 |
Two typical
turretless Stuart Vs are shown here on the 23 May 1945, when the 5th Canadian
Armoured Division held a march-past at Groningen, Holland. They are crewed
by men of the Royal Canadian Artillery, 4th Canadian Anti-tank Regiment. |
 |
See more pictures
of turretless
Stuarts Vs on Mark Cooper's site. He obtained them from the National
Archives of Canada. Mark comments: "I recently finished reading "The
Liri Valley" by Mark Zuehlke which covers a Lord Strathcona's Horse reconnaissance
troop involved in the crossing of the Melfa River.
According to the book a troop
normally consisted of 11 tanks each with a crew of 5 but 6 tanks were taken
for use by the engineers. In the end the troop went into battle
with 4 stuarts (due to a break down but each heavily armed) and 24 men
with orders to charge remaining 4 kms to the Melfa River. The account goes
to cover how the Cdn troops held a bridge head against overwhelming enemy
forces." |
|
 |
After
WW2, the Lincoln and Welland Regiment brought home their Stuart
VI, PRESS ON, CT271427.
This turretless
Stuart VI now stands in front of the armoury in St. Catharines, Ontario,
Canada. It is a late production M5A1, with periscope guards on the driver's
and co-driver's hatches, the storage box on the rear, and a mixture of
open spoked and solid road wheels. |
|
 |
It
was found abandoned in France shortly after the Lincoln and Welland Regiment
(10th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Armoured Division) landed
in July of 1944. It was abandoned by the South Alberta Regiment as the
turret had been damaged. Everything else apparently worked, and one of
the Lincs' mechanics got the engines running. The turret was removed and
the CO pressed it into service for his own personal vehicle. |
|
 |
For
the balance of the war, it was also used as an recce vehicle, ambulance,
ammo carrier and many other tasks. When it was first used to take ammo
up to some troops it looked so strange that both sides fired at it. At
the end of the war the Regiment decided to bring it home as its "war trophy".
Reportedly, when the Stuart came to Canada, it bore the signatures of all
of the regimental members. |
|
 |
It
was placed in front of the armoury as a memorial. In 1994 the Regiment
in co-operation with the city, created the Memorial Garden and moved it
to its present location.
The plate over
the turret aperture has probably been added to keep out the elements. |
|
 |
View
of the engine deck. |
|
 index
Created
13 August 2000
Last
updated 27 August 2002
Copyright
© 2002 H.L.
Spoelstra - All Rights Reserved |
With
special thanks to George Bradford,
Tom
Cain (pictures),
Don
Dingwall, Major
Brian Doucet of the Lincoln and Welland
Regiment, Chris Johnson
and Geoff Winnington-Ball. |