WW2 Valentine Tank, pulled from a swamp in Poland

On Thursday 25th of October, 2012 a Vickers Valentine tank was recovered from a swamp area on the River Warta in Western Poland
It is believed to have fallen through ice covering a tributary of the River Warta, as it rolled towards Berlin during the Soviet Red Army's massive 1945 assault on German defences in the east.

Around 2,000 Valentines were delivered to the USSR as part of Western military lend/lease program during WW2.

Music is "DLDN Instrumental" by timberman

[doyleaudio]

Thank you very much for this post. I have much respect for all people that save history.

[cynderfan]

It's a very rare find. Valentine's are very rare.

[wreckdiver]

Amazing video. I once dove on a shipwreck off Virginia that had a cargo of Valentine tanks. They are strewn all over the bottom.

[rosewhite]

amazing to see how the swamps preserve tanks...I thought swamp water would be acid but it must be fairly neutral to keep from rusting things up.

[brentscott]

so it seems finding tanks in swamps in eastern europe is a regular thing...

[Wiktormotra]

Passed by this beauty three months before it was pulled out during a bike trip... never realised something so rare can be lying just 20 km from my home.

[tonyroddham]

The Soviets liked the Valentine, it was low and quiet, they used it for recce.
That's a Val 6, it had a 6 pdr gun on it, this gun was good anti armour, better than the T34/76 F34 gun, but not as good at firing HE rounds.

[TheDevilOfKimon]

What a find...For 70 odd years IN a swamp it looks remarkable

[Wiktormotra]

Stories of this tank have circulated in the area for years after WW2, and the turret was visible for some time before sinking completely. But everyone thought it's a T-34 or Sherman. Rumor has it that there is also a Stalinets tractor somewhere nearby, which was sunk during recovery attempt in 1945.

[davie]

Fantastic Richie, great video thanks for showing us this, great tribute to the Brave Soviet tank men and the poor British Sailors who had to endure the Arctic Convoys and a freezing death to deliver these English built tanks to the hard pressed Red Army.

[Energzer]

I love the golden tab with the name of tank and its model

[engineergaming]

Valentine tanks are really rare! It's nice the polish found it! You can clean it up and put it in a museum for everybody to see.

[larryhall]

What an unusual and rare find.This is such a unique find.It deserves to be restored to running condition.

[HonestBloke]

Great find folks.
A real piece of history

[Chlorate]

That's amazingly well preserved. Must be quite anaerobic in that swamp.

[zenoist]

A bit of duct tape and wd40 and it'll be good as new.

[umbrellacorpsoldier]

Amazing, the tank survived that long under water and its still intact.

[hoodoo]

Spectacular. Has the unit been identified? It's carrying a 57mm gun? Note even this late in the war (1944), I'm guessing a Valentine used in Operation Bagration? that these tanks, although dwarfed by the Panthers and Tigers, still were useful combat vehicles. It suggests that the limited numbers of heavier German armor could not be everywhere, that the best use of tanks was not against other tanks, but in working with infantry in mutual support against primarily enemy infantry?

[ROBBEAUDOIN]

Us regular people build models and watch videos, rich people restore originals...

Another FANTASTIC VIDEO!

[TheLimbReaper]

That's a pretty fantastic find. Nice video and photos.