I asked where the engine was as there was no sign of it but the unusual Lynx gear-box was there. Charlie said “I know where that is, it is in a speed boat.” And he took me to one of his sheds which had always been locked each time I had been there before. On opening the door there was no sign of any boat just a complete mess with junk stacked
5 feet high and on a dirt floor under which rabbits had set up home. Much stuff was covered in dirt from their burrow diggings. In fact I dug through some of this in later years and found many parts which had been placed under a bench and eventually covered with the burrow’s spoil.
Further searching in this dimly lit shed as I could only partially open the PA door, displayed a mound of old army blankets, bits of tarps and much other junk and under this mound I could just see the shape of an ancient speedboat. There was too much junk to uncover the boat but I was able to open the art deco engine hatch and view the engine. It was Engine No 3G85015F which was the correct engine for Hull No. 1726. The engine had been found. Was it for sale? The answer was no, not at the moment. I was not able to see the whole boat as it had so much rubbish covering it, BUT it looked interesting and on later investigation showed that it was a very early ‘tail dragger’ hydroplane. It has now been identified as the earliest 3 pointer in Australia.
The years went by and the boat and motor remained in the shed covered up. Many people knew about it and some said that it had been promised to them but no one had ever been able to recover it. So more about the boat later.
In 1998 Roger R. and I went up to recover the chassis and associated parts one day but we had car trouble on the way and only recovered a few smaller parts. We were more successful the second time bringing home front armour including the windscreen section and the broken diff assembly (see photo trailer). Tony L. and I went back in 2002 with the rear diff housing and wheels and brought home the chassis, gearbox, some front cockpit armour which showed ARN 123980. This was to prove that this was the last Lynx registered by the Australian Army. The chassis and hull remains at home.
After Number123980 the ARN books then have another 30 blank numbers so one wonders if more were ordered and did not arrive for some reason. Are they on the bottom of the ocean somewhere, was the order cancelled or were they never ordered
Regards Rick