A CRAWLER tractor that formed part of the D-Day landings in Normandy during the Second World War is one of about 100 vintage farming implements to go up for auction later this month.
In a first for Teesdale, a collection of more than 50 vintage tractors are to go under the hammer at Ewebank Farm, off the A66 near Greta Bridge, on Saturday, May 25.
The idea came about when farmer Peter Moss decided to sell off four vintage crawler tractors that he has collected during the past three decades.
Mr Moss said: “I don’t use them so I just thought I would sell them. I spoke to some friends who said they would also like to sell some and now we have nearly 50 tractors.
“One of the crawlers has quite a history. It went onto the beaches on Normandy with the Americans. They took them over and used them to make roadways and airfields.”
The Allis Chalmers HD10 was built in Springfield, Illinois, before being shipped to Europe during the war. Mr Moss came across it in a haulage yard in Kent where it had been in storage for about ten years and was in a “sorry state”. He has since cleaned it up and it, along with his other crawler tractors, is in full working order.
Mr Moss’s love for vintage tractors and implements sled to him starting the annual Ewebank Ploughing Match about a decade ago. The match, which takes place on the first Sunday in October, now attracts competitors from as far afield as Leeming Bar and Appleby, and raises hundreds of pounds for Brignall Church and the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
The same charities will benefit from the vintage tractor auction through the sale of bacon sandwiches and other refreshments. The auction begins at 11am.
