"Falaise" Otter number 2

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by James Gosling

Here are some pictures of the damage to the footwell, roof and the blown out fuel tank.

James, your question re. the Otter bracket reminded me of this thread.

Looking at the damage on your Otter, there are a couple of basic options for its restoration:

1. Leave in as-is Normandy battlefield relic state
2. Repair to minimal running condition with all damage and rust retained (much like the Pirbright M3 Grant Tank)
3. Restore to in-service battle-damage repaired condition
4. Restore to factory-new condition

As stated before, my preference would be to go for option 3.

Seeing the damage, I wonder if this Otter could have sustained this type of damage without being written off immediately? In reality it was of course written off, which is why it could be recovered in this state by Mr Leloup after the war.

But: what if there is a reasoning that could be made that this Otter sustained severe damage, but could have been repaired to running order within, say 48 hrs? If the chassis and running gear was not damaged, it could have been repaired and quickly returned to service if there was a need but no replacements available, right?

The scenario could have been that after removing casualties (*) REME LAD crews could have worked round the clock, patching the armour, rigging up a new fuel tank and get it back in action as a turretless recce car. As Terry worded it aptly, restoring it as such you would tell the story of the inventive use of existing or salvaged parts to make urgent repairs in wartime conditions. This would highlight the performance of front-line soldier-mechanics, and put a tangible exhibit in the field to demonstrate the astounding amounts of repair/conversion work carried out in very short periods during WW2 (like the conversion of M7 Priests into Kangaroos).

I wish you all the wisdom with the choice of the options you have with this Otter, and look forward to seeing the end result. I know my boys and Tony will line up again for a ride

Hanno

(*) To get a graphic picture of what was entailed to get battle-damaged tanks back in action, I would recommend reading the book "Death Traps" by US 3rd Armored WW2 veteran Belton Cooper.