Huge US amphibious tank craft from World War II discovered buried 30 feet underground in an English field
Bill Bostock
Sun, May 2, 2021, 9:48 AM·2 min read
A 26-foot-long Buffalo tank is extracted from the earth in Crowland, Lincolnshire, on April 29, 2021. Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images
A number of Buffalo LVT landing craft were swept away by floods in Lincolnshire, England, in 1947.
This weekend, one of the US-made craft was dug up by a group of volunteers after a five-day dig.
The armed craft were used to ferry supplies and cross water bodies in conflicts in the Pacific and Europe.
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Excavators in England have unearthed a huge World War II-era US landing craft from a field, 74 years after it went missing.
In 1947, more than a dozen Buffalo LVT were transported to Crowland, Lincolnshire, to help the British Army build flood defenses, but five were swept away in high waters.
This weekend, a group of local military enthusiasts succeeded in their mission to unearth one of the 26-foot-long craft after a five-day dig, which they found buried 30 feet below the earth, the BBC reported.
Watch drone footage of the craft - which weights 18 tonnes - being pulled from the excavation pit here:
The Buffalo LVT was a US-made landing craft used to transport supplies and crosses water bodies in Europe and the Pacific region. It saw action inWorld War II’s greatest battles, including the Battle for Iwo Jima and D-Day.
The group behind the excavation believes that this Buffalo LVT was also previously used to cross the River Rhine in Germany in March 1945, The Times of London reported. The BBC said the Buffalo LVT was also key in getting allied troops across the Elbe river, also in Germany, the same year.
The craft appears to be in good condition, the volunteers said, due to the nature of the clay and peat soil that has surrounded it for 74 years .
tank ww2 england crowland
A man seen after uncovering a 26-foot-long Buffalo tank in Crowland, Lincolnshire, on April 29, 2021. Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images
“I’m over the moon with what we’ve achieved - it’s very exciting. We’ve spent five days digging,” Daniel Abbott, chairman of the Crowland Buffalo LVT Association, told The Times.
“We found the gun mount first and it’s in fantastic condition for its age. The tank seems to have been well preserved in the clay.”
The volunteers told the BBC they wanted the craft to stay in the town and become a memorial for the 1947 floods.