T-16 S/N 5399 T.D. 97377 Restoration

[horsa]

Hey Hanno,

Researching the modifications for the T-16 in British service has sure been interesting. I've still had no real luck with identification of wartime records for the units that used the vehicle though. I do know that more saw use with the Canadian forces but since I had the original British wartime registration numbers, I opted to stayed with them and have adopted a British Regiment for now.

Two shots below show the front and rear fender markings as I was messing with wiring this weekend and bolted up the front set to make sure the marker lights and headlamp lined up properly and that I had built the wires long enough to reach the instrument panel.





The markings represent 8th Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment which was detatched from the rest of their normal formation and assigned to the 43rd Wessex Division as part of the Independant Machine Gun Battalion. Company A, B, and C used carriers with machine guns and Company D used carriers with 4.2" Mortars. D-Coy is what I'll be configuring the vehicle for and it existed from February 28, 1944 until August 31, 1945. They landed at Ouistreham (Sword Beach, Normandy) on D+14 with a strength of four platoons and attached with the division to XXX Corps for the duration.

Also have a few short movie clips below from the engine and transmission testing I did last week. It dosen't seem to get much traction without the tracks, even in 2nd gear. Go figure....

Installed Engine Running 1

Differential Spinning

Rear Sproket Spins