Maintaining the Irish army's historic vehicle collection
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- čas přidán 14. 07. 2019
- Irish Cavalry Corps fitter Conor Spain outlines the work involved in keeping the Comet A34 tank, Ford Mk VI armoured car etc in running order. Due to staffing and budgetary constraints all work is carried out only as time allows. Also featured is 95-year-old Pat Lynch who retired as Cavalry Workshops foreman in 1990. Pat's father Paddy Lynch was involved in the construction of the four 1930s-era Leyland armoured cars built in the Curragh Camp and is credited with saving the Rolls-Royce 'Sliabh na mBan' armoured car from being scrapped in the 1950s.
Video by Karl Martin. - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Congratulations Armoured Fitter Conor Spain, for your great work maintaining that fleet and keeping them mobile. You’re a credit to the Cavalry Corps and to the DF for your dedication, professionalism and your ability.
Hi Anthony. If Conor Spain doesn't see your comment I will pass it on next time I see him. He was at the Cavalry Corps event this week marking the foundation of the Corps 100 years ago czcams.com/video/p5Sq3Fj35lo/video.html . Thank you for your comment.
The comet is so beautiful great restoration
Superb job.
Mighty well done
Well done Karl. I'm always looking forward to your new videos. Any chance on a follow up to the book you did a few years ago on the armoured cars?
Thank you very much Bob. From about 2005 I did start researching for a new book on the vehicles, weapons and equipment of the modern Irish Defence Forces but unfortunately over the subsequent years many of my really helpful contacts (such as Comdt. Brian Daly) retired or transferred to other jobs. Despite my proven record of responsible research I began to find it difficult to get official permission to photograph in areas that I formerly was permitted to access presumably because I was unknown to the new people 'on the block' and wasn't attached to the media (especially RTE). The dreaded 'Elf & Safety' culture may also have played a part. I decided to take a break from military reference book writing/publishing and in recent years have begun to concentrate on my CZcams channel as I find the video filming/editing process increasingly interesting and rewarding. Video also has the great advantage of being much cheaper than putting information down on paper and getting it printed!
@@karlmartin2698 what a great pity. Our poor nation has become unrecognizable. May Almighty God bless and protect you.
I've video, great to get some more snippets of the Comet 😊 I met Conor at the open day with the IMVG and he told all about the starter motor issues. Very nice man and clearly loves that part of the job, that workshop must be the holy grail of Irish AFVs!
Hi Alan. I remembered you asked some time ago about the Comet so glad you've seen the video. Yeah, Conor is a great credit to the Defence Forces - very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. I hope to upload in a few months time a longer interview with Pat Lynch about his time in the Workshops. It will take time as I need to edit the tapes and match it to the photos i have. I'm afraid I am not the fastest video editor. All the best.
@@karlmartin2698 Great to see such a unique aspect of our history preserved in running order, tanks are few and far between on this island after all! I look forward to seeing more, it's amazing to get these accounts recorded, no matter how long the doting takes 😊 Do you know if or when at all this workshop gets opened to the public? After writingso much about them in the thesis it would be phenomenal to get up close with the likes of the Landsverks L180 and L-60, and the Comet in properly restored and running condition
@@MrMe345 Hi Allan. The Cavalry Corps deserves great credit for having the foresight to save some of the historic vehicles that were in Irish service over the years despite little or no money being available. It's very much hit-or-miss seeing the historic fleet driving as sometimes there just isn't the man hours available to get everything mobile (work can only carried out when time allows as the current modern fleet has priority and staffing levels are anyway down substantially). The last really big parade of vehicles was at the 'light out' stand-down ceremony in the Curragh for Lt Gen Sean McCann about five years or so ago. He was a member of the Cavalry Corps and had ensured that the re-build/restoration of the Rolls-Royce 'Sliabh na mBan' took place. Your best bet is the Curragh family open day held every May or June (check social media for details). if you arrive early you can normally catch whatever vehicles are on display as they drive from the Curragh Museum to the spot around the corner where they park up.
In the past members of the Military Vehicle Club of Ireland (mvci.ie ) were given a few guided tours of the Workshops but that hasn't happened for a few years. However contact Robin Payne or Willie Nugent of the MVCI about more info or joining etc.
Sorry Alan, just noticed I misspelled your name. I'm suffering from hay fever so it's hard to concentrate!
I have a great interest in Irish Armour and I'm glad to see these vehicles are being cared for so well. Hopefully the Comet will run again. Shame the surviving Churchills probably won't ever run again.
Yes Mark, it is a shame about the Churchill tanks. However even by the mid- to late- 1950s the Irish military were finding it very hard to find spares for them as in 1948 the army was forced by the pen pushers in Ireland's dreadful Department of Defence to cut the amount of spares ordered despite warnings from the British War Office that its stock of spares would soon be difficult to get as the Churchill was being withdrawn from UK service. By March 1953 the Irish army's Director of Cavalry stated that "the position regarding Churchill tank spares is critical". Despite the best efforts of the British Military Attache in the British Embassy in Dublin (who instigated a search of UK Army Stores in 1953) the parts situation remained critical thereafter resulting in engine overhauls in particular being almost impossible despite the ingenuity of army mechanics and engineers in the Curragh Camp. Thanks for your comment and best wishes.
@@karlmartin2698 Yes I'm aware of the awkward issue with that faced the Churchill back then (I've read your book). I would hope today that parts would be easier to get. Perhaps if one were to contact Bovington, they'd be able to help with even just a few parts.
@@markthemaniac3350 Glad to hear from a reader of my book, Mark! In addition to the shortage of parts there is also the issue of the price of what parts are available. A lot of potential suppliers think that the Defence Forces must have a lot of cash for parts but that couldn't be further from the truth. The budget for the maintenance and upkeep of the existing historic vehicles that are reasonably mobile is tiny. The overall defence budget in Ireland is disgracefully small - probably the lowest for any legal armed force in Europe (excluding Albania, Malta etc of course). Therefore the prospect of increasing the budget available for the historic fleet to encompass a rebuild of the Churchill is probably less than zero unfortunately.
@@karlmartin2698 do you perhaps have an email address? there's a subject I'd like to ask you about regarding the Churchills.
Hey Karl, Great video. Are these fascinating vehicles on public display anywhere? Best wishes from Belfast.
Hi Tom, sorry for the delay in replying. You can the Comet and a few others in the Curragh Military Museum in the Curragh Camp, County Kildare. I don't have its contact phone number to hand for you to check opening times etc. However it may be on the web. There are a few vehicles on display in the Soldiers and Chiefs permanent exhibition in the National Museum, located in the now closed historic Collins Barracks in Dublin near the Phoenix Park. It is a few stops away on the Luas tram that sets off from Connolly Station in Amiens Street in Dublin - the station you stop at if if you travel down from Belfast on the train. The vehicles in the National Museum/Collins Barracks include a Ford Mk VI (as used in the Congo - see my other video), Universal Carrier/Bren carrier and a really rare Landsverk L60 tank - all restored to a very high standard. Hope this is of help. Take a look at my other videos as some feature other Irish army vehicles. Best wishes.
Hey many thanks for taking the time to bring me all this Karl. We often do mid week deals with some of the hotels outside Dublin, so after this virus crisis is over, a visit to see this would make it a very special trip. Best wishes from lock down Belfast
No problem, Tom. Am glad to be of help. When the virus crisis is over if you are driving down be sure to call in to William Sullivan's museum on the way. See the video here of the opening five years ago. It has been greatly expanded since czcams.com/video/Q9_Aojp7zoA/video.html Take care.
Brilliant Karl.
If you are ever up near Belfast you might care to take a look round The War Year Remembered WW1/WW2 private museum. ( Ring ahead )It's at the edge of Ballycalre. It is amazing. I have made a stack of videos about it and all the vehicles uniforms and memorabilia inside. It recently acquired Blair Mayne's war chest that traveled everywhere with him and his uniform.
Also check out the Ulster Aviation Society massive hangers containing multiple aircraft/helicopters from 1945 onwards. This is near lough Neagh. again I have made many videos of the aircraft in here.
Check out Grey Point Fort battery -6 ' gun battery overlooking Belfast lough at Holywood Co down. 2 big 23' long guns! And they still can fire!
Then take yourself up to Donegal to the Inishshowen peninsula to the fabulous scenic strategic Dunree Fort battery.
I have made videos of all of these.
Best wishes
Thank you for those tips, Tom. Will certainly look up the places you suggest. Funny that you mention Lt-Col. 'Paddy' Blair Mayne (1915-1955) one of the most extraordinary military heroes of WWII. I bought a brilliant book in 1988 about his life and exploits (including those when he was an Irish rugby union international): 'Rogue Warrior of the SAS' by Roy Bradford and Martin Dillion, published by John Murray ISBN 0-7195-4430-0 . On foot of that book I subsequently in 1995/'96 contributed £15 quid by post to a fund to erect a statue to him in his native Newtownards. I have never seen it but must next time I'm up that direction. For anyone who doesn't know his amazing story I found this interesting website here that has lots of background, photos etc www.irishmasonichistory.com/lt-col-robert-blair-paddy-mayne-dso-freemason.html .
He was cheated of his VC due to the actions of jealous senior officers elsewhere in the British army at the time. His Irish background and his rather explosive temperament may also have been a factor in his unfair treatment. The injustice was the subject of an Early Day motion, supported by over 100 MPs, in the UK's House of Commons in June 2005:
“This House recognises the grave injustice meted out to Lt Col Paddy Mayne, of 1st SAS, who won the Victoria Cross at Oldenburg in North West Germany on 9th April 1945; notes that this was subsequently downgraded, some six months later, to a third bar DSO, that the citation had been clearly altered and that David Stirling, founder of the SAS has confirmed that there was considerable prejudice towards Mayne and that King George VI enquired why the Victoria Cross had `so strangely eluded him'; further notes that on 14th December it will be 50 years since Col Mayne's untimely death, in a car accident, and this will be followed on 29th January 2006 by the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Royal Warrant to institute the Victoria Cross; and therefore calls upon the Government to mark these anniversaries by instructing the appropriate authorities to act without delay to reinstate the Victoria Cross given for exceptional personal courage and leadership of the highest order and to acknowledge that Mayne's actions on that day saved the lives of many men and greatly helped the allied advance on Berlin.”
Shame what's happened to the defence forces. The comet tank was amazing as it was a tank that was important in size and ability for the defence forces.. the scorpion tank was ok, but we would have been better suited with the Cockerill Mk3 M-A1 90mm gun instead of the the 77mm smaller gun we had on them.
Our Pilatus PC-9 aircraft are basically useless. What we need are jets and we could afford to buy them second hand, 12-16 f-16s would be enough, and I reckon we should buy some decent tanks. Like the german leopard 2A7 tank for instance or even the Japanese type 10 tank as it's built slightly lighter as a MBT for Japan's roads and bridges so as not to cause too much issues for the roads, more artillery of course, better anti air defence, I mean we are using old Bofors, very old, and some RBS70 but they are not good enough. We should also look at reopening the treaty ports and restocking them with guns for defence against air and sea attacks. The mowags we have are ok but they would not last long in any warzone, not bad for infantry support but that's it.
The government should put at least another 2-3 billion a year into the defence forces and that's just for a start
The Comet Tank was Used in WW2 but also in the Cold War and Vietnam War 🇬🇧🤝🇮🇪
Hi Kinga Mucha. Are you sure the Comet was used in Vietnam? Tests in the 1950s showed that the Comet was "vulnerable in all respects" to the 100mm D-10T gun fitted in the T-54 and T-55 tanks. As a result the Comet was largely withdrawn from active service by 1960 with only a few still used by Burma and South Africa thereafter. The last British Comet Squadron was stood down in Hong Kong in 1960. In the same year Finland bought 40 Comets from the UK but these were only used as driver training vehicles until 1971. The Australian army used Centurions in Vietnam - probably once of the best tanks ever made. Best wishes and thanks for your comment.
Another fallacy is that Comet served in Korea.It did not
Not Vietnam but they were used in the Cuban revolution in small numbers by Castro.
@@stevenbreach2561 People often confuse it with it's predecessor which did serve in Korea.