Tanks after ww2

[Owd Fella]

I used to attend Waterloo County Primary School in the early 1950s. The crossing patrol man was Mr Barber. I remember that tanks (as in ww2 tanks) used to be stopped as they travelled in the direction of Ashton possibly en route to Openshaw. My Grandson is interested in all tanks and I would like to be able to tell him what type of tanks travelled down Oldham Road. Does anybody know please?

[Albert]

I dont know about tanks but Bren gun carriers were repaired and serviced in Audenshaw;I think it was called Autodrome

[KENNETHO]

yes thats right albert i wrked there for a short time..cheers kennetho

[herby]

Hi
        Tanks used to leave from Park Parade goods yard during the war. I don't recall what sort they were but they didn't have guns attached to them. I think they had rubber covering on the tracks to save them damaging the roads.   herby

[Son of Nomad]

As a boy I have one memory of a tank on Oldham Road near where IKEA is now and I can clearly recall the marks its tracks left.

[Denise]

Thought I'd Google 'Autodrome', alas no photos of any tanks, but found an interesting website with old fairground pics from various years. Mainly focuses on fairground vehicles which might be of interest.
Don't know if photos are copyright, but the site is 'NFA Digital or National Fairground Archive'. Search for Ashton-under-Lyne - top right.
Some of the pics are on Ashton market ground

[jaywit]

I remember tanks coming from up Duky. Cavendish St.they turned at the library on to Oldham Rd.probablt going to the goods yard(Wellington Rd Oldham Rd.) Ikea site
Ferguson & palin seems to ring a bell, they may have been made or overhauled there.
I seem to think we have been down this road before about tanks

[Too shy]

I remember tanks coming from up Duky. Cavendish St.they turned at the library on to Oldham Rd.probablt going to the goods yard(Wellington Rd Oldham Rd.) Ikea site
Ferguson & palin seems to ring a bell, they may have been made or overhauled there.
I seem to think we have been down this road before about tanks

In the immediate post-war period, I lived at the top end of Astley Street in Dukinfield. It was not uncommon to see tanks trundling along the bottom end of Astley Street, passing the Chapel House and Gardeners Arms public houses as they approached the junction with King Street. Having gone through the lights at that junction, they then proceeded down King Street - passing the Princes cinema and the (Seven Stars?) public house as they headed towards Ashton. We were always led to believe that, before that, they had travelled through Globe Square after being assembled at Robinson and Kershaw's factory on Globe Lane. I think the buildings might even still be there.

I don't believe the road surface was tarmaced in those days and the tank tracks made a right mess of the cobbles, especially as they "swivelled" to turn at a forty five degree angle to go through the King Street traffic lights.

The war was well and truly over by then but, presumably, this was the government's way of ensuring that we weren't going to get "caught with our pants down" if any trouble started again.

[KENNETHO]

if i am correct the brengun carriers that were reconditiond at autodrome were being sold overseas to some other countries at that time.. cheers kennetho

[Albert]

Hi Kennetho the other place were the bren gun carriers went was Kenya on the ground nut scheme which I think failed.
Hi Too shy "the war was well and truly over by then"  We still had National Service and my mates that went to Malaya  Korea and Aden didnt think it was all over. I was on a posting to Christmas Island but never got there

[Fudge]

My Brother was in Egypt,Sudan,Iran Jordon and Bethlehem with his National Service I still have things he brought me back when I was a little girl Fudge

[KENNETHO]

it seems the wars are never over as one finishes anotherone begins ..kennetho

[Too shy]

Hi Kennetho the other place were the bren gun carriers went was Kenya on the ground nut scheme which I think failed.
Hi Too shy "the war was well and truly over by then"  We still had National Service and my mates that went to Malaya  Korea and Aden didnt think it was all over. I was on a posting to Christmas Island but never got there

I was meaning  World War Two, Albert. I'm not sure where those tanks were destined for, but it's unlikely they would be going to the jungles of Malaya. Perhaps a small chance they might have been going to Korea where, I would have thought there was a road system of sorts, but most of the footage of the fighting in Korea seems to show it as an unwelcoming, somewhat barren, terrain where the fighting went on up in the hills and mountain ranges. In Aden, didn't the bulk of the unrest occur in the main city and surrounding towns on the coast? As a trading nation, the bulk of the population was gathered very much in and around the main port. I think the more determined resistance came from the interior (Yemen) which, I think, was seen by Britain as something of a "no go area."

[Albert]

Hi Too shy I think we should forget the Bren gun carrier they were obsolete and being sold off,as per Kennetho letter and my remarks about Kenya  Albert

[KENNETHO]

i do recall we made some parts for tanks at fergies  but not a lot i dont think and it was mainly small parts  we didnt assemble them to my knowledge..cheers kennetho