Military snowtracs

I had a long chat (about half an hour) with Phil today concerning military snowtracs. There are not many surviving because they were going out to the Falklands war in the Atlantic Conveyor which was sunk. About four actually made it to the Falklands as they were on the Sir Galahad. He is a mine of information and hopefully will join us on Forumsforums as I have told him all about it. He is at present restoring a military snowtrac which will have a gun fitted to it as original. I believe he has restored more than one and is due to go to the Reme museum to do some work on that one when he has time. I hope to meet up with him before long and go to look at the one he is doing at present and take PICTURES. He owns the one that was pictured on here with the snow camo in front, it was, as I thought taken at the big military show in Kent, which is on again in a couple of weeks. I hope to be there, but with the Norsebox and M38Jeep, not the snowtrac yet.

Anita,
I think the photo below is the Snow Trac you are referring to that is owned by Phil.

Please let him know about the REME photos here on the forums, he may want to view them for reference too. Here is a link to the REME PHOTO THREAD.

Also, there was a photo posted by Paul Ramsen that showed a Wombat anti-tank gun mounted to an open top version of a Snow Trac. Here is a link to Paul's Wombat/Snow Trac Thread. Phil may be interested in that thread and also in talking with Paul and sharing some research.

I have had a further chat with Phil on the phone and come up with some more information. Yes Bob, that is Phil's snowtrac. His father joined the Royal Marines in 1945 and was very involved with the development of the snowtrac etc. His father, unfortunately now dead, was Major John Chatfield RM. Phil is rebuilding a snowtrac which I believe carried the Wombat Anti Tank Gun and will again as he has one to go on it as I have already said. Incidentally, wombat stands for weapon of magnesium battalion anti tank, which I didn't know. I also found out that the Wombat was carried in the trailer of the BV 202. I think he knows a lot about the Reme museum snowtrac, as again I have already said, he is due to go down to overhaul or restore it, anyway to do some work on it. I will pass on the threads you have given when we next talk.

Ice Queen said:

Incidentally, wombat stands for weapon of magnesium battalion anti tank

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Anita, it appears that our member and model maker Paul Ramsen really needs to get together with Phil since Phil is building a working version of what Paul would like to build as a model.

It would be great to get 2 threads running, that detail the work of both the model and the real unit. I certainly could assist both in formating their pictures. I think model makers, military vehicle enthusiasts, and old vehicle restorers would find interest in these projects.

We certainly have some experts on the Snow Tracs here on the forums who can help out with some details, and I'm sure both Paul & Phil can teach us a lot too.

Hello Snow Queen,
Its not quite a simpressive as renovating a real Snow Trac but I am building a model one fitted with a WOMBAT Royal Marine style. I would really appreciated being able to contact Phil to ask a few questions etc.
Thanks, Paul

Paul, when I next contact Phil, I will ask him if I can pass his phone number on to you, I don't like to do it without his permission.

Ice Queen said:

Paul, when I next contact Phil, I will ask him if I can pass his phone number on...

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Anita, please invite Phil to visit the forums too. Phil certainly has a great background and can add a lot of to our knoweldge base. He and Tommo probably would have a lot in common too. For the next 6 or 7 days the Forums are "open" to visitors and guests can see the images and download the PDF files. Normally the images are blocked and only visible to members. If Phil wants to see the website, this is a good week to see it. A week from today the images will be blocked again.

He is a stone sculptor and travels about a lot for his business and I don't know if he has a computer, but I did tell him about this site. So hopefully he will visit if he has access to a computer.