Armoured recovery
 

Good afternoon all you tankies

I have taken a look at the titles in this forum and cannot see a dedicated thread for ARVs. I expect there may be some items within all the threads but trust you will agree to this entry, for my part i am in the main a softskin freak but over the many years of collecting photos and info i have never let an oppertunity pass toadd to my files including armour. As i collect a lot of info on recovery military and civilian the ARVs come within this scope.
Two photos to start you off

1 Sherman ARV, now i dont know if this is actually on the beach at Normondy or during rehearsals in the UK , it has the exhaust extensions fitted for wading and there is certainly some conflab going on around the turret

photo 2

the Churchill ARV MK2 in the UK

Re: Armoured recovery
 

Hi Les;

Something you may want to keep an eye out for in the next year or so:

Re: Armoured recovery - location of photo
 

Hi Les;

I'd say that this photo was taken during Exercise FABIUS II, conducted on the south coast of England on 5 May 1944.

Cheers :)

Les,

The Sherman is the original BARV prototype. According to REME records, it was based on an M4A3 hull (one of only eight such vehicles received by the British), but this photo clearly suggests an M4A4 hull (because of the bogie spacing).

Trials began in Dec '43 and production sometime around Feb '44.

Production vehicles were based on diesel engined M4A2s.

According to a REME publication on their activities before and after D-Day (purchased at the REME Museum), the photo was taken during Exercise 'Porpoise'.

Thus, it must have been taken during a rehearsal somewhere in the UK in early '44

Cheers,
John

Thanks for all the info so far guys, Mark i,ll be keeping a look out for your book is it released yet
Photo of a Churchill MK1

Re: Armoured recovery
 

Les,

Do you happen to have pics/info about the Ram ARV I and II (shown below)?

Thanks,
Hanno

Hello Hanno
I cant find any info at the moment on the Ram ARV, plenty on the Sherman. Ihave a copy of the original Canadian armour data book it shows various Rams with good line drawings but no ARVs. If you want these posted let me know, meanwhile i will keep digging could be something deep in the vault
cheers Les

No thanks, Les, I have those too. Any unusual Sherman or Ram variant is welcome, though!

H.

Great Pictures
 

Great Pictures and thanks for the last picture. Its the first time I've seen a stowed boom system, on an M-4 hull.
Patrick

Hi Les,

I have recently bought two DVD's of "Armored Recovery" and "Beach Recovery". The first which mostly shows the Churchill ARV in action and the second one which shows several beach recovery vehicles, including the BARV, Scammel, DUKW, a Caterpillar dozer etc. I guess you probably have these, too? They are from " Vintage Comercial Vehicles".

There are also some very good detail shots of the Sherman ARV I and ARV II in one of the issues of " Allied-Axis" photo journals.

I am recently in the process of buidling a scale model of the Sherman ARV I, based on the M4A2.

Alex

Good evening Alex
Good luck with the model project, i model in1/76 mainly and built a few ARVs a long time ago methinks its time to start amodel thread one in the armour and one in the softskins god knows enough of us seemto make em. Two photos i used at the time might be helpful to you
cheers
Les

Hi Les,

Yes, that might be a good idea. There are quite some modelers on the mapleleaf forums.

Thanks for the ARV shots. They are also in the " Allied-Axis" book series, along with some details shots of the hull top.

Did you see that the .30 in the second picture is pointing right at the camera?!

Alex

Nice photo of Churchill MK2 ARV in the London victory parade in 1946

And i believe during the same celebrations a Sherman BARV

May 2004 in Iraq

Hi

So post-war ARVs are OK, then? Goody.

Tracked ARV (Light).

Taken this afternoon. :)

regards
Darrell

Great pix.
 

Hi Darrell..
Great shot of the carrier.
We love to hear from you and all pray that you and the rest of the lads(And lassies) stay safe ..
Post when you can and keep your head down..
preferably in a cold can of Steelback.
I read a news release saying Frank was sending a semitrailer load of Steelback beer over so hope you get your share..
God Speed..

:remember :support :drunk:

Hi

Thanx Alex. I'd like to have a couple of those beer but I suspect they'll be either saved until 01 July or pushed out to the troops in the FOBs (Forward Operating Bases). In either case we can sign for x2 only and that happens once a month at best. I've only been able to put away exactly one beer in the 5 months I've been here and that was at a Wake so not really a time to celebrate.

Still a nice gesture by Steelback and I know the troops will appreciate it. Free beer? Who wouldn't!! ;)

Here's another shot of that ARV.

regards
Darrell

Bergepanzer Büffel
 

... this is the latest Swiss Army Recovery Tank. Based on a unused Leopard 2 chassis, the German engineers produced around 20 of those "Bergepanzer Büffel" (ARV Buffalo) for the Swiss Army. Currently opperated by the German and Dutch too.

More pics can be found at my site

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/2948/img1146qs1.jpg

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/9146/img1152tn8.jpg

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/6193/img1384rj7.jpg

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/642/img1407kd0.jpg

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/5494/img1553bc8.jpg

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/2294/img1558jt2.jpg

Sherman BARV - Can't find my notes but I believe that this was D-Day plus 2

http://www.servicepub.com/images/dsc02920_lac_a866.jpg

The chap with the binocks is the beachmaster made famous in the 1960s film The Longest Day if i remember they potrayed him with a Bulldog, for the life me i cant remember his name but Kenneth Moore played the part. This image is of a Sherman BARV preserved by the REME museum and taken when the museum was based in the old moat house on the opposite side to the current location it was taken in the late 1960s by my old mate Mike Conniford a name i am sure manywill associate with drawings and publications

I took this phot of a Cent ARV way back in 1972 during a display at Gallows Hill Bovington

... must be Sword Beachmaster RN Commander Colin Maude with his dog Winston. This is a discountinued model from King & Country Toysoldiers.

http://www.btinternet.com/~peter.dal...ntry/DD/54.jpg

Thats the man i was looking for Zemsi well done
Les

Barv
 

Ken Bell/Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-141675
Caption: D-Day invasion, Canadian tank dewater proofing

Sister image to the well known photo PA-132898 showing M-10s from 3 Cdn A/Tk Regt dewaterproofing. Probably Bernieres-sur-Mer in the late afternoon-early evening of 6 Jun 1944.

http://www.stcloudmac.com/z6159/photo/141675_72_500.jpg

Here is the image rotated

http://www.stcloudmac.com/z6159/phot...00_rotated.jpg

And here is a closeup of the extreme right portion of the photo showing a BARV.

http://www.stcloudmac.com/z6159/phot...00_closeup.jpg

Sherman III ARV
 

Credit: Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-116535
Caption: 'Sherman' tank of a Canadian armoured regiment advancing through Authie, France, 9 July 1944

Sherman III ARV either from 6 Cdn Armd Regt (1H) or 27 Cdn Armd Regt (Sher Fus R) or 2 Cdn Armd Bde Wksp.

http://www.stcloudmac.com/z6159/photo/116535_72_500.jpg

I took these Leo pix in the shop at Wainwright a few years ago.

Canadian Armoured Recovery
 

Dave:

I think your images from Wainwright are of the 'Badger' Armoured Engineer Vehicle and not the 'Taurus' Armoured Recovery Vehicle. Here is a 'Badger' image.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ridgedgap-.jpg

The Canadian Army has also used the Centurion based FV 4006 Armoured Recovery Mk 2. This example is on outside display rusting away at CFB Gagetown.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ArmouredRe.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ArmouredRe.jpg

I am not sure if the M113 Armoured Recovery Vehicle Light is still in use, but here are a couple of images of it.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...tviewCoral.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...rstone1966.jpg

Badger not Taurus
 

I guess it's easier to tell what they are when they're aren't disassembled! The soldier who showed me around said they used them to change engines in the field and it takes a little over an hour. I'd have thought a lot longer even with the modular setup. Of course he might have been embellishing things a bit and I wouldn't have known. It was 2005 when my daughter and I were there and we got shown all around the base and no one even asked our names.Talk about security! What versions are these?