T-16 S/N 5399 T.D. 97377 Restoration

[ozm29c]

Originally Posted by horsa

Some Carrier Candy made from Unobtanium that I was recently able to import from OZ where it has sat for several years waiting for unrelated issues to be resolved there.



One of the items is a Bren mount with cradle. The other is heavy Australian mount used on their carriers up front for a Vickers or Bren. The Vickers cradle would simply drop in as shown in one of the attached photos. The Bren could be used with the cradle pictured with the other mount but it would have had a larger lower section that fit into the mount. The cradle shown with the Bren has the same lower section as found on the pogo sticks.

Now the dilemma of what to do with them. Add one or both to my carrier which wouldn't be strictly correct. Or cave in to the wishes of the wife and kids. Kids want the Vickers to be mounted in the rear cargo area on the M29C Weasel and the wife wants the Bren for her '32 Citroen that is used by her FFI maquis group. Neither of these is strictly correct either so I've told them I might sell them and buy more firearms and beer

G'day David,
I know very little about machine guns (even after 20 years in the Navy ) but you mentioned fitting a machine gun to your weasel. I have attached a photo of a machine gun fitted to an M29C in British service. Perhaps this would help you keep your weasel "Original".
Cheers
John W.

[Lynn Eades]

It looks like a Vickers K gun to me.

[horsa]

I agree Lynn, it's a Vickers GO K Gun. Was just studying the shot and figure it must be Walcheren based on the types of vehicles present and the British commandos participated in that landing which probably accounts for the K Gun.

Very cool photo so thanks for posting it John. I haven't seen all that many photographs of the Weasel in British service even though I've read lots of accounts of units having them.

Shots attached of our "Pickle Boat" with my father ratting around in the mud for fun a few years ago since we got onto the M29C Weasel topic. It isn't in British markings since we had it at a V-J event sponsored by the Nimitz museum a couple of months prior to that. Figured it was more appropriate to be in USMC type markings even though it doesn't have the floatation tanks bolted up.

[ozm29c]

Hello again David,
I don't want to highjack your thread but attached are some more photos of weasels in British service.
Cheers
John W.

[ozm29c]

And some more photos. I must acknowledge Leo Verhagen for these photos.

[Philliphastings]

Lol unobtainium ! -t's about the only susbstance that resists our local very corrosive salt lake infested country out my way. Anything made of Iron or steel degrades to the consistency of cornflakes but brass remains like new...

Cheers

Phill

[horsa]

Hey Phill, The Brass/Bronze WWII era stuff down your way is always scarce due to the postwar salvage efforts. I've seen a lot of other items lacking it where someone robbed the part for melting down. This mount must have been hidden pretty well to stay in its proper form.

Been having a sideline discussion on the upper Bren mounting part with some other guys and will take closer shots and get measurements uploaded later today of that item.

And thanks again John for the other Weasel shots. A lot of British wartime unit histories refer to them Universal Carriers with continuous tracks or lightweight UCs. Makes it tough sometimes to determine what units used various types of vehicles including the T-16s since they are also UCs.