The versatile Valentine
 

Since I'm clearing out my hard drive I might as well post some more interesting pics I've downloaded over the years. here's a very interesting shot of a Valentine chassis being used, I presume as a test bed for the Whittle W.1 or W.2 engines, which were used in the first British jet aircraft, the E28/39.

Valentine
 

Maybe it was the vaunted Valentine Recce tank. Lightly armoured but really really fast.... :cheers:
Sean

Re: Valentine
 

Your probably right, Sean. I can also guess the project was ultimately canceled due to an inability to maintain altitude. Shame.

Mounted on the front like that, I think it's actually a Snowblower/Melter.

IIRC, this was an experimental mine clearing device. . . :eek:

Very good!

However, I do believe it is a Greenpeace environmentally safe Gopher removal tool. Place exhaust on gopher hole, start engine, use catchers mitt to catch gopher when it reenters atmosphere after exiting secondary gopher hole :doh:
Sean


ps I am sure Alex knows what it is :devil: :doh:

{sigh....}

You're both wrong, dammit. How many times do I have to tell you, it's the first prototype Harrier, way back in '43!

Nobody knows what happened to it, although there are rumours that the Yanks pressured the British government into giving it to them, and when they couldn't sort out the ingenious British electrical system, had it and its plans destroyed. However (or so goes the story), the Brits being the devious bastards they were, had a duplicate prototype hidden away in one of the outbuildings of an old manor property somewhere in the Sussex Downs, where it remains today, its exact location unknown.

I also heard that hastily-transcribed sketches (from the original drawings) were also secreted away somewhere in London until well after the war, when development began anew unbeknownst to all but a handful of boffins.

I'm not making this up, honest.

Gophers...
 

Well have you seen any gophers in Britain??!!!! I rest my case.

Sean

Re: Gophers...
 

Tsk-tsk, Sean....I can't very well point them out right now, can I? I mean, it's dark outside over there. :teach:

Re: Gophers...
 

Gophers ?? NO...............damned rabbits, they were decimating the food crops during WW2 in Britain and pastures, when food production was vital. So the answer was to blast them out. You drove the tank up to a rabbit burrow and fired up the jet engine, rabbits came out the other burrow entrance, ready cooked and butchers were there to gather them up.

:rolleyes

Sean would approve..
 

Hi Sean..
Glad to hear from you..
When I first saw this picture ,I thought I recognized it so I called my brother in N.S and sure enough it was as I remembered it..
This unit was put together from war surplus bits and pieces by an old fellow out of Bible Hill ,Nova Scotia...
When Debert closed down after the war and lots of other military equipment came for sale ,the old lad picked these pieces up and mated them together and used it as a heating unit for a combination fish smoker and still he had going ,back home in Bible Hill.
What the picture dosen't show is the unit itself,which is a trailer mounted unit complete with 1200 gallon product trailer ...that he towed behind the Valentine...
I was just a young lad when I first came across the outfit back in the bush hunting rabbits and there was the old lad cooking away..

I wouldn't be surprised if Brad Mills would back me on that one..
That is right in Brad's back yard and it may even still be cookin'...
I think the old lads name was Red Neckerson....but can't be sure now..
But that's what the picture is of..
An' 'dat's da troof....



:drunk: :cheers: :D :remember :support

Re: Sean would approve..
 

Were they English rabbits? That would explain much.

You're all wrong
 

It's a Brigade level Tommy Cooker.

Cooker
 

Very good , Alex. :salute:

I think Red Neckersen came from Alberta though, Maybe it was Rane Slickerson or Robr Bootsen out on the coast...

:drunk:
Sean


ps GO BOMBERS GO!!!! :cheers:

Re: Cooker
 

I guess I'm allowed to 'jack my own thread so here goes:

Don't forget Phil McCracken from Vancouver, Ben Doon from Sydney, Will Fair from Surrey, Richard Cranium from Ottawa, or Dan S. Ajigbye from St. Johns.

And not to forget our Aboriginal peoples: Pokahotass from Rivers Inlet and Gay Toffmilan from Squamish.

I could come up with more but this is a politically correct forum, right Jefe? :nono:




Now, this was originally a de-mining armour thread, correct? So in that spirit, please enjoy the pic of another rare vehicle:

A ram complete with CIRD. Now there's some Canadiana for ya!

Not necessarily a Valentine
 

Upon closer inspection, it appears I may have been somewhat presumptous in automatically assuming this is a Valentine chassis simply based upon the triple wheeled bogies. It would have made more sense to use a Mark I Cruiser (A9) for experimental purposes as combat experience in France showed that the A9's armour was too thin and they were too slow to be used as a Cruiser tank. I'm sure at that point in the war all Valentines produced would have been targeted for first line combat. The dimensions of the Mark I Cruiser and the Valentine were very similar and both used the triple wheeled bogie. Does anyone see anything definitive to I.D. this chassis as either?

Hi Everyone,
well, it looks like a Val., and I think it is actually a: heater, portable, Brigade. They were expecting a cold winter and called for portable heating devices capable of heating an entire Brigade while on parade, and this was the boffins answer.
Cheers,
Dave

Re: Re: Cooker
 

Nice! Can I get a bigger image for use on www.ramtank.ca? Ideally the image should be 450 points wide at 72DPI

Tanks.

Clive

Re: Re: Re: Cooker
 

Clive, I might have some bad news for you. I found a larger image of this same pic. (550 X 259 vs 250 X 118) and upon closer examination it appears to be a Sherman with the CIRD device, however, not being an expert I'll include the larger pic and let you decide.

Re: Re: Re: Cooker
 

Should the tank with CIRD prove to be a Sherman, may I offer as a consolation prize, and in keeping with the picture included in this thread starter, a Ram mounted Whittle engine? I promise, this is a Ram Chassis and was used experimentally as a way of blowing sand and soil off mines. The experiment was a failure as all it served to do was to blow the sand and mines! all over the place. A somewhat dangerous situation.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Cooker
 

Got it already. Can you provide a Ram with multiple shower heads suspended from the barrel as used by the 23rd Canadian Laundry and Bath Unit?

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Cooker
 

Sorry Clive, no tickee.

Tell you what, I'll see your shower Ram, and raise you one AA Ram:

Re: Re: Valentine
 

Jefe, they should have known that there would be insufficient lift without wings. Even the Russkies know that when they considered the KT 40 Flying tank.

Re: Re: Re: Valentine
 

I'd would have hated to be under that bird when it crapped!!! :eek:
Sean