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Issue:- SATURDAY 27 June 2015

"What's that coming over the wave? Is it a monster?"
Report by Madeleine Saghir, video and photos by Patrick Trollope.

REPORTS of a strange aluminium hulled monster, glistening in the Sun came in on Tuesday, 23 June 2015 as a massive 15 tons 'Amphibious Rescue Craft' LARC-XV, aka Defiant II, powered up its 600 hp engine on Southport Beach. The craft has recently finished being been lovingly restored prior to visiting the Woodvale Rally. It was raising funds for Help the Heroes, over the previous weekend and was about to head home to Fort Perch Rock in New Brighton. With flags fluttering in the light wind and with a crew on board, this massive monster was proved hard to miss by both tourists and locals alike, who flocked over to see it. After departing from Southport Beach, the 45 by 15 feet amphibious craft then headed to Ainsdale Beach for final checks before going fully out to sea and back to New Brighton. On its way in to Ainsdale Beach a small inshore RNLI Rib met up with the vessel, to aid them on to the shore and to take a closer look at this ex-Vietnam War, American military vehicle.

As it drove on to the beach, again tourist and locals flocked over to take a closer look. Plus it allowed the RNLI crew who wanted to have a closer look at this historic and unusual craft a chance to get on-board and take a look around. The crew of "Defiant II" said that they want to thank both the RNLI and also Sefton Ranger Services for their help, both going and returning from Woodvale Rally. The impressively large vehicle made for quite an unusual tourist attraction as a result. The vehicle is believed to be worth around US $1,000,000 and the wheels which are around 1.6002 metres high cost around GBP £5,000 each, so it is no wonder why people flocked to see it, as not many of these craft are on our shores! Oddly, this amphibious can also take on around 1,000 gallons of fuel, but this apparently lasts a long amount of time as the vehicle does not consume much, not bad for a war machine that was built in 1968. As it was originally used in the Vietnam War and then later sold to the French Navy, it is not surprising that it also has platforms for machine guns. Sadly they had not been on show during its adventures. Woodvale Rally was not the 1st stop for the craft at a large public event, as it had also recently been used to view the arrival of the Three Queens cruise ship which took place in May.

Unfortunately however, it may have to be re-located due the fact that Wirral Council is currently arguing that it is "an eye-sore" and would like it to be moved from New Brighton. Interestingly Defiant II is looking for a new home and has already proven to be not only an interesting tourist attraction, but also a useful resource for the rescue community after it helped with a rescue earlier in the year, off the Wirral Coastline... So saying that it is "not in keeping with a seaside area" might prove to be a costly error for the Council. Let's hope we can keep this amazing and valuable resource on our Merseyside Coastline. If you can help re-home it, by offering a large enough area for them to carry out upkeep and close enough to the shoreline, please get in contact with us, at Southport Reporter or get in contact with Fort Perch Rock.

To see our Woodvale Rally coverage in this edition, please click here, or alternatively please enjoy this coverage of what is a truly remarkable bit of American military hardware.

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Deceased estates notice - Lilian May Jackam

Pursuant to the Trustee Act 1925, any persons having a claim against or an interest in the Estate of Lilian May Jackam (also known as Lillian May) Jackam (Deceased), late of Birch Abbey Rest Home, 55 Alexandra Road, Southport, Merseyside, PR9 9HD, UK, who died on 04/10/2018, are required to send particulars thereof in writing, to the undersigned Solicitors, on or before 24/05/2019, after which date the Estate will be distributed having regard only to claims and interests of which they have had notice. Churches Solicitors, 12 High Street, Fareham, Hampshire, PO16 7BL, UK. Ref:- 'T553015.'

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