LVT-4 Buffalo recovery in the UK

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Read https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-vehicle.html

“Volunteers spend five days digging out perfectly-preserved WWII TANK that has been buried 30ft beneath Cambridgeshire Fens for 74 YEARS”

[Jakko Westerbeke]

And a fairly early one at that, without the bow machine gun but with a Polsten gun mount. Nice

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

The article says there were 16 deployed, are there 15 more waiting to be recovered?

I can watch videos of tanks being pulled out of swamps and holes all day long.

[Mike K]

Reminds me of the LVT's at Uptons yard, Corowa.

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Video of them being emplaced: https://youtu.be/YhuURwmsHec

[Alex van de Wetering]

Was Rick W. involved in the recovery? I seem to remember the LVT's and the much rarer Neptunes came up in a thread on HMVF some years ago. At the time we all thought these would never be dug up......but never say never!

[Mike K]

I believe the Uptons LVT's were the turreted variant . I remember them being in a side yard next to the cemetery We asked Uptons what the price was for a LVT and they wanted $6K for the most complete one , this was in the mid 1990's.

https://upton.com.au/about-us/history/

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Jakko Westerbeke

And a fairly early one at that, without the bow machine gun but with a Polsten gun mount. Nice

This .30-cal Browning shield came up from the dig also. Saw a picture of a brass plate from the gun mount somewhere, forget to save it



More pictures here: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/148039...ambridgeshire/

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Bruce Parker

The article says there were 16 deployed, are there 15 more waiting to be recovered?

I can watch videos of tanks being pulled out of swamps and holes all day long.

I understand this one wasn’t in the actual bank, it floated back and was between the bank and the fishing lakes. The barrier bank is intact and I reckon they don’t allow anyone to dig there.

Agree on watching this type of footage ;-)

[Hanno Spoelstra]

“The amphibious vehicle was one of 16 deployed to protect the town in March 1947 after floods caused the nearby River Welland to burst its banks
However, as the flood waters were pumped back, five of the 26ft-long machines floated away. One was later recovered, two sank in fishing pits and two sank into a hole.”

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-...shire-56944032

[maple_leaf_eh]

I am curious about the depths of the hole. In my understanding of erosion and deposition, there is a tremendous volume of overburden added between the 1940s and 2020s. Where would all that soil have originated? I don't think of the British Isles having such active geophysical mechanisms. How far is it from shorelines?

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

“The amphibious vehicle was one of 16 deployed to protect the town in March 1947 after floods caused the nearby River Welland to burst its banks
However, as the flood waters were pumped back, five of the 26ft-long machines floated away. One was later recovered, two sank in fishing pits and two sank into a hole.”

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-...shire-56944032

If somebody was about to sink me in floodwater I'd make a run for it and float off too....

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

Was Rick W. involved in the recovery? I seem to remember the LVT's and the much rarer Neptunes came up in a thread on HMVF some years ago. At the time we all thought these would never be dug up......but never say never!

Rick was not involved that I know of.

"Daniel Abbott, a farmer from Crowland, has spent the last three years examining records and exploring the area to try and locate the tank."



Source: https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2021/04/...k-70-years-ago

[Hanno Spoelstra]

One more link - see the videos: https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2021...rs-underground

“ Bullet holes can be seen in the side of the vehicle.
Credit: ITV News Anglia”

[Hanno Spoelstra]

It is a “Water Buffalo”.

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Nice! Never seen that before, though I had heard the LVT (4) was apparently called “Water Buffalo” (semi?-)officially while the LVT (2) was just “Buffalo”. Now we just need a plate from the latter to prove it

[Jakko Westerbeke]

A closer look at this vehicle on YouTube.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Hi Jakko,

I’ve never seen any plates denoting them as Water Buffalo either, that’s why I posted the photo.

Thanks for posting the video link, well worth viewing. Here’s the accompanying web page: https://www.forces.net/news/crowland...rs-underground