Posted by Michael M. O'Leary from Canada on December 18, 2020 at 15:28:38:
In Reply to: Secrets of the CF posted by Dickey on December 18, 2020 at 06:24:00:
Sometimes the crew got out, sometimes they didn't. Sometimes you are even told exactly which swamp - but nonone is ever quite sure preceisely when it happened, or what kind of tank it was.
And then we found one. I might have some details wrong, and will welcome being corrected to have my edition of the tale right.
A year or so before I was posted to Meaford, there was a Reserve Junior Leader's Course out in the training area digging in at night. One of the candidates struck something hard, so the DS, fearing a dud bacause all the dry training area was once impact, showed up with white light for close look. With a bit of scraping it was realized that the hard object was the top deck of an M113 APC.
It seems that back in the late 60s, 1RCR Mortar Platoon was using M113s for mortar vehicles. At some point during their shoot, something caused an on-board fire in this track. (From here the picture is really hazy.)
The fire was extinguished, but the vehicle was destroyed. Severely damaged suspension and large gaping holes melted in the hull were just some of the problems still evident today. The solution of the moment, for this immobile, unrepairable vehicle, was simply to bury it. (TRy selling that option to the Evironment Officer today.)
Well, it's out of the ground now. The plan is to move it to where it can be a target.
Mikey