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The Tank Museum and Joe Hewes, host of the Mr Hewes YouTube channel, recovered a derelict British Conqueror tank from a swampy Ministry of Defence firing range. Because it had no tracks and its road wheels were sunk into the ground, the recovery team had to lift it, fit replacement tracks and haul it away with heavy military vehicles. The tank’s turret and main gun are intended for the museum’s Conqueror restoration.
The Tank Museum and YouTube host Joe Hewes recovered a derelict British Conqueror tank from a swampy Ministry of Defence firing range, after lifting the trackless vehicle out of the ground and installing replacement tracks. The tank’s turret and main gun are needed for the museum’s restoration of another Conqueror, giving the difficult recovery a direct role in preserving the rare Cold War vehicle.
The recovered tank had been used as a target at a U.K. Ministry of Defence gunnery range and was missing its tracks, engine and transmission. Although it lacked those major components, it remained extremely heavy; a Conqueror weighed about 65 tons when new. The source report says it had been abandoned for 58 years, but does not specify when the recovery took place.
The missing tracks made a conventional tow risky. A tank’s tracks spread its weight across a wider area, while this vehicle rested on road wheels that had sunk into the earth. The report says the Ministry of Defence would only permit the operation if the tracks were put back on first. That requirement also reduced the risk of dragging the tank through ground where unexploded mines and artillery shells could be present.
Hewes brought in two military Foden recovery trucks to jack the tank up and lift it clear of the ground so the replacement tracks could be fitted. An Oshkosh M1070, a military tractor used to transport tanks, then winched the Conqueror onto its tracks and hauled it from the site on a trailer, according to The Drive’s account of the operation.
A Missing Piece of the Conqueror Story
The recovery supports the museum’s effort to restore a Conqueror by providing a turret and main gun from the target-range vehicle. The Conqueror was a large British postwar tank developed as a heavier companion to the Centurion. Though it was not a successful design, it helps explain the development of British tanks between the Centurion and Chieftain.
The operation also shows how preservation projects can depend on retrieving parts from vehicles that are incomplete, inaccessible or unsafe to move. In this case, the recovery was not simply a matter of attaching a winch: the tank had to be lifted, tracked and removed while the team worked around the hazards of a former live-fire area. The source does not report any injuries or incident during the recovery.
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From Firing Range to Museum Restoration
The Conqueror was developed in the early Cold War period, when NATO countries responded to Soviet heavy tanks such as the IS-3. The United States developed the M103, while Britain built the Conqueror as a larger vehicle alongside the Centurion. The Drive reports that the drawbacks of large, slow tanks and later technological advances helped lead toward more versatile designs such as the Chieftain.
The museum’s restoration tank was missing its turret and main gun, while the recovered vehicle retained the components needed for that project. The source describes the Conqueror as rare, with only a handful built and fewer still surviving. It does not provide an exact production total or a count of surviving examples.
“The only way the Ministry of Defence would allow the recovery to proceed was by reinstalling the tracks.”
— The Drive, reporting on the recovery
Recovery Details Still Unreported
The source does not state the date of the recovery, identify the firing range by name or give a detailed account of the site’s safety procedures. It says unexploded mines and artillery shells could be present, but does not establish whether any munitions were found during this operation.
The report also does not give the replacement tracks’ origin, the precise weight of the incomplete tank at the time of recovery or a completion schedule for the museum’s restoration. The description of the vehicle as abandoned for 58 years appears in the associated video title; the source provides no separate documentation of that timeline.
Restoration Moves to the Museum
The recovered turret and main gun are intended for the Tank Museum’s Conqueror restoration. The source does not provide a timeline for fitting those components or completing the restored vehicle. The recovery video by Hewes documents the extraction, but any further restoration milestones or confirmation of the components’ installation have not been specified in the report.
Key Questions
Why was the tank so difficult to move?
It was missing its tracks, and its road wheels had sunk into swampy ground. Without tracks to spread the weight, towing it risked pulling the heavy vehicle deeper into the earth.
Why did the team recover this particular Conqueror?
The Tank Museum needed its turret and main gun for the restoration of another Conqueror that lacked those parts.
What vehicles were used in the recovery?
Two Foden military recovery trucks lifted the tank so replacement tracks could be fitted. An Oshkosh M1070 then winched it onto the tracks and hauled it away on a trailer, according to The Drive.
Was unexploded ordnance found?
The source says the range could contain unexploded mines and artillery shells, but does not say whether any were found during the recovery.
When will the restored Conqueror be finished?
The report gives no completion date for the museum’s restoration or schedule for installing the recovered turret and gun.
Source: thedrive.com
