[45jim]

Why does everyone think they're a lawyer?

There is no secret list in Ottawa on the disposition of Shermans or any other capital equipment. As with all Crown equipment at the end of its service life it is disposed of. Some are sold at auction or by closed bid and others like tanks are given away as monuments or placed on ranges as hard targets. This is where the records end.

When we were recovering tanks and bits from cold lake in the 90's we had the Bde legal officer tender the question about who owned the vehicles. The reason for this is that funds from our regimental charity would be used in the restoration of the vehicles and no one wanted to put private money into a DND asset. The word that came back from Ottawa through military channels was that the vehicles were SOS "struck off strength" and no longer considered vehicles or assets by DND. The vehicles were issued to the base commander for range use and then they were struck from the register. This was also confirmed when the range in Wainwright and Cold Lake were cleaned up, the scrap companies were given a contract to remove "residue composed of tanks, aircraft and other vehicles" without any regard to identifying which tank was which so it could be accounted for. They simply no longer exist.

The problem with tanks, carriers and artillery pieces compared to jeeps and trucks is that regular wheeled vehicles can be road registered and thereby generate a trail of ownership. If you find a CMP in a field even without any paperwork most of us would buy it without a second thought. And if this was a universal carrier I don't think this would be a topic of discussion, everyone would just accept it was legally released. The caution about tanks in the civilian market in mostly unjustified.

The Strathconas also received monument vehicles when Royal Roads was closed. Among these was an M4A2 that was completely stripped, we were approached by a legion if they could have it, Ottawa said we could do whatever we wanted with it and no paperwork was required as long as we didn't sell it. Selling of government equipment is the sole responsibility of crown assets and unless we wanted to turn it over to them there could be no selling. Not sure what happened to that one.

Military Museums generate lists of "assets" because many items are donated by private parties and some way of accounting for them needs to be established. Adding these donated items to a list does not make those items DND or Government property, so those museums can do with it what they please sell, trade or scrap. Most museums have a DA account listing items that have been issued by DND but even these are often "SOS" while still on the museums account so there are items on account that really no longer exist. These are often sold or traded much to the chagrin of the guy who takes over and looks at the DA he is supposed to sign for. Normally, if a problem is found and a short investigation performed, if its not a weapon they usually just amend the account minus the missing items.

Approximately 30 Shermans were sold in the 60's and all bought by a forestry equipment manufacturer in BC. So a few escaped unmodified from them or other companies as the vehicles traded hands over the years. However, while I was told about it and saw the remaining tanks and residue, no records of the sales could be found during our limited search at the archives.

Not knowing this tank personally, I would think its as solid as any carrier out there. If it was stolen, then it had to be on a register somewhere and reported stolen. If an investigation was carried out it would have been recovered, tanks are hard to hide. If it was on a museum register and traded I'm sure its long struck off. Whomever buys it should register it, most people know a mechanic who will get it through a mechanical inspection, just need to add a windshield and a wiper. Start the trail of ownership.

This tank is 50% overpriced, they are dreaming.