OT - Belated For D-Day: Buried M-5 Tank Found

[don Tomás]

Thought this was very cool...
Tom


World War II US D-Day Invasion Tank Unearthed In France



French bomb disposal experts were brought in to ensure the military vehicle posed no danger before it was dug out from its muddy grave in near perfect condition.

Council workers came across the M5 tank as they carried out routine repairs to the road in Chartres, 55 miles south-west of Paris.

It is thought the tank from the 31st Tank Battalion formed part of the invasion force that liberated France from the Nazis more than six decades ago.

Residents recalled the tank entering the cathedral city where it had been carrying out reconnaissance when it either ran out of fuel or broke down.

When France was liberated it was pushed down a hole and buried, one resident said.

Several battle tanks from the world wars have been unearthed in France. Ten years ago a British tank used in the First World War was found by archaeologists in a vegetable patch in Flesquieres, a French town near the Belgian border.

The 27-ton machine, British Mark 4, had been abandoned during the November 1917 Battle of Cambrai.

[CowboyTutt]

Don Tomas, thanks for sharing that. I'm sure the French would like to forget it, but I think its important they remember. On the other hand, we should also remember how they came to our aid during the American Revolution.

-Tutt

[FWiedner]

Don Tomas, thanks for sharing that. I'm sure the French would like to forget it, but I think its important they remember. On the other hand, we should also remember how they came to our aid during the American Revolution. -Tutt

If we are remembering whom it was that came to our aid during the revolution, we need to remember that it was not the French people, it was the French king, Louis XVI.

The debt incurred in supporting our war was one of the reasons the French capitalists rebelled against his regime. So in truth, the French people turned on and murdered our ally.

[nemhed]

So, should we send back the Statue of Liberty and charge the French people a storage fee for the last 122 years?

[Andrew]

That is the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. Thanks!

[claybob86]

I'd like to see how it looks after getting cleaned up.

[TedH]

What will happen to the tank now? Who will get it?

[wilko]

Europe is littered with buried planes. Allied as well as German. When a plane was hit and crashed or landed it often sank in the muddy ground and got lost forever... there are however still some people who remeber some of these crashsights and every now and then they get excavated

i hope some of these links work...

http://www.lwgh-laakdal.be/oorlogsherinneringen.htm (youtube video's)
http://users.pandora.be/airwareurope/en ... rise_e.htm
http://avrolanc.tripod.com/ber.html
http://www.noorderbreedte.nl/pdf/95303.pdf

[FWiedner]

So, should we send back the Statue of Liberty and charge the French people a storage fee for the last 122 years?

Why not? We obviously don't put much stock in the in the ideal anymore.

Might as well pack up and send all the toast, fries, wine and cheese we can crate up too.

...and at least one bar of soap.

[Ben_Rumson]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if it takes very little to get it up & running...Back at the 50th D Day anniversary...Using a D-8 Cat...The Brits pulled a Sherman ashore that was lost during landings training...To my utter amazement as it cleared the surf..I saw that the tracks, sprockets & road wheels were turning... after more than 50 years in SALT water!

[jeepnik]

Technically, it's still property of the US Army.

[brucew44guns]

I watch the "Military Channel" quite often, they had a series of shows on there showing the rebuilding of WW II tanks that are found like this one, buried in mud, on bottoms of rivers, and other hiding places where they are discovered after 50 or 60 years. It takes 10's of thousands of dollars to rebuild and restore them, and while it can be done, you had better be real rich and have a tank restoration factory.

[Ysabel Kid]

Very cool Tom!

I think they recently found a Russian T-34 in a muddy riverbank somewhere in Russia. Been buried all this time, and the sucker started up after they cleaned out the gunk and put fresh diesel in it!