No. 9 AFV Depot, September 1944

[Chris Scott]

Ladies and Gentlemen (ahem...),

As an aviation researcher, may I nevertheless be permitted to intrude into your discussions?

Can anyone shed any light on the activities of/at the above depot in Surrey, England? Whether "9 AFV Depot" was a British military designation for the site, or the name of the Canadian Army tank unit that was occupying it, I don't know. Ramtank.ca makes mention of 8 AFV Depot and 10 AFV Depot in a British Army context, but not No. 9.

There is no doubt that the Canadian Army was active on the site, which was at:
Alderstead Heath, Dean Lane, Merstham, Surrey. (S.E. England).

Their activities are largely unknown to local historians.

Today and in 1944, Alderstead Heath is mainly a wooded area, about a kilometre square, surrounded by farmland. It is criss-crossed with concrete driveways, and is on a range of chalk-and-flint hills called the North Downs, about 600ft above sea-level. At one spot, there is a discarded tank-track that looks as if it might be from a small tracked vehicle. Nowadays, part of the area is an official caravan site (trailer park).

Any info or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Chris

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

No worries, Chris - the subject of aviation is near and dear to many hearts here! Please feel free to elaborate on same to any degree you find comfortable, and welcome to MLU!

[alleramilitaria]

send us a pic of the track.
it may be from a UC carrier and may be of some use to a UK member there.
thanks
dave

[Mark W. Tonner]

Originally posted by Chris Scott
... Can anyone shed any light on the activities of/at the above depot in Surrey, England? Whether "9 AFV Depot" was a British military designation for the site, or the name of the Canadian Army tank unit that was occupying it ...

Hi Chris;

No. 9 AFV Depot was a British Army (Royal Army Ordnance Corps) 'Armoured Fighting Vehicle' depot, basically a place where Armoured Fighting Vehicles were stored; issued from or returned to from a user unit.

'9 AFV Depot' is/was not the name of a unit of the Canadian Armoured Corps during the Second World War.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

[Chris Scott]

Thanks, Mark,

I'll see if I can find a site that deals with RAOC matters.

Can you or any other forumites suggest a way of finding out, from the Canadian Army angle, which Canadian unit was occupying it circa 1944, and what it was doing in September (assuming it hadn't departed by then)?

There was a rather strange RAF air accident on-site on the 29th, and I'm trying to find out if it was entirely coincidental. The navigator was Canadian, but that's not the main reason for my concern.


Hi Dave,

What's a UC carrier? I'll try and borrow a digital camera... Hope it doesn't turn out to be agricultural.


Geoff,

You are most kind, thanks. Why is it that your name keeps reminding me of a WW1 RFC ace?

[alleramilitaria]

UC = universal carrier, bren carrier, bren gun carrier, T-16, wasp, Lloyd carrier, windser carrier, etc....