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Dennis_Smith · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Mar 17, 2006 Posts: 192

I saw this on the internet and thought some here might find it interesting.

www.derelictplaces.co....hp?t=11975

Michel_Krauss · Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 8:30 pm Post subject: Re: tank in essex

I have never found an Chieftan tank just standing around some where Sad

To be honest, I did not find any tank just standing around anywhere Mr. Green

Michel

L.Delsing · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Feb 10, 2006 Posts: 960

Nice Chieftain, never find that kind of things in the horsefields of my father in law!

Anyone of our British ''tankspotters'' know were in Essex this is?

regards,
Lesley

3R22R · Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:40 pm Post subject: Re: tank in essex

please, please someone recover it while it's still in good shape
(relatively speaking) Guy
P.S. Saw one catch fire in suffield ( Canada) in 1980, crewmen were
jumping out of the hatches like rabbits, also had bad powerpack.

C_Sherman · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 590

Hi,

Very odd. That Chieftain looks like it was simply abandoned there, and forgotten! Is it possible that it was broken on exercise and simply left there until the military folks who knew about it just moved on or retired?

That leads to another question...in the US Army we used to have to sign for our tanks, and were supposedly responsible for it and all of the stuff that went with it. Does the British Army do it differently? I'd hate to think of how many paychecks it would take for that poor tank commander (or platoon leader, or company commander) to pay for losing it!

Chuck

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:02 am Post subject: Re: tank in essex

- C_Sherman

Hi,

Very odd. That Chieftain looks like it was simply abandoned there, and forgotten! Is it possible that it was broken on exercise and simply left there until the military folks who knew about it just moved on or retired?

Chuck

That sort of thing does happen. There was an AH-1S Cobra at Ft. Irwin that was left behind by an Arizona unit when it broke down. Only half jokingly, I was told that if I showed up with a flatbed, I could have it. Everyone had lost all interest in this A/C and it was really just in the way out by the airfield hangar for the OC OH-58's. I think Jeffrey Button managed to stimulate some interest on the part of the museum to recover and display it, but given funding at the time and subsequently, I'd not be surprised if it's still right where I photographed it.

C_Sherman · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 590

- Doug_Kibbey

- C_Sherman

Hi,

Very odd. That Chieftain looks like it was simply abandoned there, and forgotten! Is it possible that it was broken on exercise and simply left there until the military folks who knew about it just moved on or retired?

Chuck

That sort of thing does happen. There was an AH-1S Cobra at Ft. Irwin that was left behind by an Arizona unit when it broke down. Only half jokingly, I was told that if I showed up with a flatbed, I could have it. Everyone had lost all interest in this A/C and it was really just in the way out by the airfield hangar for the OC OH-58's. I think Jeffrey Button managed to stimulate some interest on the part of the museum to recover and display it, but given funding at the time and subsequently, I'd not be surprised if it's still right where I photographed it.

Nope...I'm pretty sure that's the one sitting right inside the museum's storage annex, back in late '08 when I was there. They let me in to see the half track, and there sat the Cobra. I don't know what's happened since then, but they were pretty pleased to have it.

C

bsmart · Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:55 pm Post subject: Re: tank in essex

- C_Sherman

Hi,

Very odd. That Chieftain looks like it was simply abandoned there, and forgotten! Is it possible that it was broken on exercise and simply left there until the military folks who knew about it just moved on or retired?

That leads to another question...in the US Army we used to have to sign for our tanks, and were supposedly responsible for it and all of the stuff that went with it. Does the British Army do it differently? I'd hate to think of how many paychecks it would take for that poor tank commander (or platoon leader, or company commander) to pay for losing it!

Chuck

Well in the Air Force I'm not sure if thecrew chief had to sign for the airplane but the ECM shop had to sign an initial receipt for the ECM gear that was delivered or later installed in the A/C. Funny thing was no one ever seemed to worry about the receipts after that. I keep wondering if all those 'acceptance and custody' reciepts I filled out when I was assigned to 1 TFW will ever come back to haunt me?

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:22 pm Post subject: Re: tank in essex

- C_Sherman

- Doug_Kibbey

- C_Sherman

Hi,

Very odd. That Chieftain looks like it was simply abandoned there, and forgotten! Is it possible that it was broken on exercise and simply left there until the military folks who knew about it just moved on or retired?

Chuck

That sort of thing does happen. There was an AH-1S Cobra at Ft. Irwin that was left behind by an Arizona unit when it broke down. Only half jokingly, I was told that if I showed up with a flatbed, I could have it. Everyone had lost all interest in this A/C and it was really just in the way out by the airfield hangar for the OC OH-58's. I think Jeffrey Button managed to stimulate some interest on the part of the museum to recover and display it, but given funding at the time and subsequently, I'd not be surprised if it's still right where I photographed it.

Nope...I'm pretty sure that's the one sitting right inside the museum's storage annex, back in late '08 when I was there. They let me in to see the half track, and there sat the Cobra. I don't know what's happened since then, but they were pretty pleased to have it.

C

Chuck,
Are you sure it was the Cobra (not to say that you wouldn't know the difference)? When I was there and drove the halftrack, the back of the quonset hut was occupied by the UH-1M that "Doc" Bahnsen was being transported in when the ordnance in back went off. SFC Rodney Yano was awarded the MOH (posthumously) for his actions in saving the aircraft and it's occupants from disaster in VN. It later flew for years with the CANG.
Has the "Yano" bird been moved to an indoor display and the Cobra replaced it in the hut?

The two A/C:

L.Delsing · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Feb 10, 2006 Posts: 960

According to the database on www.scramble.nl it is the following
TAH-1F with r/n 67-15462 and serial 20126, former WAATS, AZ ARNG and stored at Ft Drum. Last seen in June 2001 there.

regards,
Lesley

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:49 pm Post subject: Re: tank in essex

- L.Delsing

According to the database on www.scramble.nl it is the following
TAH-1F with r/n 67-15462 and serial 20126, former WAATS, AZ ARNG and stored at Ft Drum. Last seen in June 2001 there.

regards,
Lesley

Lesley,
Yep, a TAH-1F is essentially a training version of an AH-1S configuration, with some other goodies related to night vision and targeting. My pic is from 2006.

The current "Google Earth" view, whenever it was taken, still shows it beside the building at the Ft. Irwin airfield at Bicycle Lake....

TrevorLarkum · Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:35 pm Post subject: Re: tank in essex

- C_Sherman

Very odd. That Chieftain looks like it was simply abandoned there, and forgotten! Is it possible that it was broken on exercise and simply left there until the military folks who knew about it just moved on or retired?

I think that's unlikely - I'd say it belongs to an enthusiast who bought one some years ago (they were very cheap when first demobbed) and has since lost interest.

- C_Sherman

That leads to another question...in the US Army we used to have to sign for our tanks, and were supposedly responsible for it and all of the stuff that went with it. Does the British Army do it differently? I'd hate to think of how many paychecks it would take for that poor tank commander (or platoon leader, or company commander) to pay for losing it!

I have vague memories of having to sign for the tanks in my troop, though I don't remember every getting a receipt when I handed them back at the end of my service!

Maple_Leaf_Eh · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 517

I'd bet it is a privately owned vehicle. Even the least organized army unit has lists of vehicles, assigned crews or drivers, scheduled maintenance appointments, outstanding refits or upgrades, etc. In Canada, nonfighting echelon vehicles are rotated, and armoured vehicles are monitored for mileage and hours, etc.

horrocks · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Nov 20, 2008 Posts: 20

I saw these pictures of the Chieftan somewhere a few weeks ago. They were two a penny and cheap when first demobbed, but I can imagine someone quickly losing interest when the wretched power pack broke and the tank was stuck in the middle of a field. That kind of thing gets expensive very quickly if you haven't got the kit to deal with it.

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