Post War Staghounds in Canada

[David Dunlop]

I noticed the thread in this forum on the logging conversions of former Shermans, that are still earning a living down under.

Wasn't there a company in Vancouver after the war that was rounding up all available Staghounds in Canada and modifying them for the logging industry as well? Never seen photos of the final product, but recall chatting with someone at an MV Convention in Vancouver in the 80's who had poked about the company property at that time. Found a few Staghound axles still lying around but not much else by then.

David

[jeff davis]

The Company was Patrick Forklift in the Still Creek area of Burnaby and they constructed off road Forklifts. The legend is that they had buried several of the hulls to shore up still creek from flooding the property.The running gear was used for the Forklifts I in the past had come across a few.
Jeff

[maple_leaf_eh]

The Shermans are active all up and down the West Coast of North America.

[marco]

Hereby two old photo's from a modified Staghound in Canada which might originate from Patrick Forklift.

Marco

[maple_leaf_eh]

I posted this question on a heavy equipment forum, and a Dane reponded. He offered to post some pictures he took in Hope in the 80's.

(I knew a girl named Hope in the 80's, but I didn't have the presence of mind to take any pictures of her ...)

[James Shopland]

I believed there was a similar company in Australia converting the Staghounds into 'commercial' vehicles. I believe the logging vehicles were called Cadmac Tuskers. Good luck with the research.

James.

ps. If you find any secret hoards of Staghound parts, please let me know as we are struggling to restore one

[maple_leaf_eh]

http://www.earthmover.com.au/news/20...rchterm=tusker

And MORE(!) repurposed military surplus vehicles. Have you ever seen a Sherman tank "dump truck"? Hanno, are you paying attention?

[Luke R]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

http://www.earthmover.com.au/news/20...rchterm=tusker

And MORE(!) repurposed military surplus vehicles. Have you ever seen a Sherman tank "dump truck"? Hanno, are you paying attention?

Is it just me or do the tracks on the Quadtrack look like that of a M3 Stuart?
Were there many fastracs made?
There used to be one not far from me, sadly now scrapped.

Luke

[James Shopland]

Thanks Luke. Great link. I have never seen any of the conversions nor seen any documentation.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

And MORE(!) repurposed military surplus vehicles. Have you ever seen a Sherman tank "dump truck"? Hanno, are you paying attention?

YES Terry, THANK YOU! Very interesting reading, wish there was more info and better pictures.

"Shermans into ploughshares" is a very interesting subject which could do with a lot more research.

Hanno

[David Dunlop]

As nice as it is to see ex-MV's converted to a useful post military life, sadly not all go that way. At the end of WW2, Winnipeg was home to a pair of Staghounds assigned to XII Manitoba Dragoons. Several variations of their story exist, but the most consistent refers to them as being used for training and routine drills, while the Regiment was still active at Carpiquet Barracks, which was located in the Weston District of Winnipeg (Northwest Corner).

In the late 1950's or early 1960's, the Dragoons ceased activity and the Barracks were closed. Labatts eventually bought the site and built a new Brewery on it. It too has now closed. Switch to a former BCATP Bombing and Gunnery Range located a hours drive Northwest of Winnipeg. It too had closed in the late 1940's but was still owned by the DND. They made arrangements with Transport Canada to let them install a LORAN Nav Beacon on the site of the former Range.

In the late 1970's, through a mutual friend, I met the gentleman who had been in charge of installing the beacon at the old Bombing and Gunnery Range in the 1960's. In the process of restoring a 15-cwt at the time, his stories of military parts lying all over the place, including two 'tanks', got the better of me and a friend and I drove up to have a look around. DND and NavCanada still owned the property, but were working with the Provincial Wildlife Department to convert it to a Nature Reserve. Local farmers had been allowed in for a few years to cut hay. The layout of the Bombing and Gunnery Range was still very clearly evident. Some mature trees existed near the entranceway, but over the rest of the range there was nothing taller than three feet growing. Among all the empty ammo boxes spent practise bombs of all sizes and air to ground practice rockets sticking out of the ground, a very large shiny object caught our attention in the Northeast corner of the property. When we walked out to it, it turned out to be the upside down, centre fuselage section of a Fairy Battle, and sitting beside it on it's back, was a Staghound hull. Stripped clean and with very little side and bulkhead metal remaining. Someone had recently visited it for more metal, as the smell of cut steel was quite noticeable. I have pictures of it somewhere that are on my must find list.

In talking with the local farmers, we learned two Staghounds had been on the site but had been hauled away to scavenge running gear etc. The axles were apparently under a pair of homebuilt farm trailers in the area and the doors were popular for making wood stoves with in one's spare time.

Fast forward to 1998. Word spread that another Staghound has tuned up at the old Range. In the interim years, the two levels of government had made a concerted effort to clear the Range of all old ordnance and metal in an effort to turn the land back into pasture. Clearly another visit was required. The following photos show what was left of the second Staghound.

[David Dunlop]

You are probably wondering what happened to this poor Staghound.

We subsequently found out the two of them had been taken out to the Range when Carpiquet Barracks closed (uncertain if they were still operational at that time or been 'Gate Guardians') by the military and used as targets for a 17-pdr. On the first photo posted you can see the ingoing rounds to the right side of the vehicle. On the left side are the exit holes and related steel plate fractures. The rear photo also shows a ricochet exit, probably off an engine block. Several 17-pder solid shot projectiles were found in the area on this second trip. We guess the range would have been less than 100 yards at the time of the shooting.

The remaining photos show some parts details of the front of the hull, turret and what was left of the external fuel tank rails and stowage boxes. Lots of wiring and stowage clips still to be seen inside the hull and many of the stowage identification decals were still readable inside the hull and turret.

[motto]

There was a bombing range at Werribee just west of Melbourne, Australia that was well out of use when I first visited it in the seventies. At that time I was involved in helping a friend remove the remains of three Fairy Battles from the range. Not that there was much left of them.

Also on the range were two Staghounds the hulls of which were quite intact and at least one of which was still sitting on its axles minus wheels. Stags and Battles must have been natural targets on colonial ranges at the time.

In 1994 I was staying with Robert Gill just outside of Vienna in the village of Grossenzersdorf. (Spelling ?) Robert had a huge collection of HMVs and was in the process of acquiring a Staghound that had come off a range somewhere. He asked me if I knew where he could get a right hand rear spring and hanger brackets for it as they had been blown off and lost or destroyed. I remembered the Werribee targets and said 'lend me your phone and I'll find out".

I spoke to a fellow I knew back home who would know if the Stags were still there and was informed that they were. Some time after my return I made arrangements with the people who were farming the area to go down and remove the wanted parts which I then air freighted to Vienna on Lauda Air as requested.

I never heard any more from Robert and have wondered ever since what became of the spring and hanger brackets and the vehicle they were destined for. In the intervening years I did hear of somebody with a Stag in Europe that was in need of a rear spring and attaching parts. Another coincidence?

David

[Paul Dutton]

My sister lives in werrebee, where was the range?

[motto]

Hi Paul

The range I am referring to was west or southwest of the Victorian Werribee shotgun range clay target facility. This is accessed off the Ballan road opposite Cobbledicks Road. There was another bombing range nearby but I never went there so don't know where it was.

If you want to know more I will see what I can find out.

David

[David Dunlop]

Well as luck would have it, I was rummaging for some 19-Set documentation and found a chunky envelop full of old Polaroid pictures. And in them discovered this lot. These were taken in 1979 on my first visit to the old Langruth Bombing and Gunnery Range site and are of the first Staghound remains we found there. As you can see, forward of the engine compartment, not much was left and fresh cutting had taken place on one of the sides a day or two before our arrival. On the horizon of the second photo, centre and to the right, you can just make out a long berm behind which are two or three clumps of poplar trees about three quarters of a mile away. The berm is about 5 to 6 feet high and is part of the circular Eastern bombing target. The grey pile of metal in front of the Staghound and behind it somewhat, is the remains of a Fairey Battle sitting on it's back (the last photo).

As noted earlier, the range was extensively cleared a number of years later and this Staghound wreck, and the Battle, disappeared. However, the second wreck then surfaced, as shown in the earlier post.

Now if I could only find the rest of the photos I have been looking for…

David

[Rob Fast]

great pics. Cheers Rob Fast

[David Perrott]

Hi all , slightly off topic but if anyone has any Fairey Battle parts a would be interested as i am restoring a cockpit / forward fuselarge section for static display .

Also i have Staghound fuel tank currently running on ebay , funny how the Staghound/Battle paths keep crossing.

cheers dave

[Stew Robertson]

From this to this 30 years ago

[David Dunlop]

Was that an old heating oil tank sitting on top of it, Stew?

[Stew Robertson]

That was a few years ago and if memory doesn't fail me
This one was used in Quebec for logging and that was the fuel tank
also notice the seat and controls where move out of the hull on the front
The completed Staghound took 5 to make the one
and is a copy of the one in Denmark on a pedestal with the upgraded gun