SECO Sexton's History

[Jesse Browning]

Does anyone know of the history of the Sextons that were at SECO? Where were they before Portugal? Any record of serial numbers? Thanks, Jesse.

[maple_leaf_eh]

The Sextons were manufactured in Canada in WWII, and shipped to England. The design principles and a modest rundown of the operational history are on wikipedia <<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexton_(artillery)>>

The blanks between British disposal and the Portuguese are another matter. I had the impression, Canada gave the Porks the Sextons under a military aid program in the 1950's. We gave cords of No.4s to Italy as they were getting their army back up to strength. The French, Danes, Dutch and Norwegians all benifitted from such programs along the way. Portugal is an original NATO member, so it stands to reason they would have been helped too. Would the UK have had a similar program?

[jim fraser (RIP)]

hi.i thought i read somewhere that the can gov sold them direct to southeastern.some other can milt equipment went there also.regards jim.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

I had the impression, Canada gave the Porks the Sextons under a military aid program in the 1950's.

That is correct. See http://www.nato.int/archives/1st5years/chapters/12.htm for a little background of Canadian military aid to other NATO countries.

It was Canada who supplied Portugal with Grizzly Cruiser tanks and Sexton SP Guns circa 1954. They were in service till the early 1970s, and kept in storage till the 1980s and then sold off. Luckily many were snapped up by dealers who sold them to private collectors and museums. At least two Grizzllies were sold to the UK MoD who used them as range targets!

Hanno

[Jesse Browning]

Is there any way to tell whether the Sexton came from Canada or Britain. Mine has no markings under the paint that I have found. Here are some other markings. Jesse.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Jesse Browning

Is there any way to tell whether the Sexton came from Canada or Britain. Mine has no markings under the paint that I have found. Here are some other markings.

Hi Jesse,

Like I said, your Sexton was supplied to Portugal by Canada. There is no way to tell if the Sexton first served in NW Europe and was shipped back to Canada after 1945, or if it was used for training in Canada before it was supplied to Portugal in the early 1950s.

The lower picture shows the Portuguese registration plate. It was black with white digits, e.g. "MG-87-51" (this was a M74 TRV). Yours reads something like "MG-39-34"?

HTH,
Hanno

[Jesse Browning]

I stripped most of the paint off the right side today. The two EPSM markings above are gone, revealing a third EPSM outlined in pencill, and painted on the primer. Anyone know what the letters mean? Jesse.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Jesse Browning

I stripped most of the paint off the right side today. The two EPSM markings above are gone, revealing a third EPSM outlined in pencill, and painted on the primer. Anyone know what the letters mean?

Jesse,

EP stands for "Ejercito de Portugal", Army of Portugal.

SM I don´t know.

HTH,
Hanno