Stuart in the Solomons

[Big D]

Hi all,

There is a bit more to the story than this but what I can say is this. I heard that word got out amongst the local people that there was a (one) Stuart tank buried at Hell’s Point.

There was some concern with the authorities that the locals would go digging around in what is a very dangerous area with all the unexploded munitions all over the place there to see if it could be found.

The local police then arranged a digger to go into the area where it was suspected the Stuart was. They unearthed not one, but at least five Stuart tanks.

I thought the condition of the tanks was quite good considering they had been under the earth for 70 years. When I looked at them, the lighter gauge steel such as that on the 37mm ammo racks was certainly quite corroded on some of them but other parts of the hulls were remarkably good. The tracks were also in relatively good condition.

We had to follow a designated path into the back of Hell’s Point where the tanks were unearthed as there was ordnance obvious all over the place. In one hole there was another Stuart Hull minus its turret, and a turret not far away which were both partially buried. There were steering wheels, periscopes, engine valves and all sorts of bits and pieces in and around the hole where the Stuarts were taken from.

Sean – I wasn’t aware these had been moved from Guadalcanal. I had heard that one was to remain at the entrance to Hell’s Point. Yes, a lot of fishhooks in trying to get something out of the Solomons.

There were other dumps around the area as well. We looked at some stuff that had been buried near Bloody Ridge. Lots of interesting bits and pieces.

I'll attach some pictures of a Stuart M2A4 that was being restored at a museum in Honiara. Apparently this one was knocked out by a Japanese anti-tank gun near the airfield and suffered extensive fire damage inside. There can’t be many more of this model left.