Well guys, something incredible happened to me today, especially because it is within walking distance. This is not about something small buried in the ground, but something huge abandonned and forgotten. Look what I found lying in the woods behind my own house!!!











This is a genuine American Gasoline tank container. You cna clearly read US ARMY AIRFORCE ON IT .

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Apparently this was used for refuelling, it is damaged on one side (it possibly fell on this side when unloaded from a trailer, but this is a guess). The container has consequently been abandonned and sabotaged (you can clearly see a square that has been cut out at the buttom , so that it could not be reused. It is still lying on a metal undercarriage on one side (there is no trailer )

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That really is a most interesting 'find', Skipper ! Now comes the big question - how are you going to get this object back to your house.....?

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Actually the owner of the land is a friend. he said he'd be more than happy to give it to me... It's too big though and my wife said there is no way I would keep this in my garden even if I could hire a crane and a truck. And what would I do with it ? If you want it you could probably have it.

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More pictures here, this shows how hard it is to get to the place and would make a removal very difficult. also some details of the lids+ one from the inside.

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As usual for us all, I guess, ain´t that sad....( changed the wording a bit here )

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Well this time she's right, it's just too big and useless. I wonder if anyone has a picture of one of these trailers with a similar tank on it. Here's anothe rpic so you can see the nettles I had to go through to find it.

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I was joking ! .....

Sadly, even the most dedicated among us have to realise that you can't take it all home...... But, in all seriousness, it is then valuable to make photographic records before such relics rust away or disappear into a scrapyard.

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

I knew you were joking Martin . I'm afraid this relic will soon or late end up at a scrapyard, it's too big and the trailer is missing. I'm still trying to find out how it ended up there. Patton's 3rd Army went through this place in August 1944, but it could also stem from Bricy, including after V.E. Day.

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Go on, skipper - you know you want it ! Sneak it into the back garden while Mrs Skipper isn't looking - tell her it's a useful and beautiful artefact......

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

hmm, it's all dirty and rusty. I wouldn't challenge Mrs Skipper when it comes to environment. The bridge will go up and she'll throw boiling oil at me when I try to storm my own locked house. If things go really wrong, I'll tell her it was inspired by you, so she knows to fix the trailer behind your car when you drop by for a coffee

I have however a small hope that one my friends would be crazy enough to restore it and take it to his house. It would be a pity to scrap it.

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Skip,
Get it home any way you can and then worry about the technicalities!

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Regards,

Gordon
History Vault Bookshop
FortressScotland-http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y20/Historian/

Could it be a train wagon tank? There are old tracks less than fifty yards away from the "find" . This could explain how such a huge thing got there.

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It looks like a semi-trailer. Does it have wheels or where wheels were on one end?

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Best Regards,
JW

Nope, just a X shaped undercarriage (only one is left)

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X-shaped undercarriage? Under the entire length or just at one end?

Look at picture #5 in post 5 above. It looks like the trailer is "notched" at one end as though it is supposed to sit on the back of truck as part of a Tractor semi-trailer. Does it have king-pin under the "notch"

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Best Regards,
JW

How long is the thing? From the full length pic, it appears to be about 30 feet (10 meters) long and maybe 8 feet (2.4 meters) at largest diameter.

Is this about right?

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Best Regards,
JW

That's about it, of course I could not take exact measurments according to the vegetation around, Maybe it's a bit smaller like 8 or 9 meters. A trailer would do, a train wagon too. I hope someone will know and come up with a great picture. this was probably a GASOLINE supply tank, or a kersosene tank?

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