A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to get the final £25,000 needed for the restoration and display of D-Day sole survivor, landing craft (tank LCT 7074).
The National Museum of the Royal Navy has launched the campaign to raise funds to help complete the restoration of the last surviving WW2, D-Day LCT 7074.
She will be displayed alongside the museum’s affiliate, the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019.
The scheme has received a first round grant of £4.7m from the National Lottery however match funding is now required to unlock the funds and secure enough money to carry out the full restoration of the 200-ft craft.
Head of Exhibitions and Collections at The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Nick Hewitt said: “At dawn, on the morning of D-Day, 6 June 1944, 800 landing craft approached the Normandy landing beaches.
What ensued was the largest seaborne invasion in history and it was landing craft, including LCT 7074, which delivered tanks, troops and essential equipment to the beaches.
“LCT 7074 is the last of these vital workhorses known to have actually participated in the D-Day landings.
“This makes her totally unique and a key piece in history. She will add considerably to the story of D-Day.”
After a chequered post-war career involving conversion into a floating clubhouse and nightclub, the ship was lying in private hands, semi-derelict and sunk at her moorings at East Float Dock, Birkenhead, until in 2014 she was successfully salvaged and moved to Portsmouth by The National Museum of the Royal Navy.
Previous successful crowdfunding campaigns run by the National Museum include raising over £9,000 to help preserve First World War ship HMS M33, the only remaining Royal Navy survivor of the Gallipoli Campaign; over £10,000 for Falkland veteran Landing Craft F7 and over £6,000 to save CMB 331, the last surviving Second World War coastal motor boat.
For details about the scheme and to donate, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lct-7074
