Conger Carrier restoration, Overloon The Netherlands

[Alex van de Wetering]

The restoration of the Windsor carrier at the Liberty Parc in Overloon (former “War and Resistance” museum) is almost finished, so it is time to move on to the Conger carrier.

Next to original Conger thread , I decided to open this new thread to show the restoration process of the Conger moving along.

We believe the Overloon Conger is the only surviving Conger carrier in the world, so it’s worth to give it some TLC. Those of you who know the Overloon museum know that for years most of its exhibits were displayed outside on the former battlefield. This added to the special atmosphere of the museum, but of course the exhibits suffered from the elements.

During the 70’s the museum decided to enclose the open topped Conger, with a sheet metal roof, to slow down further deterioration. In the same process they also removed some of the superstructure, specific for the Conger. For years most visitors thought the Conger to be a “normal” UC.
Some time ago a process was started to put all the exhibits indoors along with the collection of the Marshall museum. It’s now the Conger’s turn to get a proper display inside the museum.

The Conger will be restored to a Static display. The greatest challenge will be bringing the Conger back as close to its original configuration as possible, within the museum’s budget.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

About two weeks ago the Conger was moved form it outside display to the museum's workshops.

[Alex van de Wetering]

After inspection of the running gear, it soon became clear that it was in better shape than the gear on the Windsor carrier. Soon the track loosened up and the carrier was able to roll again.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Last week most of the green coat was removed, revealing the base coat which has been applied sometime during the 90's.

[Alex van de Wetering]

front-left

[Alex van de Wetering]

I believe the "extended" side armor plates on the left and right side of the drivers compartment are part of the original Conger equipment (allthough lowered). The same with the plate welded in front of the normal UC gunners position.

Removing the "temporary roof" is schedueled for this saterday. This will be a big day, because we hope to find remains of the original Conger equipment inside. Maybe......just maybe, removing the plate welded on top of the front armor will reveal it original serial..........


Alex

p.s. Any information about the Conger is still more than wellcome.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Yesterday we removed the temporary roof of the Conger and had a look at the remains inside.

After cleaning up the garbage from 60 years of museumvisitors, the condition of the carrier became clear. The pictures posted will show that the wall between the drivers compartment and the rear compartment has suffered a lot. We also found several " patchwork" sheet metal which had been welded on to cover rusted through sections of the carrier, several years ago.

It is interesting to see that the pedals and most of the steering gear is still in place. I guess Chubb & Sons decided not to remove these when converting ordinary carriers to Conger, because they didn't interfere with the fitting of the Conger gear.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Perforated wall....

[Alex van de Wetering]

Right hand side with the hole for the air lines and the extended armor plate.

[Alex van de Wetering]

The Mount for the rocket launcher still remains.

One of the volunteers of the museum suggested that the rocket used to launch the canvas hose over the mine-field, could be of the same type as used with the canal defence in Great Britain. Any opnions on this theory?

[Alex van de Wetering]

The Nitro-glycerine tank is still in the museum storage and will be fitted when all the welding work on the interior is done and when the running gear has been restored.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Rear wall and one of the supports for the Nitro-tank.

Next step will be gently removing the remains of the welds on top of the front armor (hoping this will reveal the original T-number) and further cleaning of the interior, which seems to be treated with some sort of " body-Schutz".

Welding needs to be done on several places, especially in the rear compartment. A decision still needs to be made regarding the wall between the drivers compartment and the rear compartment; fully replacing it with a newly cut piece of sheet metal or repairing this original wall.


Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Here is a new update on the Conger.

A lot of the rusted panelwork has been removed to make room for fresh metal. A group of classic train-restorers will provide new rivits to fix the new panelwork in place. All removed panelwork has been saved to be used as a pattern for the new sheets.

Work has also started on removing the suspension. Some of the springs have been broken while on outside display, so a solution has to be found to make them suitable for display again. I really want to talk the team into fitting replacement springs but this will have to fit into the budget. (Does anyone know of any available in Holland?) Otherwise the springs will be welded and a tube will be fitted inside to ensure a maximum “lift” (sorry, don’t know another word at the moment).

[Alex van de Wetering]

A

[Alex van de Wetering]

B

[Alex van de Wetering]

C

[Alex van de Wetering]

D

[Alex van de Wetering]

E

[Alex van de Wetering]

Sadly we haven't been able to retrieve the T-number from the tp of the front armor. In the 70's the "temporary roof" had been welded on top ot these numbers, and although we removed these carefully the numbers didn't show up.

With this post you will find the oldest pictures the museum has of the Conger. I like the picture a lot, because most of the features are still there and I guess it still had it's original paint and registration. You can see the T-number "T-80409" on the side, so we presume this is the original T-number.

This would make it a former 3inch Mortar carrier, Nigel??

We tried to find remains of the mortar supports on the rear armor plate, but we haven't been able to find and signs of these......

The search for the rocket and launcher is still in progress. Someone suggested the Conger used a 5inch rocket???? any comments?

Alex

[Lynn Eades]

Alex, My observations are 1. the carrier is english built (identified by the engine bed rails, which are a different profile in Canadian carriers. also the clutch, brake and throttle pedals are at least English origin) 2. The rear battery box bolt holes are factory blanked(riveted) which would concur with the mortar carrier I.D.
I am enjoying your thread with excellent photo coverage.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Lynn,

thanks for your comments and thanks for pointing out the Mortar carrier ID. I tried to find remains of the ammo racks in the interior, but all of this has long gone. You pointed out the rivits in the rear armor plate, which is new for me. Thanks!

It is good to hear that our assumption of the carrier being British built, was the right one. We are learning all the time!

regards,

Alex van de Wetering

[Nigel Watson]

Alex great photos and work. You're correct in that it was built as a 3" mortar carrier, one of 1400 built by Sentinel Wagon, England between 13/05/41 and 02/02/42. Contract No. was TM2249

Keep the pictures flowing.

Nigel

[Nigel Watson]

Originally posted by Alex van de Wetering
Sadly we haven't been able to retrieve the T-number from the tp of the front armor. In the 70's the "temporary roof" had been welded on top ot these numbers, and although we removed these carefully the numbers didn't show up.

With this post you will find the oldest pictures the museum has of the Conger. I like the picture a lot, because most of the features are still there and I guess it still had it's original paint and registration. You can see the T-number "T-80409" on the side, so we presume this is the original T-number.

This would make it a former 3inch Mortar carrier, Nigel??

We tried to find remains of the mortar supports on the rear armor plate, but we haven't been able to find and signs of these......

The search for the rocket and launcher is still in progress. Someone suggested the Conger used a 5inch rocket???? any comments?

Alex

Alex the rocket was the standard CN MkI 5 in rocket. Reference is the Provisional Working Instruction for the Carrier Mounted 2" Conger MkI which I mentioned in my email. Reading it there are a couple of things you can check. It says that the towing eyes are replaced with heavier sections. Whatever that means! Email me your snail mail address and I'll send a copy.

Nigel

[Alex van de Wetering]

Nigel,

Thanks for confirming the 5inch rocket and the background info about the carrier T-number. I was kind of hoping you were able to find the manufacturer and build date, and you did! Great!

I am trying to find out more about the 5 inch rocket. None of the period pictures we have, show the rocket in position..... There are some rumors that the museum has a 5inch rocket in storage.........You don't think this could be........

Nigel, I will send you a PM with my address. By the way, did you get my long email from last week?

Thanks again, Alex

[wim sikkelbein]

Hi Alex,

Have you seen these ones already?

79th armoured division hobo's funnies by nigel duncan

[wim sikkelbein]

churchill avre

[Alex van de Wetering]

Wim,

Thanks for posting the pictures. Uptil now we have only been able to find one picture of a Conger behind a Sherman and that's the one you posted.

There are about 5 period pictures of the Conger, that keep on surfacing at different sources (two of them displayed here). I am still not sure who owns/keeps the negatives for these pictures; we received scans and photocopies and none of the sources seem have the originals. (Also the Tank Museum Bovington only had some photocopies in their archives).

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Two pictures of last weekend.

New Angle steel has been tacked into position and a green basecoat has been applied to some sections.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Can someone help us with the "Standard CN MkI 5inch rocket"? Any pictures, measurements?

Alex

[Lynn Eades]

Nigel the heavy tow eyes are shown in the picture posted after the picture of the pedals. they are mounted inside the originals.