Umm, Answering my own question, I figured out how to get the device out.
For Posterity, whomever that are..
There are three T20 Plastic Screws that liik for all the world like
they're decorations, or at least to hold the canister surrounding the
fuel-pump assembly together.
They don't. The canister incorporating the fuel gauge resistor and float
mount etc is part of the canister that is somehow fixed to the bottom of
the poly fuel tank.
So, those three screws enable the fuel pump to be removed, as an assembly
complete with strainers etc.
The strainer stuff can be further dismantled, and the hoses and
electrical connections can also be removed from the pump after it's
separated from it's holder.
It's an extremely complicated arrangement cf the Japanese stuff sometimes
have to play with.

<Spray-mode on>

Just a pity that the major design effort of the assembly didn't translate
to a long-lived-in-service fuel pump.
I'm deadly serious here. The pump lasted 250000Km. The rest of the stuff
there is of course pristine.
One would consider that VW having spent literally a fortune in designing
an extremely clever and perforce complicated array of stuff to hold,
supply,earth and cushion the pump that they would have at least specified
a pump that did the  distance.
Bloody reprehensible, it is.

While I have known fuel pumps to fail at under the time/distance mine
did, NOT ONE was on a Japanese-built car. And No there was NO water in/
with the fuel at any point.
In fact I've not had a failure of a Toyota or Nissan pump at all, and
I've driven and maintained those vehicle well over 15 Years with far
greater distances travelled.
I've also not see such a difficult to service set-up on any other car.
Perhaps some of the Lexus type stuff out of Japan might go as far as VAG,
but I doubt it. Besides there's no reason to do that at all if you half-
trust your engineers responsible for plastics selection.
I'm not even going to start on about Torsion Bar remove-replace, other
than to suggest that the impeccably engineered device that is a T4 steps
right outside that framework the instant you need to do anything a tad
out of the very very ordinary with it.  
The ONLY reason I persist with my T4 and the recalcitrants and thieves
responsible with stocking and supplying VW parts about this wee planet is
that the damm thing is good at what it does.
A T5 is out of the question. VW wants to piss about saving money with
MacPherson Stut rubbish at my expense - and it would most certainly be at
my expense if I was stupid enough to buy a T5, then stuff'em.
They'll lose me when the T4 expires.
Or I do, working on the bugger.
Whichever comes first.

<Spray mode off>

Thanks for listening.

Umm, Answering my own question, I figured out how to get the device out.
For Posterity, whomever that are..
There are three T20 Plastic Screws that look for all the world like
they're decorations, or at least to hold the canister surrounding the
fuel-pump assembly together.
They don't. The canister incorporating the fuel gauge resistor and float
mount etc is part of the canister that is somehow fixed to the bottom of
the poly fuel tank.
So, those three screws enable the fuel pump to be removed, as an assembly
complete with strainers etc.
The strainer stuff can be further dismantled, and the hoses and electrical
connections can also be removed from the pump after it's separated from
it's holder.
It's an extremely complicated arrangement cf the Japanese stuff sometimes
have to play with.

<Spray-mode on>

Just a pity that the major design effort of the assembly didn't translate
to a long-lived-in-service fuel pump. I'm deadly serious here. The pump
lasted 250000Km. The rest of the stuff there is of course pristine.
One would consider that VW having spent literally a fortune in designing
an extremely clever and perforce complicated array of stuff to hold,
supply,earth and cushion the pump that they would have at least specified
a pump that did the  distance.
Bloody reprehensible, it is.

While I have known fuel pumps to fail at under the time/distance mine did,
NOT ONE was on a Japanese-built car. And No there was NO water in/ with
the fuel at any point.
In fact I've not had a failure of a Toyota or Nissan pump at all, and I've
driven and maintained those vehicle well over 15 Years with far greater
distances travelled.
I've also not see such a difficult to service set-up on any other car.
Perhaps some of the Lexus type stuff out of Japan might go as far as VAG,
but I doubt it. Besides there's no reason to do that at all if you half-
trust your engineers responsible for plastics selection. I'm not even
going to start on about Torsion Bar remove-replace, other than to suggest
that the impeccably engineered device that is a T4 steps right outside
that framework the instant you need to do anything a tad out of the very
very ordinary with it. The ONLY reason I persist with my T4 and the
recalcitrants and thieves responsible with stocking and supplying VW parts
about this wee planet is that the damm thing is good at what it does. A T5
is out of the question. VW wants to piss about saving money with
MacPherson Stut rubbish at my expense - and it would most certainly be at
my expense if I was stupid enough to buy a T5, then stuff'em. They'll lose
me when the T4 expires.
Or I do, working on the bugger.
Whichever comes first.

<Spray mode off>

Thanks for listening.