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Report - - Sleeping Giant - Kithurst Hill Sussex April 2018 | Military Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Sleeping Giant - Kithurst Hill Sussex April 2018

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WilsonTheHuman

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Another one close to my old hometown and a place I've visited before but never ventured down the path that takes you to this hunk of machinery. We traveled over to see this one on a rather overcast day at the end of April. Spring was yet to spring as it were; it was chilly with the last lingering tail of the beast from the east, and a little muddy but a pleasant walk along the South Downs Way took us to our destination. Even if she is mostly a shell, she is still a sight to see!

Sleeping Giant is the chassis of a Churchill MKII Tank, a relic of the time the south downs was a hive of military activity during WW2. This particular tank was used by the 14th Canadian Army Tank Battalion to train soldiers headed for war. This one developed mechanical problems and so got left behind on the hills of Sussex, used by the 2nd Canadian Army Division for target practice. At the end of the war most paraphernalia was removed, but it proved too difficult to remove the tank, and so it was rolled into a nearby bomb crater and buried until 1993, when it was unearthed and taken to sit at the edge of a field. Parts were stripped to renovate other tanks leaving the very bullet hole ridden chassis, track drive wheels and gun turret gears to sit where they are now.

Sorry if some of the photos are a bit ropey, had to take some on my phone due to my camera battery running low!

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Jackdaw47

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Another one close to my old hometown and a place I've visited before but never ventured down the path that takes you to this hunk of machinery. We traveled over to see this one on a rather overcast day at the end of April. Spring was yet to spring as it were; it was chilly with the last lingering tail of the beast from the east, and a little muddy but a pleasant walk along the South Downs Way took us to our destination. Even if she is mostly a shell, she is still a sight to see!

Sleeping Giant is the chassis of a Churchill MKII Tank, a relic of the time the south downs was a hive of military activity during WW2. This particular tank was used by the 14th Canadian Army Tank Battalion to train soldiers headed for war. This one developed mechanical problems and so got left behind on the hills of Sussex, used by the 2nd Canadian Army Division for target practice. At the end of the war most paraphernalia was removed, but it proved too difficult to remove the tank, and so it was rolled into a nearby bomb crater and buried until 1993, when it was unearthed and taken to sit at the edge of a field. Parts were stripped to renovate other tanks leaving the very bullet hole ridden chassis, track drive wheels and gun turret gears to sit where they are now.

Sorry if some of the photos are a bit ropey, had to take some on my phone due to my camera battery running low!

29542343_10211725338796068_4313662973274621162_n.jpg


29543255_10211725347076275_7888640984215650755_n.jpg


29572759_10211725338636064_5674861918602433356_n.jpg


29595067_10211725348276305_5213224386237005916_n.jpg


29663240_10211725340916121_6079408502180380281_o.jpg


29684031_10211725344956222_1541713697038080206_n.jpg


36427016_10212359930460463_4053722973008297984_n.jpg


36438144_10212359930540465_8678793161797009408_n.jpg
Neat pictures, the time of year lends a lot to a nostalgic atmosphere despite what it would have been used for. :-)
 

WilsonTheHuman

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Neat pictures, the time of year lends a lot to a nostalgic atmosphere despite what it would have been used for. :-)
Thank you! I'd like to revisit now it's summer and the crops have grown in a bit. Sadly I now live 100 miles away in a different county! I'll hopefully go back up there next time I venture back to Sussex though. It's interesting how we were taught about the war in school, but never much about how significant Sussex and the South Downs were in preparing troops.
 

explorewithDR

28DL Member
28DL Member
I can confirm the tank has been removed and taken to an unknown collector/museum. Massive shame. Was a brilliant little find.
 

Honeybadger

Not to be taken seriously
28DL Full Member
Shame it's gone. Hopefully if it's gone to a museum it can be restored but judging by the condition I'm not sure that's possible
 

Honeybadger

Not to be taken seriously
28DL Full Member
Shame it's gone. Hopefully if it's gone to a museum it can be restored but judging by the condition I'm not sure that's possible
 

Calamity Jane

i see beauty in the unloved, places & things
Regular User
Those bullet holes really make you think. Thanks for sharing this, I do hope the tank has been taken somewhere safe. Its part of history, Canadians fought with us, and we should remember all.
 

monk

mature
28DL Full Member
Those bullet holes really make you think. Thanks for sharing this, I do hope the tank has been taken somewhere safe. Its part of history, Canadians fought with us, and we should remember all.

The bullet holes were done by the Canadians themselves.
If you go up to the sight after the farmer plows you can find loads of old bullets,.
I have one at home that i found which was shot but never hit anything, you can see the spiral marks on it from the barrel still.
 

Calamity Jane

i see beauty in the unloved, places & things
Regular User
The bullet holes were done by the Canadians themselves.
If you go up to the sight after the farmer plows you can find loads of old bullets,.
I have one at home that i found which was shot but never hit anything, you can see the spiral marks on it from the barrel still.

Oh wow, why did they shoot up their own tank? Thanks for info. The casings sound like a nice piece of history also. Nice to have one though.
 

monk

mature
28DL Full Member
Oh wow, why did they shoot up their own tank? Thanks for info. The casings sound like a nice piece of history also. Nice to have one though.

Some more info here

"The 14th Canadian Army Tank Battalion used this tank and others just like it, for training. This tank was due to be used on the ill-fated Dieppe raid (19th August 1942) but developed mechanical problems so was left behind in Sussex. The 2nd Canadian Army Division used it as target practice on the South Downs and after the war ended efforts were made to remove the remains."
 

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