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The volunteers who excavated a World War II landing craft in Lincolnshire three years ago have now applied for it to be given a permanent home.
The Buffalo LVT (Landing Vehicle, Tracked) was dug up in Crowland, north-east of Peterborough, in 2021, as MHM reported at the time.
The lightly armoured amphibious craft would have been used by the Allies in the crossing of the Rhine and Elbe rivers in Germany in March 1945.
Two years later, the vehicle was one of 16 brought to Crowland, when the nearby River Welland burst its banks, as part of the flood defences. But once the flood water was pumped back, five of the 26ft-long vehicles floated away and sank into the mud.
The Crowland Buffalo LVT Association has now sent an application for planning permission to South Holland District Council. If accepted, a museum would be constructed in a building on Kennulphs Farm, near the town.
Daniel Abbott, from the association, spent three years researching the location of the sunken vehicles and led the subsequent recovery effort of the Buffalo. He said the volunteers ‘wanted it on display within the Crowland area, to connect to the local history’.
The team say they are hoping to get the LVT moving again in time for the 80th anniversary of VE Day in May 2025. They also aim to recover a few of the other tanks. But both of these goals would require more fundraising.
Abbott said the team needed to raise about £30,000 to excavate the next one. ‘I would like to see another one out of the ground before I peg it,’ he added.
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