL Iltis were released with proper paperwork. Personally even if buying major components I would like to see the ID papers to prove provenance.. . There should be no honest and/or legal reason why an iltis would not have its proper papers OR have papers indicating it is a type of vehicle other than a Bombardier Iltis

pics of carrier taken circa 2005. No alterations other than water carrier racks removed from rear.

Rob