Lynx II, hull # 4225

[James Gosling]

I think that might be my Lynx in the film.

I have the same right hand headlight blackout cover, The inside of the turret has similar metal strips around the top as the one with the crew sitting on it and also my front box doesn't have the strap type hinges but ones similar to the type used on the LAATs, which you can just make out in the last photo posted.

I will try to get some pictures later.

James

[lynx42]

A bit larger James,



Regards Rick

[James Gosling]

Some pictures from before I picked her up from Luxembourg.

Mine is the only one I have seen with the butt type hinges on the forward stowage box and you can see the metal strip around the inside of the turret instead of the thick pads. Lastly there is the pin hole blackout light.

So, the old girl might be a film star too?

[James Gosling]

David,

Any idea what number Wheels and Tracks magazine?

James

[Russ Gregg]

Originally Posted by James Gosling

So, the old girl might be a film star too?

I'll stop by and autograph it for you next time I'm in the UK.

[David Dunlop]

James.

Sadly, no. However...and I add my apologies to Peter for adding this to his restoration thread...we might be able to narrow it down among us all.

The Lynx arrived at Bill Gregg's before he held his big CMP Conference and his two were there when we all showed up. Peter Ford would have documented their arrival just before that Conference. If one of the other attendees of the conference can confirm the date, the article about them should have appeared two or three issues either side of that date.

Next...trickier step.

Peter Ford LOVED taking LOTS of photos of military vehicles and took great pains in documenting and filing his photos. His son was active on MLU a few years back. If we can identify when the photos were taken, perhaps we could get in touch with Peter's son and see if the full set of photos are still available. They could prove a goldmine of references as to the Canadian Army history of the Shilo Lynx, as well as your own, vis a vis the surviving markings that were on them. Peter Ford would definitely have included shots of any visible markings when he documented the vehicles.

David

[James Gosling]

David, that sounds great, Its super finding out some past history of the vehicles.

Russ, next time you're in the UK lets do a before and after shot!!

[lynx42]

James, try Wheels and Tracks No.7 page 11. I knew that it was in one of the early issues and it was the first one I looked at.

A quote from page 13:-

‘The Ford Lynx is one of a group of ten located on a Greek Army base through information furnished by Dutchman Sjoerd Haagsma in 1981. Eventually, three of them were obtained through diplomatic channels as gifts to Canada from the Greek Government. The remaining vehicles were destroyed. Of the three survivors, two are in Dr Gregg’s Collection, the third is at the Canadian War Museum. All three were in ‘peeling and dented’ condition but virtually original and good mechanically. The two still showed remnants of 1st Canadian Division marking and were presumably obtained by the Greeks when they became surplus to Canadian requirements in Italy in 1945.'

Regards
Rick

[Alex van de Wetering]

Phil has a photo report of the CMP conference on his website. A lynx appears on the edge of one of the pictures.

http://www.canadianmilitarypattern.com/CMP84.htm

A Wheels and Tracks magazine index can be found here:

https://www.afterthebattle.com/magaz...andtracks.html

I think it's the same index that was published in the last issue of the magazine.

Alex

[David Dunlop]

It always amazes me how quickly things can be solved on this site! It looks like we might be able to sort out the two Lynx at the time they were owned by Bill Gregg and with a little bit more luck, capture some of their earlier Canadian wartime history as well.

To help sort any photos from Bill's CMP Conference, some site context will be needed.

The building the conference was held in was a long structure with a parking lot at the end you drove up to. In that lot was the Grizzly as you arrived and a CMP close to the door. The conference room was at that end. along with a small collection of CMP's In that grouping of vehicles were a Lynx sitting beside a Daimler Dingo. It made for a brilliant comparison of the size differential between the two. That particular Lynx is the one that ended up in Shilo.

As you proceeded further into the building, one came to the 'main collection room' that included the Otter, Fox, a White Scout Car the Staghound and a number of other vehicles. At the very end of the building were at least two garage bays, one of which had the Stewart Tank parked in it. Tucked at this end was the second Lynx, which is likely the one now owned by James.

So any CMP Conference photos with a Lynx next to a Dingo…Shilo Lynx. Any indoor shots of a Lynx with no Dingo next to it…the James Lynx.

A random thought on James' Lynx.

Could the metal strapping around the perimeter crew compartment have been a Greek Army solution to a lack of available padded fittings? Be interesting to compare your photos to any Peter Duggan took of his Lynx when it was 'as received' and stripped down. I suspect any pads in place were probably cut through along with the hull when the vehicle was officially scrapped. Maybe as well, some detail shots of your Lynx will show up from the CMP Conference to confirm what it was looking like when Bill received it.

David

[David Dunlop]

Almost forgot. What was the publication date for W&T No 7?

David

[Russ Gregg]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

It always amazes me how quickly things can be solved on this site!

It is remarkable. I was looking at those pictures yesterday, as they are what led me to this forum in the first place. I had a tour of all those buildings as a history class field trip when I was 16. The pictures bring back some memories but I wish I could revisit them in more detail and with greater appreciation. The Dieppe shoot was about 12 years later and it still seems recent.

Perhaps we should ask Peter if he would rather have Hanno move this tangent to it's own thread.

[Peter Duggan]

Russ,

Not an issue. It's all Lynx related and adds to our collective knowledge.

David,

My Lynx had the remnants of the rails to mount the padded blocks around the crew compartment. My goal is to ultimately replicate them, as per the Lynx at the CWM.

James,

I may have missed it, but do you have the hull number for your Lynx? Your Lynx must have racked up travel award points. At least three times across the Atlantic !!

Jim,

Close, but no cigar. The Ferret handle is similar in design but different enough to rule out as a substitution. Still searching for an original to copy.

Peter

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by James Gosling

David,

Any idea what number Wheels and Tracks magazine?

James

James,

See this thread: http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...6595#post46595

Hanno

[David Dunlop]

Thanks for that reference, Hanno.

So if we factor in the lead time Bart would have needed to get submitted photographs to press and Peter Fords habit of using the Summer Holidays to travel down to Ottawa to research the Archives, we can push the date of the photos in Wheels and Tracks to sometime in July or August 1983.

I think Stu might have been working either on the Staghound or Stewart Tank around the time the two Lynx arrived at Bill's home. Perhaps he could narrow down the arrival time for us.

David

[BCA]

I can confirm that the Lynx that was used in the 1993 CBC mini-series Dieppe was Bill Gregg's 3rd Lynx (after one to Canadian War Museum, one to Shilo). A few years later I arranged it's shipment to Johan Dieffenbach who was able to complete a full collection of WW2 wheeled Canadian armour with the addition of the Lynx: Bill Gregg was quite pleased to be able make this happen. Evidently the collection was disbursed after his death: so James, this may well be your Lynx..... Brian

[James Gosling]

Ok, lots of information!

Thanks Hanno for the W&T contents lists , it makes life easier.

My Lynx is hull number 4554, build date January 45.

Brian, thanks you for that info, it is my Lynx. That confirms the rest of the story, I was told it came over from Canada to the Dieffenbach collection and when that was broken up it was sold on.

Seeing the picture of the rails I can see that my metal strips are the same, they have just been used to pinch some padding in behind rather than be used as a rail to mount the larger pads, Something else to make now! Does anyone know if they are all the same size?

Next question, does anyone know of the history of these Lynx's before they came over to Canada or before they went to Greece?

James

[James Gosling]

I have been told that there is a story out there about my stowage boxes and that Stew Robertson has the details?????

[David Dunlop]

James. The two Lynx had their wartime Canadian markings on the front of them when both in Bill's possession. Hopefully some photos can be found of both of them at Bill's during the CMP Conference. That will tell us which markings relate to the Shilo Lynx and yours. The pairing of the Shilo Lynx next to the Dingo will be the key to sorting the two vehicles out. We keep our fingers crossed.

David

[rob love]

See attached. This may be the lynx that is here in Shilo. I do not see original Cdn numbers on the front, although certainly wish I did.

Source is here: http://www.canadianmilitarypattern.c...0CMP%20059.jpg

http://www.canadianmilitarypattern.com/CMP84.htm

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by James Gosling

Thanks Hanno for the W&T contents lists , it makes life easier.

James, my pleasure. I do hope you have a complete set of W&T Magazine?

Next question, does anyone know of the history of these Lynx's before they came over to Canada or before they went to Greece?

As far as I can tell, Greece received a lot of (military) aid in the post-war period, first from Great Britain and then the USA, to keep them from becoming a communist state. Later they joined NATO, which ensured further supplies.

So a likely scenario is that your Lynx was supplied by the Canadian Government to the Greece government:
1) either straight from stocks held in Europe, much of which was delapidated and worn out;
2) from 1), but then first sent back to Canada to be refurbished and then shipped out;
3) from stocks which were used for training and/or unissued stock in Canada, only to be shipped abroad as military aid after WW2.

Anyway, this does not help much I'm afraid...
Hanno

[Alex van de Wetering]

Attached are some scans from Wheels and tracks no. 7 for those who don't have access to the magazine. I also scanned the short description of the source of the Lynx, that Rick already posted earlier in this thread.

W&T 7 is from April 1984 (see Hanno's link)

CMP seminar is covered in W&T 9, Octobre 1984, but no further info on the Lynxes is included.

Alex

[Peter Duggan]

Guys,

For perhaps the first time in half a century the Lynx was motoring around on it's own power. Quite a moment. My apologies for the quality of the video and the skills of the operator. I've posted the video on You Tube, the link is https://youtu.be/UUs9HMA3ibM. A search for "1944 Lynx" on You Tube will also work. Looks as if Hanno will have to work his magic on the link. Hanno perhaps you could PM me and let me know what I'm doing wrong.

James,

The 20 crash pads that surround the crew compartment appear to be all the same size. Here are a few pictures. Looks as if these crash pads started with the last versions of the Lynx mk111*, the part number is C19SR 111213.

Peter

[Bob Phillips]

Rob, thanks for posting the link to the seminar- haven't seen for many years. I had the pleasure of dining with Sid Swallow at my table Sat night at the dinner.
Wish I had asked more questions and written down the answers. BP

[Alex van de Wetering]

Peter, excellent to see the Lynx moving around outdoors! Well done....the engine sounds pretty intimidating

I don't think you can have a youtube vid play within a thread on MLU, but you can make the link clickable by using the little symbol with the "globe and shackle" and than inserting the link to the youtube vid.

https://youtu.be/UUs9HMA3ibM

Alex

[Peter Duggan]

Alex,

Thanks for posting the link. An exhaust system and new tires are the next priorities.

Peter

[Robin Craig]

Peter,

if those pads are on the CWM vehicle, then I have a very talented company in Ottawa who do work for us. Seeing as how that vehicle is in the same city they would more easily be able to go measure and copy them. They have done brilliant work for us.

Do you want me to make an introduction for you?

[David Dunlop]

Congratulations, Peter. Quite a milestone!

David

[James Gosling]

Fantastic Peter well done!!

[Jon Bradshaw]

I will stop by in the fall to see it. Maybe we can do a trail ride in another year or so? A ferret and a lynx out for a drive.

Jonathan