Sandstone Heritage Trust has recently reached an agreement with the Armour Museum, Bloemfontein to restore an M20 Diamond T Tractor Unit and an M9 Rogers trailer , the combination being designated the 'M19 Tank Transporter'.

Between 1941 and 1945 about 6,554 M19 tank transporters were built to British specifications by the Diamond T Motor Car Company. The USA and the Soviet Union also used these vehicles. The combination of M20 tractor and 40/45 ton Rogers M9 trailer was capable of transporting all tanks then in use, so that even 30 years after the war these vehicles were still in service with Western armies including the German army.

The Diamond T was initially a marque of touring car with models up to 70 hp. The company later became known for its trucks. During World War 2, Diamond T produced a classic heavy truck in the model 980/981, a prime mover (tractor unit) which was quickly snapped up by the British Purchasing Commission for duty as a tank transporter tractor. Coupled with a Rogers trailer, the Diamond T gave sterling service with the British Army in North Africa, where its power and rugged construction allowed the rescue of damaged tanks in the most demanding of conditions.

By 1967, as a subsidiary of White Motor Company, Diamond T was merged with Reo Motor Company to become Diamond Reo Trucks, Inc.

Two Diamond T tractors with the correct specification trailed low bed units have been delivered to the Sandstone Heritage Trust workshops for restoration. This is in terms of an ongoing agreement we have with the Armour Museum in Bloemfontein to assist them with collecting, restoring, demonstrating and displaying Classic Military Vehicles with a South African historical background.

We have been fortunate in being able to trace manuals on the combination which have been purchased so that our technical personnel can restore them correctly. See this link.

On the following web site...

http://www.mheaust.com.au/IDF/Research/TT/DIAMOND%20T.JPG

...there is an excellent photograph of a restored Diamond T and Samson & Rogers trailer (identical to the one that we are restoring) which gives a good indication of what they look like when they are restored.

A model kit is also available for the M20 Diamond T low bed and M9 Rogers trailer on link: http://www.revell.de/manual/03226.PDF.

At the same time, friends in Malta are tackling the restoration of a similar trailer, rescued recently from the scrapman. Here is a dramatic photographic sequence of the rescue:

We hope to compare notes during the restoration!

One can already imagine Sandstone Heritage Trust's Mk IV Sherman loaded on the M19 Tank Transporter!