As nice as it is to see ex-MV's converted to a useful post military life, sadly not all go that way. At the end of WW2, Winnipeg was home to a pair of Staghounds assigned to XII Manitoba Dragoons. Several variations of their story exist, but the most consistent refers to them as being used for training and routine drills, while the Regiment was still active at Carpiquet Barracks, which was located in the Weston District of Winnipeg (Northwest Corner).
In the late 1950's or early 1960's, the Dragoons ceased activity and the Barracks were closed. Labatts eventually bought the site and built a new Brewery on it. It too has now closed. Switch to a former BCATP Bombing and Gunnery Range located a hours drive Northwest of Winnipeg. It too had closed in the late 1940's but was still owned by the DND. They made arrangements with Transport Canada to let them install a LORAN Nav Beacon on the site of the former Range.
In the late 1970's, through a mutual friend, I met the gentleman who had been in charge of installing the beacon at the old Bombing and Gunnery Range in the 1960's. In the process of restoring a 15-cwt at the time, his stories of military parts lying all over the place, including two 'tanks', got the better of me and a friend and I drove up to have a look around. DND and NavCanada still owned the property, but were working with the Provincial Wildlife Department to convert it to a Nature Reserve. Local farmers had been allowed in for a few years to cut hay. The layout of the Bombing and Gunnery Range was still very clearly evident. Some mature trees existed near the entranceway, but over the rest of the range there was nothing taller than three feet growing. Among all the empty ammo boxes spent practise bombs of all sizes and air to ground practice rockets sticking out of the ground, a very large shiny object caught our attention in the Northeast corner of the property. When we walked out to it, it turned out to be the upside down, centre fuselage section of a Fairy Battle, and sitting beside it on it's back, was a Staghound hull. Stripped clean and with very little side and bulkhead metal remaining. Someone had recently visited it for more metal, as the smell of cut steel was quite noticeable. I have pictures of it somewhere that are on my must find list.
In talking with the local farmers, we learned two Staghounds had been on the site but had been hauled away to scavenge running gear etc. The axles were apparently under a pair of homebuilt farm trailers in the area and the doors were popular for making wood stoves with in one's spare time.
Fast forward to 1998. Word spread that another Staghound has tuned up at the old Range. In the interim years, the two levels of government had made a concerted effort to clear the Range of all old ordnance and metal in an effort to turn the land back into pasture. Clearly another visit was required. The following photos show what was left of the second Staghound.
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