Who leaves these things laying around in the woods?

Ive been on a mission for some time to locate myself another military vehicle worthy of restoration..Top of my list is a carrier but i liked the idea of not just finding one in running condition but saving a unit from destruction..I had heard rumours about this one sitting on the north end of a lake up north..the story was that it was driven across in the winter and for whatever reason it died,the driver had returned on foot...and there it sat since the 1950s...Friends of mine who are familiar with the area managed to locate it last week...Sorry about the lousy pics folks but im not the photographer...the armour has been hacked off and the motor was removed and is sitting beside it...Our plan is to barge it back to the south end of the lake and attempt to transport it out of the bush...the downside is over 160km of the worst logging road you can imagine just to reach a gravel road to get to a paved road..It should be interesting and we will likely film the procedure of removing it as it will be a bit of a process im sure.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

wow thats cool ! the logistics sound a bit tricky, but I wish you all the luck in its recovery. Are you able to tell any history on it if the maker plate/serial no. is located?

Great find, the recovery should be a real adventure. If you need any advice or moral support, feel free to call. I dug mine out of the woods (and swamp) and got it up and running some years ago.

John,I hope I can track down some on from its history because thats the part i find the most interesting when it comes to this stuff..Im really not sure how much info is out there related to the C.F.R numbers...I had no luck at all finding any info for my M38 and i put some time into researching that one...I made an attempt to find some history on my 1943 WLC as well using the only number i had,the VIN,and didnt get too far..so hopefully the carrier may be different,time will tell once I talk to some carrier people,this tracked vehicle thing is all new to me.

BAP,Im sure il need plenty of advise and I always need moral support lol..and if yer ok with me bugging you with questions once in awhile id sure appreciate that,since you are already obviously familiar with them...I guess my 1st question is the same as Johns,Did you ever get around to researching yours?..and did you have any luck with C.F.R numbers or is all that info long gone?

Virtually no records survived. Unless you are very lucky, linking one of these to its wartime (or postwar) service by way of a serial number is almost impossible. When you start stripping and sandblasting keep a sharp eye out for unit signs or "CF' numbers that can link it to something. Most carriers in Canada never made it overseas (and those that did never came back) and most of these home carriers served post war. Typically you can tell this because there will be a shiny (well, not shiny anymore) 1950's era green over the WW2 olive drab. Your carrier is a Ford of Windsor Mk.II* most likely made some time in 1944. The data plate and a "Ford of Canada" plate would be located on the vertical division plate just behind the driver's right shoulder, and the hull serial is stamped on the angle iron, left side, where the back armour joins to the rear running board forward of the rear fender. I think your big score is the gunner's front armour (seen leaning on the back deck). The rest of the armour is flat so not that hard to re-make. That piece certainly would be. Also, check all around the site to see if there's any other spare bits or pieces that might still be there buried in the dirt.

All I know about mine is that it was made in March, 1943 in Windsor (it's a Mk.1*). I have no idea what it did during WW2 but it served postwar in the Central Command. Borden I bet, given the sand I cleaned out of it.

Bug away...I'm happy to help!!

keep us updated on your progress, will be an interesting journey no doubt