IT’S NOT every day Hillcrest residents get to see a Second World War tank passing through the centre of their village on the back of a heavy-duty transport vehicle.
The KwaZulu-Natal Parabat Veterans Organisation, who share the facilities of the Highway Shellhole, have been behind the initiative to get this 70-year-old tank to Hillcrest.
“It’s been a few busy months of planning to arrange all the necessary paperwork and logistics to transport the 15-tonne tank from the Eshowe Shellhole all the way to Hillcrest,” said Highway Shellhole MOTH member, Frans Marias.
“It was on Thursday, 15 September 1916, exactly 102 years ago, that tanks went into battle for the first time, and warfare changed forever,” said Mark Linley, Highway Shellhole MOTH member.
“These giant armoured killing machines have been a central feature of combat ever since.”
The first tanks used in warfare were the British Mark Ones, going into action against the Germans on 15 September 1916, near Flers in northern France, during the Battle of the Somme in World War I.
“We’re absolutely delighted to be the new caretakers of this Stuart Light Tank which now has pride of place on display at the entrance to the Shellhole,” said Gordon Haselwood, the Old Bill of the Highway Shellhole.
From 1940 to 1944, there were
12 500 of these American-built Stuart Light Tanks used by the Allied forces in Europe, North Africa and the South Pacific. At peak production, the workers at the American Car and Foundry in Pennsylvania manufactured 40 Stuart Light Tanks a day.
If you are interested in viewing the tank or joining the Highway MOTHs or the KZN Parabat Organisation, contact Mark Linley on 083 232 4353.
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