"Le tank" that time forgot!!

Second World War U.S. tank discovered by road workers under French town

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 12:26 AM on 05th June 2008

• Comments (0)
  
• Add to My Stories

A Second World War tank has been excavated from a French town, 62 years after it broke down while liberating it from the Nazis.

French bomb disposal experts were called to Chartres, 55 miles south west of Paris, to ensure the machine was safe following its discovery by French council workers.

Enlarge The M5 light tank is removed from a hole in the road in Chartres, northern France

The road workers found the machine during routine repairs and a mechanical digger was brought in to uncover it further.

Experts believe the tank is an American M5 and residents said they remembered it entering the town in 1944 as part of a liberation force.

Enlarge Bomb disposal workers ensured the tank was safe before removal

It was said to have either run out of fuel or slipped its tracks during a reconnaissance mission for the 31st Tank Battalion.

The light tank was then abandoned, leaving locals to bury it after the war.