RESTORATION JOURNAL
M24 CHAFFEE - HEMLOCK III / "LIZZIE"
ARCHIVE No. 001
HULL NO: 2475
REGISTRATION NO: 30121003
BUILD DATE: February 1945
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
SIZE: L 18'3" x W 9'10" x H 8'1"
WEIGHT: 18.4 tonnes
ENGINE: Twin Cadillac V8
CREW: 5
GUN STATUS: Live, Non-Firing
HISTORICAL ACCURACY: *****
RESTORATION STATUS: Fully Fit
OWNER: Bannister Historic Armour Collection (BHAC)
Historical Background
Built by the Cadillac Motor Company in Detroit in towards the end of the war, unfortunately very little is known of its service history during WW2.
This particular Chaffee saw extensive service at the hands of the Danish Army in the post-war years, before spending many years on a concrete plinth as a gate guard in Denmark, slowly filling with water due to failure to remove the belly plate drain plugs.
It was rescued and returned to the UK at the hands of a private collector and housed on a driveway in Watford, being deemed as 'beyond restoration', before coming into the hands of the Bannister Historic Armour Collection in 2016, requiring an extensive restoration
Arrival
From the initial inspections the hull appeared to be in reasonable condition, but anything non-armour, including the wings had a lot of rust. Due to the water damage, the majority of the internals were beyond repair, which included engine bay side walls, floor ammo racks, fan cowlings and radiators.
During the early stages of restoration we discovered three key indicators that this M24 Chaffee may have been one of the 302 Chaffee light tanks sold to Great Britain under the lend-lease scheme:
- Holes and threads pre-drilled into the turret to take the British No.19 set radio mounts
- Usage of British Standard Pipe (BSP) threads on the left-hand final driver filler bung
- Brackets welded to the hull on the left-hand rear wing to accept early steel track
The M24 Chaffee was to require a full restoration, with all components carefully restored, replaced or re-engineered.
An Interesting Fact: The Chaffee is dual-control. The co-driver position is fitted with a set of driving pedals and tillers, allowing the co-driver to take over if the driver is injured.
Research
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Engineering
Having suffered a lot of rust damage, the wings, engine bay walls and storage boxes required replacement. These were fabricated from scratch, using original drawings??
Due to sitting in water for many years, both radiator cores were rotten. The radiators have a thick steel top and a bottom water tank, which were salvageable. We managed to have new cores manufactured by a specialist.
Authenticity Decisions
With an aim of preserving as many parts as possible, we managed to repair the fan cowlings. Being shaped like a big cup, the bottom of the fan cowlings had completely rotted out after being filled with water. The cowlings were taken out and all the bottom sections repaired.
Markings
The tank is marked up as a vehicle belonging to A Squadron of the 8th Kings Royal Irish Hussars, 7thArmoured Division.
The name ‘Hemlock III’ and identification number T 330645 are painted on the tank to honour Captain Bill Bellamy MC KHS and his crew who fought in Europe in a British Army M24 Chaffee with those markings. Captain Bellamy published his experiences as a tank commander in his book called ‘Troop Leader.’ He landed in Normandy in a Cromwell tank, before being issued with an M24 Chaffee in 1945.
On 5 March 1945, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery presented him with the Military Cross for his bravery during the battle for the hamlet of Doornhoek, near Berlicumin in the Netherlands during October 1944. The citation stated that whilst under heavy German machine-gun, mortar, and shellfire, and whilst in a minefield, he retrieved his burning tank and crew before overrunning the enemy’s positions to allow infantrymen to advance.
Gallery
