Farley Mowat's Stug

[rob love]

Perry
I blew up the photos, and it looks like you are right. Different mantles, and the first one has the first roadwheel more forward than the second one with relation to the return roller above. I had placed both photos as being accross from the church here in Shilo....looks like I need to rethink that.

I'll keep an eye in the Shilo archives to see if any photos of that area from the 50s show up. No doubt there are photos somewhere that show the German vehicles, whether incidental or not.

[James P]

Originally Posted by rob love

Perry
I blew up the photos, and it looks like you are right. Different mantles, and the first one has the first roadwheel more forward than the second one with relation to the return roller above. I had placed both photos as being accross from the church here in Shilo....looks like I need to rethink that.

I'll keep an eye in the Shilo archives to see if any photos of that area from the 50s show up. No doubt there are photos somewhere that show the German vehicles, whether incidental or not.

Yep..... Jagdpanzer in the LH pic Stug in the right. Sad how these vehicles where treated and lost. Interesting they are still wearing a correct coat of dunkelgelb paint.

[jdmcm]

But we're they actually "lost"? Or we're they sold off by the museums? Or was there some misappropriation? Not trying to open a capital case here, just sadly curious as how something with legitimate Canadian military history attached is now part of a private collection in the UK instead of here, where one could argue, it should rightfully be. Thanks for all the replies and input, it is fascinating to hear how things worked around the bases and museums regarding these artifacts.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by jdmcm

But we're they actually "lost"? Or we're they sold off by the museums? Or was there some misappropriation? Not trying to open a capital case here, just sadly curious as how something with legitimate Canadian military history attached is now part of a private collection in the UK instead of here, where one could argue, it should rightfully be. Thanks for all the replies and input, it is fascinating to hear how things worked around the bases and museums regarding these artifacts.

I would suggest that "lost" is not the right word. Perhaps "sold" or "traded" are the correct terms. Perhaps one day when we meet face to face, I can share the stories I have heard. There would seem to be variations to each.

[jdmcm]

Sounds great Rob, look forward to it

[ajmac]

Thee wasn’t a market as such for these vehicles in the 70s or really up until the early 90s. STUGs were coming out of Finland in running condition for the price you would pay for a Bren Carrier today back in the mid 80s. Remember that a good proportion of the Grizzly Sherman’s that came from Portugal in the 80s ended up on the UK firing ranges because the dealer couldn’t sell them all to the hobby market....and they were runners too! Only a couple of years ago a complete gate guard Churchill was only just saved from being targeted in the UK, the base were happy to put a more modern tank in its place and had chalked it up to be taken out as a hard target. It’s now with a private individual.

[45jim]

That Stug was at Harvey Barracks in "Martin Park" up until about 1988-89. Supposedly the tank was the "property" of the CFB Borden collection and was just on loan to us. It was called back, I don't remember the exact date but I did cut the hatch open and release the brakes for the hauler. The front two torsion bars were broken but it was mostly complete inside and the engine and transmission were all in place and still hooked up. The air cleaner was still on the carb and the linkage worked and the transmission moved through the gears. We were restoring Sherman's, Ferrets and a Centurion at the time and I couldn't convince the powers that be that we could restore it too. So, off it went to Borden.

I heard that it was later traded for a US half track to a collector in the US (can't remember his name but not Littlefield) and now that half track is in the Borden collection. He later sold it to some German dress-up guys who started the restoration. They contacted me looking for info on the tank and did send me some photos, I will have to look if I still have them.

It must have went to the UK after they stopped playing with it.