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#1
18-04-08, 23:53
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One of the two Australian Army Weasels recovered
(I posted this on G503 but thought you MLU folks might be interested too)
G'day all, Whilst the M29 Weasel might be a common sight in the US and Europe, here in Oz it has always been a very rare vehicle. To my knowledge the current half-dozen or so in the country are all post-war imports. Even rarer were the Weasels owned by the Australian Army. The records show they only ever had two, both stationed at Bandiana, Victoria from July 1945 to disposal in early 1946. They were both early narrow-tracked T24s. Copies of army memos I have show that they were to be sent to Monegeeta for evaluation when the war ended and the pending tests were cancelled. Here is a photo of one of them at Bandiana 1st Army Ordnance Vehicle Park, taken in that time frame. The Australian Registration Number (ARN) 139999 is clearly visible. (I gather the 9999 suffix was applied to test vehicles as the prototype australian tracked truck had a similar nomenclature?) For interest's sake in the far background can be seen the Thornycroft/Morris Terrapin amphibious truck that is still in existence:  Well this Weasel has been found and recently recovered by John Wilson and myself, although we did not confirm its army provenance until afterwards. The following photos show the above, sixty-three years later. You can see how bad a shape it's in. The hull has been cut away at the back, the bogies were replaced with a home-made arrangement using Snow-cat tracks and sprockets and the orginal motor and gearbox had been swapped out for a Holden donk. The hull floor had large holes cut which actually saved it from further rusting, so the main hull hat channels are in good shape. The serial and hull numbers are unknown.        At present only the right-side ARN stencilling has been uncovered. It appears to have been stencilled twice, the upper numbers have a round-top '3' and the older marking shows the flat-top '3' as seen in the 1945 photo:  Although it is a possibility. there are no immediate plans to restore it as I have another early T24 Weasel similar to this one but in far, far better condition which I'm currently working on, plus an M29C Water Weasel I co-own with John Wilson to be done following that. Our aim is to bring them to Corowa and Canungra some day. Still it is an ultra-rare piece of australian army vehicle history and I think I can say without exaggeration that it is a truly unique find!  I would like to thank Ray from the Bandiana Army Museum as well as GPA fanatic Ian Grieve for the information they supplied leading to its eventual discovery, and also Ian Fawbert for locating its ARN record at the AWM. Steve Malikoff. Last edited by Snowy; 20-11-09 at 00:26. Reason: Thornycroft Terrapin, not Leyland! :doh: 
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#2
19-04-08, 00:11
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Steve, great find, but what a project....
What are those fitments on the side of the hull in the original picture? I don;t think I have ever seen those on T24's or M29's before. Alex
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Chevrolet C8 cab 11 FFW BSA Folding Bicycle
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#4
19-04-08, 00:50
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Alex,
That is a good question. According to Crismon's Tracked (p.215) they relate to 'some classified tests carried out at Aberdeen'. I don't know what they were. They might be for a parachute harness but I think I read somewhere it might have been for crevasse detecting equipment. We recovered one of these side plates with this Weasel with the remains of the camouflage across it, it is very heavy so no wonder they were removed. By the way, on the wonderful RealMilitaryFlix website there are a couple Weasel films, one shows a T15 being air dropped from a C-54. Steve.
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#5
19-04-08, 12:33
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one in Victoria ?
Apparently, this example lives down here in Victoria somewhere . The pic was emailed to me by a local VMVC member . I've seen old footage of them being used by ANARE ( Australian Antartic division ), down at the Antartic bases , during the 1950's . I think one or two were used in the NSW snowy mountains ski fields many years ago.
Mike
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1940 cab 11 C8 1940 Morris-Commercial PU 1941 Morris-Commercial CS8 1940 Chev. 15cwt GS Van ( Aust.) 1942-45 Jeep salad
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#6
19-04-08, 22:40
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Quote:
Regards, Hanno
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Regards, Hanno --------------------------
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#7
21-04-08, 01:16
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Mike,
Yes, I was aware of that one, a small photo of it appeared in 'Wheels and Tracks' some years ago as being in Victoria but this is the first colour photo I've seen of it, thanks for posting! Do you know who owns it - I would like to get in contact if possible? ARN 139999 and its sister were disposed of to the ski chalets and I have a photo of both of them on the slopes, interestingly the ARN had been painted out but since both T24's had slightly different camo patterns (the early Weasels came standard from the Studebaker factory in three patterns) I could positively identify it. Other Weasels were imported for the chalets in 1952-53 that appear to have all been M29C's. I have some photos on one of my websites showing these being used around Thredbo. They stripped the military parts; John Wilson and I investigated and we have been lucky enough to find some of them. For instance the rudders and front and rear flotation tank panels were removed so skis could be carried. I was told recently that there were some more that were imported in the 60s, to our knowledge only one of them survives and is owned by John. As for the ANARE Weasels, a few very mangled M29C wrecks were brought back from Antarctica in the mid 1980s. They too eventually went to the scrapper but parts of them were used for the restored ANARE Weasel at the AAD in Hobart (it used to be in the foyer but I heard it is no longer on display(?)  (more photos at http://web.aanet.com.au/malikoff/weasel/anare.html ) Hanno - ARN 139999 really is in bad shape. Even the central bulkhead has been cut out  Curiously the parts I would need the most for it are the bogie spring packs, sprockets and idlers which i would need to import (again!) - I'm in the unusual position of actually having sufficient numbers of good 15" tracks for both the one I'm working on now as well as 139999, and enough other NOS 15" grousers for a third complete set. It's the 20" track that we're looking at rebuilding for the other two M29Cs. Not a trivial job as any Weasel owner would tell you Steve. Last edited by Snowy; 21-04-08 at 01:20. Reason: afterthought :)
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#9
21-04-08, 15:55
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G'day Chris,
Do you have any further details on these Snowy Hydro ones? I'm always looking for any Oz-related Weasel info. With four Weasels to be restored between me and John we've got our hands full, besides I think my wife would kill me if I acquired another  Steve.
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#11
29-01-09, 03:26
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G'day all,
Just a quick note about where we are up to with this historic vehicle. All the extraneous metal added to the hull has been removed. This added up to maybe a few hundred kg, mainly in the form of a bolted-on angle iron chassis and bogie assembly to support the Bombardier tracks that had been fitted post-war. The Holden donk and box has gone and the remains of the hull now under cover (and out of the hot sun!) in preparation for grafting the top and back part of the other hull. The Studebaker Champion motor has been looked at and apart from needing a new oil pickup and water pump rebuild, appears to be in great shape. All of the 8 control rods had been modified (either extended or reduced) so they have been cut and shut back to their original lengths. There is a huge amount to do before the Amphib 2009 Swim-In in June but we hope to be able to have it running and ready for some fun. That's the plan, anyway. Steve.
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#13
29-01-09, 06:45
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Hi Steve and what a great project. I'm sure you will have it drivable for corowa.
Good luck with your project. Colin.
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#14
29-01-09, 06:59
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Colin,
John and I hope to get our four Weasels to Corowa one year. Sadly it won't be this one The Walker's/MJCQ Bundy Swim-In is easier for us, logistics-wise. If that goes well, ARN 139999 should also be making an appearance at Canungra this year.Oh by the way I must publicly thank Ian Fawbert for a brilliant chance discovery about this vehicle and its sibling when he was doing research at the AWM last October. We now know the serial number of this and the other Weasel, as well as the other's ARN. This was in some very interesting info regarding the army testing, and what happened. Good work Ian! Steve. Last edited by Snowy; 29-01-09 at 09:24.
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#15
08-03-09, 14:30
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Well it looks like some of this Weasel will make it to Corowa this year after all.... If you happen to see a pair of unusual-looking tracks on the back of a ute there, wonder not, for they are for this rebuild
. They are doing a round trip and just 'passing through' Corowa to their destination. If they look a bit rough you're right, they are a knockabout set, I have a much better pair for the other T24.Here are a few more photos of how the project is going. All the hull and engine work is being undertaken by John. Firstly, after cutting out dead metal, the large holes in the bottom of the hull are being repaired. By sheer luck one of the cut-out panel pieces (with the engine oil drain hole plate) was recovered miles from where the vehicle was found, and many decades after it had been cut out with a gas axe. It has now been reunited back into the hull (see attached). John has also rebuilt the area under the final drive and is doing a really marvellous job. He's also rebuilt the carby and water pump in the meantime too. The return rollers have been rebuilt using NOS wheels. I had to patch one of the damaged roller brackets and replace a few roller bearings etc. The control rods are finished as well. More photos soon. ARN 139999 is coming back to life  Steve. Last edited by Snowy; 08-03-09 at 14:46. Reason: typo
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