Operation Infatuate II: Sherman tanks at Westkapelle

[Willem de Braal]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

In November 1944, the British disembarked three D7 Armoured Bulldozers. Two of the four Armoured Dozers fell victim to mines ashore, the fourth did not disembark (LCT Damson and its load were too damaged to land at Westkapelle, and diverted to Ostend, Belgium).

Attachment 110350

Only after the war ended in May 1945, enough resources could be freed up to reconstruct the dyke. This was done by combining the techniques of traditional Dutch dyke building and heavy earth moving equipment brought in by the Allies. The dyke at Westkapelle was closed on 12 October.

Attachment 110348

Two of those bulldozers were buried under an emergency dyke. When the final dyke was completed, the two dozers were excavated one year later by the contracting company "Nieuwenhuyse and De Braal". They were kept working till 1965.

This photo shows the excavation of a bulldozer in 1946:
Attachment 110347

In 2016 Henk Meijer donated a Caterpillar D4 to the Liberation Museum in Nieuwdorp. This is presented as possibly one of the dozers which was buried in the dyke.
Obviously, this dozer is not one of those which landed in November 1944.

Attachment 110349

Source: http://westkapelle-beeldbank.nl/, https://www.bevrijdingsmuseumzeeland...caterpillar-d4 and others

Dear Hanno,

Wim de Braal, which recovered in 1946 the two D6A armored dozers was my grandfather.
We bought this week with my brother a D6A with serial nr. 1T3038
Requested information, regarding serial nr. to CAT visitors center in the US. And waiting.
Wondering if you could give us more info?

Best regards,
Willem de Braal

[Alex van de Wetering]

We bought this week with my brother a D6A with serial nr. 1T3038

That's exciting Willem! Does the dozer still have the armour?

I believe Jack Olding & co in the UK built the dozers under licence, and also did the (British) armoured conversion, but hopefully Caterpillar will be able to help you with more info.

[David Herbert]

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

I believe Jack Olding & co in the UK built the dozers under licence, and also did the (British) armoured conversion, but hopefully Caterpillar will be able to help you with more info.

Alex,
Jack Olding only did the armoured conversion. The tractors themselves were licence built in the USA but I don't know who by. I was told about 15 years ago that Caterpillar at that time denied the existence of the 1T series as 'nothing to do with us' but that might just have been one particular employee's ignorance. The tractors were shipped to the UK as complete standard tractors and the conversion is very much a matter of adding a big armoured box so of course it was equally easy to remove it, replace the missing sheet metal parts and you have a standard tractor again.
The Dozer kit was supplied by LaPlant Chote who were major manufacturers of hydraulic dozer conversion kits in the US at that time, when tractor manufacturers only built bare tractors.
Jack Olding also did many upgrades to Ram tanks and other armoured vehicles but never built complete vehicles from scratch.

David

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Originally Posted by David Herbert

Jack Olding only did the armoured conversion. The tractors themselves were licence built in the USA but I don't know who by.

Does this help?

IMG-20200819-WA0004.jpg

I got this from Christiaan de Braal yesterday (posted here with his permission), but I have no idea what document it’s actually from.

[MicS]

Originally Posted by Jakko Westerbeke

Does this help?

I got this from Christiaan de Braal yesterday (posted here with his permission), but I have no idea what document it’s actually from.

Nice Table!

However there must have been additional D6A's built since this one is clearly 1T3060:
D6A 1T3060.jpg

Michel

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Originally Posted by MicS

Nice Table!

You should see his bulldozers (I went to visit him today to see his D6 1T3038 shown earlier in this thread. Turns out he has another, but with wide tracks, but I forgot to look at its serial number.)

Originally Posted by MicS

However there must have been additional D6A's built since this one is clearly 1T3060:

Indeed. These bulldozers are just getting murkier at every step …

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Great news: the Sherman Crab at Westkapelle will be restored!

Yesterday a Dutch newspaper published an article stating the municipality corroborates the historic importance of this genuine battle relic and it needs to be saved from further deterioration. It will make a plan with two local museums for the restoration of the Sherman. A great example of local collectors and historical associations collaborating with government officials.

Read https://www.pzc.nl/walcheren/de-tank...ered~a726d1bc/ (in Dutch)

ADB85CBD-A05A-4F1A-9A75-56DAA1C78B41.jpeg

[MicS]

Originally Posted by Willem de Braal

Dear Hanno,

Wim de Braal, which recovered in 1946 the two D6A armored dozers was my grandfather.
We bought this week with my brother a D6A with serial nr. 1T3038
Requested information, regarding serial nr. to CAT visitors center in the US. And waiting.
Wondering if you could give us more info?

Best regards,
Willem de Braal

Congratulations on your acquisition Willem ! I hope you will post an exhaustive photo walkaround soon!

Do you have any photo or information on your grandfather's recovered pair of D6As? Serial numbers or else?

I have nothing on 1T3038, only a photo of its immediate predecessor 1T3037 here: Armoured Bulldozers on D Day

Michel

[Willem de Braal]

Hi Michel and all of you,

Thanks for the congrats! Where very pleased with the dozer ofcourse.
As we're very sure it's a "brother" or even one of the 4 (?). Landed at Westkapelle.
Found it on Tuesday, and arrived yesterday evening.
We are intending to restore it back to original shape, including armore
We"ll keep you updated, also with the answer of Caterpillar

BR, Willem

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Originally Posted by Willem de Braal

As we're very sure it's a "brother" or even one of the 4 (?). Landed at Westkapelle.

There were at least three D6As and two D7As there, plus a few more that I’ve never seen photographs of that were taken from up close enough to identify them.

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Originally Posted by Willem de Braal

Wim de Braal, which recovered in 1946 the two D6A armored dozers was my grandfather.

Let me add this here:

http://www.bouwmachinesvantoen-archi...de%20Braal.htm

so everyone can see exactly what you mean by “recovered” I strongly suspect the one shown being dug up there is the one I posted a picture of earlier, standing in fairly deep water, and the second to be the one whose armoured cab was removed and left behind on the beach.

(Also note the wagon with the Sherman wheels.)

[Alex van de Wetering]

Jack Olding only did the armoured conversion. The tractors themselves were licence built in the USA but I don't know who by.

David, thanks for the correction and additional info.

I was told about 15 years ago that Caterpillar at that time denied the existence of the 1T series as 'nothing to do with us

That's pretty much the same reply I got at Chubbs in Wolverhampton, when I asked them about the Conger carrier conversion years ago! The hard part with these large firms usually is to reach someone that is actually willing to go to th archive and/or is interested in the history.

Let me add this here:

http://www.bouwmachinesvantoen-archi...de%20Braal.htm

Judging from the pictures in Jakko's link, the armoured dozers did get a custom tank to clear the armoured body.

[David Herbert]

Alex,
Quite right about the custom diesel tank. Sorry to confuse matters but I was seeing that as a 'sheet metal part' that was easy to change. I should have been clearer.

Jakko,
Thank you for the link to the archive. Those are great photos. The photos show that they removed the engine from the dozer that they dug up, presumably to reduce weight. it would have had to be removed anyway for rebuild.

Willem,
Would it be possible for you to post a couple of photos of Cat 1T3038 as it is now please ? Does it still have the dozer kit with the frame between the tracks. If so I would be very interested to see how that is attached to the tractor.

David

[David Herbert]

Looking at the photos again, I have realized that, at least on the D6 conversion, the driver's position was raised by at least 30cm. presumably to provide a better view for the driver. I don't think that these armoured dozers were wadeproofed to any great depth, hence the drowned ones ! In the archive there is at least one photo of one with a home built cab that clearly has its floor much higher than a standard tractor.

David

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Originally Posted by David Herbert

Thank you for the link to the archive. Those are great photos.

I found them more or less by chance — on another site, I came across a few of those photos of a bulldozer being dug out, and the captions there mentioned the company name. I then Googled that and found this site.

Originally Posted by David Herbert

The photos show that they removed the engine from the dozer that they dug up, presumably to reduce weight. it would have had to be removed anyway for rebuild.

That’s what I was thinking too. All that sand can’t have been conducive to the engine working I suspect the bulldozer was simply left where it stood and buried under the sand of the new sea dyke that was built. Parts of that were made using a suction dredger, which sprays a mixture of water and sand to where the sand is wanted, so it would not be a problem at all to bury a vehicle that happens to be in the way.

BTW, the reason I said that I think this is the one that stood in the water by itself is because of the houses visible in the photos of it being recovered. Though I haven’t tried matching them to any houses that still exist (maybe I should give that a try …), my knowledge of the lay of the land leads me to suspect it must be close to where the photo shows the drowned bulldozer with ruins on the right-hand side of the picture.