Southsea's D-Day Museum says farewell to its final vehicle

HISTORIANS have packed away the last couple of wartime vehicles at Southsea's D-Day Museum ahead of the site's £4.9m revamp.
By The Newsroom
Published 19th May 2017, 06:55 BST
Updated 4th Jun 2017, 20:56 BST
Back row: James Daly, collections researcher, Tim Gower, collections supervision, Nick Thompson, technologies assistant officers and Andrew Whitmarsh, development officer. Front is Katy Ball, collections registrar. They are pictured in front of Second World War landing craft, L247.Back row: James Daly, collections researcher, Tim Gower, collections supervision, Nick Thompson, technologies assistant officers and Andrew Whitmarsh, development officer. Front is Katy Ball, collections registrar. They are pictured in front of Second World War landing craft, L247.
Back row: James Daly, collections researcher, Tim Gower, collections supervision, Nick Thompson, technologies assistant officers and Andrew Whitmarsh, development officer. Front is Katy Ball, collections registrar. They are pictured in front of Second World War landing craft, L247.

Five-tonne landing craft L247 was yesterday shipped onto low-loader lorry and transported into storage along with a Second World War Jeep.

The move comes days after the site’s two other amphibious vehicles — Vera, a converted Sherman tank, and Duck, a troop transport — were removed from the museum last week.

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Katy Ball, collections registrar at the attraction, oversaw the latest move.

She explained it was a key milestone in bringing forward the heritage asset’s revamp.

‘Seeing L247 go is a big deal. It feels more dramatic than when the other vehicles were taken away,’ she said.

The landing craft was one of those used during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944 and had been at the museum since 1994.

It will now go into storage and is expected to return to the city in winter before the new museum re-opens in spring, 2018.

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