PROBLEMS WITH CATERPILLAR D8s IN NORMANDY.

Not a D8 and not Normandy but still an interesting picture. The caption on Facebook said, "An elderly man sits among the ruins after the Battle of Berlin, May 1945."

Can anyone ID the tractor? I can't

 

Interesting picture Dave.

Not one of 'ours'. I suppose its German.

Mike

 

I have not bothered to check but if it is Berlin then probably a Soviet Art towing tractor. They used 1000's of them.

 

I have not bothered to check but if it is Berlin then probably a Soviet Art towing tractor. They used 1000's of them.

I thought about that too but the muffler ( I think it is called a silencer in UK) looks like the ones I've seen on German farm tractors. Plus it seems like it might have some alternative fuel equipment rigged up on it.

 

Hi guys, just a foot note? were could someone obtain a copy of the loading tables? are they beach specific or loading area?

 

Going back to the picture of two Cats towing a loco - is that part of a dozer attachment over the front of the tracks on the tractor in full view and would that not make it an RE piece of equipment? (suppose it could be from another unit such as Inland Water Transport who used dozers on the beaches - but not REME)

Noel

 

Hi Noel

If you mean the part that is near the right front corner, covering part of the top of the track, I think that might be part of a side boom crane that is not mounted at the moment. I had to study it for a while but it now seems to make sense since Cats with side boom cranes are very often used by rail repair crews. Here's a civi example. The winch and counterweight would have been mounted on the right side if the boom was on the left.

 

Dave55 - I dont think that those "side mounted" cranes were used by the British Army.
Here is an enlarged image of the D8 towing the loco and another of a dozer unit which looks to me to use the same attachment points [over both tracks] so it looks to me as if the D8 loco tower is a dozer which has had it;s blade removed for this task. Also the towing D8 appears to have various hydaulic pipes - which would not be fitted to a REME recovery D8.
My point being that the photo would appear to show the landing of the loco before the REME tractors took over.
Noel

 

Hi Noel

I think you're right. Good work

 

D4 Import Ban?

This article on the David Brown DB4 says:

The tractor was built during and just after WWII for the Ministry. Approximately 110 built. Basically a Caterpillar D4 clone as these could not be imported for Military use under the Lend Lease deal.

Does anyone have any more information on this? Sounds odd.

http://tractors.wikia.com/wiki/David_Brown_DB4

 

Mike...and everyone - I came across an old article by David Fletcher in a CMV from the middle of the last decade last night! I knew I had it somewhere, it was just a case of finding it!

It talked specifically about issues with the armoured D7s...but of course they'd equally apply to the armoured D8s - and in the case of the first two of them, the UN-armoured types as well...

1/ apparently there was a chronic shortage of....MANUALS! So the military crawlers weren't necessarily receiving ALL the naintenance they needed - every grease point, every clearance checked etc., etc...

2/ they were being run around the clock with drivers working in shifts there was so much to do! Basically - as long as there was someone awake who could drive them, they were being driven. Crawlers, while very robust at what they do, apparently are relatively quick-wearing items...so they would rapidly approach the end of their working lives running 24/7!

And finally...but not least - in the case of the armoured 'dozers...

3/ very few of the REME maintenance units OR the RE and RCE units operating the 'dozers had the cranes necessary to lift away the sheets of armour that they were pannelled with...so maintenance on the inaccessible parts of the machines was often skimped! If ventured at all...

 

Mike,

The "REME History" you referred to didn't happen to mention Austin K5's did it? I think the Beach Recovery Units had them as well, have you seen any references to them in any diaries?

Regards

Tom