AndrewTF Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Of the amazing Littlefield Collection of military vehicles here in the Bay Area. He was only 59... didn't get to play with all those cool toys as long as he should have been able to. Ah, to be rich. Why am I not from old money, dammit!? Obit from SFGate: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/12/BAHA157UND.DTL 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnergoz Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Nuts, he was younger than I am...what the hell? I really hoped to meet him some day, too. RIP, you did us all a great favor by preserving historic armor. And I hope someone carries on the task for you now that you are gone... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 AndrewTF, Say it isn't so! gunnergoz, I sure hope they figure out a way to a) keep the collection together and carry on the work. Haven't seen the collection myself, but I sure wanted to. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewTF Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Yes, I hope it stays together. They're all owned by the foundation that he set up, so perhaps that will keep them as one collection. The place where I work has a connection to his family, so I thought at some point I might try to see if I could set up a tour. Oh well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gpig Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Woah, what a shocker. I was lucky enough to get a tour of his amazing collection. That was in 2005 I think. Never met Mr. Littlefield, but we heard some great stories about him. RIP. They were in the process of rebuilding a Panther tank when we went through. I wonder if it's finished yet . . . ? Gpig 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnergoz Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 On the Discovery Channel they did a series called "Tank Overhaul" and they featured collectors that were refurbishing old tanks. The features were a Sherman being build in the UK by marrying up two hulls, a UK Comet, a US Hellcat TD and finally, Littlefield's Panther, with some excellent shots of his shops, collection and mechanics. Boy, did I ever envy that crew! What a dream job! The Panther was close to being completed - they had made a whole new turret for it because the original was destroyed with charges by the retreating Germans who had abandoned it stuck in a frozen river in Poland. By the way, here is an excellent collection of articles and photos of the collection and about Mr. Littlefield. http://www.mishalov.net/military-vehicles/military-vehicles.html Some more good photos from another visitor: http://home.comcast.net/~szee1a/tanks/tanks.html 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gautrek Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 On the Discovery Channel they did a series called "Tank Overhaul" and they featured collectors that were refurbishing old tanks. The features were a Sherman being build in the UK by marrying up two hulls, a UK Comet, a US Hellcat TD and finally, Littlefield's Panther, with some excellent shots of his shops, collection and mechanics. Thats strange as on the version of this show seen in the UK they featured a Panther which is owned by the Wheatcroft family.We walk past his house when ever we go for a stomp in the country .I recall walking past his house and seeing a Spitfire parked up in his back garden(though the hedge i might add).He has massive storage buildings on his land stuffed full of god knows what. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnergoz Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Must be different episode not yet shown here - I would think a viable show would be 8-12 episodes, not just four - but all they've showed (thus far) is the four I've mentioned. This was last year, so they may introduce more episodes in 2009 as a "new" series. During the Panther episode, they did show and mention a Panther being completed in the UK, which the Littlefield people were in touch with, exchanging experience, ideas and some parts. It might have been the one you mentioned. The thrust of the show I saw was the Littlefield Panther, including video re-creations of how it was used on the battlefield in Poland and then abandoned in the river. Here is the listing of the US shows so far: http://military.discovery.com/convergence/tank-overhaul/episode/episode.html And it was the Military Channel, not the Discovery Channel, sorry. Next, here is a forum where one poster says that more shows are planned: http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4378 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gautrek Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 We went for a quick walk past Wheatcrofts place today.It would seem that he has just got or is having a bit of a move round.but i managed to see the front of 2 Shermans parked out side with what looked like a Panther turret with its front missing..Plus a pile of Rusty cannon barrels in his back garden amonsgt some WWII lorrys. I have always though that he had some very rusty wheel sets from an 88.But today i'm sure that he had a complete but tatty 88 gun there as well. I have just joined the Vintage Motor Cycle Club.I bring this fact up as they have runs in the summer to various private collections.So i may see if we can get a visit to see what this guy as got. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnergoz Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 When looking at the photos I posted earlier, I was amazed to see that Littlefield has an 88 Flak in his collection, not to mention other artillery pieces and MV's, not just AFV's. He was some serious collector! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.