A LOVE of all things military began at an early age for Gilgandra man Bill Cheal having spent his childhood playing on the remnants of a WWII Mosquito bomber, in Narromine.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Exploring the old bomber with school mates also established within him an interest in aircraft; which was a fitting interest to have given Narromine’s reputation as an aviation town.
Mr Cheal recalls being given his South African grandfather’s Boer War medals at the age of 14, which also began a lifelong love of collecting all things military.
Enter the WWII Jeep at age 18.
“We drove this WWII jeep around to go pig shooting in, and I fell in love with it,” he said.
Even before Mr Cheal went on to marry, the Jeep restoration had him obsessed and the purchase of further military vehicles, resulted.
The purchase of the Matilda tank was a spontaneous one.
“Late one night I was reading The Land and there was an auction notice listing two Matilda tanks,” he said.
“Those words jumped out at me and by the end of the sale, I was the proud owner of one that was in desperate need of restoration.”
He noted that in those days, an ex-army tank was cheaper to buy than a commercial tractor, which were often in short supply.
Mr Cheal said he travelled around the country trying to locate parts to restore his tank to its current condition.
“It only had one engine running, one was seized up badly but I eventually got what I needed,” he said.
Having almost achieved the restoration, Mr Cheal said even with his mechanical skills, he could not quite get the tank operative because of a clutch issue.
He became frustrated and put the project on the back-burner.
It wasn’t until he retired from the motor trade that the challenge of reviving the tank reignited his enthusiasm.
Forward one year and the restoration is complete.
Mr Cheal said one of the lovely secondary benefits to the restoration was meeting all the people who want to come and talk about it and share memories.
“Yesterday afternoon a mate of mine bought out a 90-year-old man, Captain Bede Tongs to see it,” he said.
“Captain Tongs said he’d served in Kokoda and Aitape-Wewak campaign in New Guinea and shared his story with me, it was very moving to see his reaction to the tank.”