T34 Recovery. (And other buried tanks & vehicles)

Discussion in 'Weapons, Technology & Equipment' started by von Poop, Sep 21, 2006.

  1. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

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  2. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

  3. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

  4. Capt.Sensible

    Capt.Sensible Well-Known Member

  5. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Remember that bloke at Beltring saying the German lady sold a completely knackered IV for around half a million?
    And that was about a decade ago.

    Though with Russian cultural history laws, I'm guessing it's most actually just worth a pat on the head from whoever oversees the scheme...
    I do hope they have the red tape more squared away these days. That complete Stug rotting away still rankles slightly.
     
  6. Capt.Sensible

    Capt.Sensible Well-Known Member

    I suspect there are two elements to the red tape: a desire to avoid items of national cultural heritage being bought up and exported; and the recognition that these things have a potentially huge market value, thus susceptible to questionable behavior. If you get involved in any kind if recovery/conservation project you learn very quickly that the act of recovery/conservation is only the start, and very often the easy part. The hard part is ensuring a stable future for whatever you conserve/recover.
     
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  7. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    The original Swamp T34 that probably triggered this internet interest appears to have lost all its beute markings and been given a very flat restoration rather than preservation.
    Get the impression there's not all that much more money in Russki museums than there can be in ours, and as ever: tanks are quite big & awkward things to store/display/repair.

    Chap on Twatter is sharing some interesting stuff around North Africa. Not so many swamps, so stuff sometimes just sat above ground:

    Defence Photography on Twitter
     
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  8. Capt.Sensible

    Capt.Sensible Well-Known Member

    Ooh, that's interesting! Although having stuff exposed above ground does mean the scrappers can move in, I guess. Wonder if Kuno is still out there?
     
  9. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    They seem to currently be heading for 131's capture site.
    Hmm, suppose I should put that on the right thread.
     
  10. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    Nice old steam shovel. Diamond T at 5:30 too

     
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  11. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

  12. rick wedlock

    rick wedlock Member

    i dug this covenanter out of a vineyard in dorking in 2017. download.jpg
     
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  13. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    What if anything is happening to the Covenanter now, Rick?
     
  14. rick wedlock

    rick wedlock Member

    it's in my yard in manchester waiting it's turn for a full running resto.
     
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  15. Sheldrake

    Sheldrake All over the place....

    How did it get there. I heard the Covenentor was not a great tank. Gosh did the crew dig a hole and bury it rather than take it back?

    Sorry sir we came back and it was gone....
     
  16. rick wedlock

    rick wedlock Member

    the covenanter gets a bad press due to the cooling issues it suffered. many people blame positioning the rads at the front as the cause of the overheating but it was the tiny fan and poor ducting that gave it it's problems. it's also a very labour/maintenance intensive vehicle and quite tricky to drive, which isn't great for young guys to learn on.
    as to how it got buried on an estate is quite simple. it was used as a static training aide to teach demolition techniques, which is why one side is badly damaged. at some point during or just after the war it was buried along with another covenanter (now at the tank museum). the one at the tank museum was recovered some time in the late seventies and although they were buried side by side it was decided at the time that mine was beyond hope and left in the pit until someone daft enough came along , which is where i came in :)
     
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  17. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

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  18. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

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  19. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Last edited: Dec 5, 2023
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  20. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    That's brilliant!!
     

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