carrier spotted heading for US

[Ralph Volkert]

I spotted this Carrier in New Liskeard Parked at a shipping yard there.
This is heading for the Midwest in the US. from Southern Ontario.

It is a fine machine with most of the bits in place, including some spares you can see sticking above the armour. The shipper let me Take as many pics as I could take and I was able to make out some of the info.

CT163057
Lower Hull number 1838? (Couldnt make out the last number)

Does any one want some detail shots of a mostly intact carrier?

[peter simundson]

....there is a carrier missing from Brian Asbury's yard.

[Ralph Volkert]

here are some more shots.

The drivers view port still has glass in it!
I was pleased to get the shots of the brakets for the rear mounted tools and I thought the stowage mounts on the right hand side of the interior were interesting.

[Ralph Volkert]

this apparantly came from Coe Hill....Not sure where that is.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

This is a Mk.II 3' mortar carrier and the RH bins are for the mortar rounds. Amazing they are still there. Coe Hill in just south and west of Bancroft (or an hour north of Belleville) and I only know of one person there who would be responsible for this deal.

[Jordan Baker]

Looks to be a mortar carrier judging by the racks inside. Very complete looking also and would be an excellent rebuild. If it came out of Coe Hill area would it possibly be from Dan McCaw's pile of stuff?

Ralph, can you post more pictures and bigger ones please. Those that you have posted are great but they are rather small.

Thanks for taking the pics.

[Ralph Volkert]

I am not sure this is a 3" mortar carrier...

On the front armour there is absolutely no evidence of mounting brackets of any type. not even for a spare tire.

On the rear there is only the mountings for the spade, trenching tool and pry/track tensioning bar. On the rear upper armour there does seem to be marks were the battery box was though.

I have added some better shots of the bins. They are on the left side, sorry. The right side was full of spares.

I have tried to attach bigger pictures. I hope this works.

[Ledsel]

I don't know but the way it's tide on the trailer I wouldn't want to meet that load on the highway. It has a headlight bracket for a Mk.II but it looks like a Mk.I. Sure looks in good shape though.

[Jordan Baker]

As Bruce says, it is a mortar carrier. The mortar parts would have been kept on the back wall of the Carrier on the outside. The tool plate remained the same.

The CT # is smack in the middle of a 3" Mortar Carrier contract by Ford Canada as per Nigels Vol1 book.

It really looks to be in great shape with just substancial surface damage. It will make a great resto project. Hopefully the new owner finds out about MLU and joins up.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

A couple of points: It's worth repeating that Canadian mortar carriers are the true Mk.II. They are basically Mk.I's with different stowage and all the extra holes riveted shut, hence the resemblance. What people generally refer to as "Mk.II" carriers (i.e. with the tubular metal on the top of the armour, stepped mud guards and 'Welsh Guard' stowage) are really Mk.II* carriers. Second, as the mortar configuration was of little use in the post war Canadian army, many Mk.II mortar carriers, like the one on the float above, had some or all of the mortar brackets removed and replaced with bins from a Mk.I to make them more 'infantry'. That would explain evidence of a battery box having been mounted on the rear plate

[Ralph Volkert]

some more detail shots of the carrier.

specifically the oil cooler lines and front bulkhead center and rifle mounts.

[Ralph Volkert]

I always appreciate the great info on this site.
I am pretty sure I know where this unit is going and if so we should be hearing/seeing more as it is restored!

Here is a pic of the convoy light dead center on the rear.

[Kirk Armitage]

Trucking a carrier sounds a lot easier than having to float one on a barge, as done previously, just a guess !
Kirk Armitage

[Darrin Wright]

Go to
http://www.midwestmil.com/brensale.html

and this appears to be the same vehicle, now resting with John at Midwest Military, MN, US of A.

[Ledsel]

It's sure covered with road salt now!

[Ralph Volkert]

Yup that is the one. I didnt know if it was my place to say anything about the final destination until John chose to do so. I would love to know what his asking price would be though...now that the economy is in its current shape.

I know I am hoping the the price of some stuff I need will come back down from the stratosphere it was at. Even plate steel was getting expensive this summer. Scrap iron was fetching over $300/ton in July! Hey maybe I can even afford to replace the stick shift knob!

[Bob Carriere]

Just to confirm it did come from the Coe Hill yard.... see matching photos...

Was purchased by Jim X from the East coast..... he never did move it and last I heard was trying to sell it..... so he did. Better than staying there to rust. May it find a good home.......

The pictures were taken Oct 2005.

Boobee

[JBizal]

It is in my yard and I was pleasantly surprised to see its condition. Better than the one I started with in many respects. I originally bought this to restore it, but I have come to my senses. I currently have more projects than time, and my storage situation has worsened. I bought this back in April and could not find anyone to haul it until last week. Since I purchased it, the storage building picked up a 4 ton Diamond T and an air transportable CCKW. Now it is to full and I have 5 other projects sitting in the wings.
I have had unbelievable interest in this since I posted it on the site. 2 other folks have called and said they saw it on the road and wondered if it was headed my way.
John

[kevin powles]

Hi,

Finally got the mortar carrier at the blasters yard today, It was fun loading it on the trailer, One of the plastic swivel wheels mounted on the front collapsed, so it was touch and go, will get over there at the weekend to repair it so will take a few pictures.

[kevin powles]

Hi, Got the mortar carrier back from the blasters today, Zinc primed ready for the first under coat came up fine with no holes or repair required, noticed a bullet hole in the rear left side armour, also a bullet mark in the front gunners armour.

Also the number 1433 stamped on the front side armour, see pictures attached.

First job is to take off the suspension units for rebuild.

kev.

[kevin powles]

Hope to get it rolling within 12 months, set myself a target.