And a lovely job too. "After 72 years of failing to report to the parade ground of the Lancers Barracks, a small post stamp of land now dwarfed by the new skyscrapers of Parramatta, he finally returned for duty today. He is “Ace”, the Matilda tank, veteran of Australia’s largest ever armoured assault, at Balikpapan – then the Dutch East Indies and now Borneo – in July 1945. With the war approaching its final month, a depleted Japanese force offered little resistance to the Matildas, who chased them up the coast of Borneo until rivers prevented a further advance. When peace was declared, most of the tanks were dumped at sea, except for three – Ace and two mates, who were returned to Australia. They would be sold to farmers as tractors, as civilian vehicle production had been superseded by the needs of war before having to swing back to the wants of the land. Decades later, an overheard conversation in a Southern Highlands pub led to a group of military enthusiasts discovering Ace abandoned in a paddock beneath a clutch of eucalypt trees. It would be fortuitous for Ace, the oil from the gum tree leaves eventually sealing off important engine parts from the elements and increasing the chances that he could be revived to his former glory. After six years of intensive work – all done by a group of volunteers tapped into a worldwide network of second-hand military equipment suppliers – Ace today rolled up to his original fighting unit at Parramatta’s Lancer Barracks, one of the colony of New South Wales’ first military bases. In a choke of engine fumes, accompanied by the clatter of tread spitting out the last few sods of soil, Ace confirmed his place as the only Commonwealth tank that served during World War II, to still be under its own power." World War II tank returned to former glory after six-year restoration
Great job on that restoration. I should hope that the article is mistaken in saying that there is only 1 Australian vet of the Balikpapan fighting who is still with us. Something along the lines of 20,000 Australian troops participated.
Sort of nice to see some Aussie armour restoration that isn't being carried out for Mr Lowden & his remarkable Cairns project. The true power of men in sheds! I like the way they've done her too. Something to be said for the 'real' in-service look over a concours approach.
