1st Hussars and Holy Roller & Perry Kitson

[Hanno Spoelstra]

From: https://globalnews.ca/news/8880090/h...ng-london-ont/

“Retired lieutenant-colonel Ian Haley says some of the biggest challenges with restoring the Holy Roller stemmed from finding original parts, most of which were still in Europe as most tanks never left after the war.”
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“A glimpse inside the restored Holy Roller Sherman tank, which is much more spacious than it would’ve been in the Second World War.”
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And:

“ Volunteer David Wyatt got to sit in the commander’s seat when the tank rolled out to the public during Thursday’s unveiling, a show of gratitude to him and two others for their work on the project.

“It meant a lot to me, it meant a lot to honour all the veterans that have served, especially with what’s going on with the world right now,” Wyatt said.

“These guys were all really, really young when they did and they gave up lives to go to Europe and serve, so it’s the least you can do.”

The tank is now set to return to its home in Victoria Park just in time for the 150th anniversary of the 1st Hussars and Wyatt says it’ll be tough to say goodbye.

“On Saturday, which was our last workday, one of the fellas said ‘it’s almost bittersweet,’ because we came together as a group of strangers, we spent a year together, it’s really nice to be at the end of the project, but it feels sad that it’s over,” Wyatt said.

“I hope it stays in the park in this condition for a long time.””