Jump to content

Hello from Peterborough. Vehicle ID challenge for you


Recommended Posts

Hello

 

I'm a military vehicle enthusiast who is lucky enough to live near Witham SV and can regularly go and dream of owning a Bedford MK. Perhaps this love of military vehicles can be traced to my ancestors. Both grandad's drove trucks during the war. They never talked about this but i have found some pics recently and I wondered if anybody out there could help identify the vehicles.

 

You can see the pics in this picasa album. One grandad served in Palestine with the RAF at the end of the war and my other was in the Hussars in what looks like North Africa. I particulalry like the convoy pic and the lead vehicle with the white wall tyres.

 

You can see the pics in here.

 

click here

 

Thanks

 

James

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Priceless 'photos and welcome to the forum. There are people on this forum who are so knowledgeable they will not only tell what make and type these vehicles are but also what the air pressure in the tyres was when the photographs were taken. I look forward to seeing these 'photos posted on the forum. Cheers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello

 

I wondered if anybody out there could help identify the vehicles.

 

I particulalry like the convoy pic and the lead vehicle with the white wall tyres.

 

 

 

 

Hi James,

 

The lead vehicle in the convoy with whitewall tyres is a British made Ford WOT1 6x4 lorry, and I think it has an Airfield identification beacon mounted on it. Others are a AEC 6x6 refueller, with man on cab roof, a Crossley 4x4 lorry towing a generator trailor, another Crossley, with open cab, looks like a crash tender and the sand coloured truck is a Canadian built Lend Lease Chevrolet

 

Not sure of the tyre pressures, as they would have lowered them for use in sand (especially for 6x6 :-D)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes and the OX is towing a Queen Mary I think.

 

I'm sure you're right. It's hard to think of any other trailer of this length that would be in a convoy of this kind. Would it be fair to say that this convoy is a complete mobile airfield on the move ? If not, what other vehicles would one expect to be present.

 

Roland_Parker_05_small.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure you're right. It's hard to think of any other trailer of this length that would be in a convoy of this kind. Would it be fair to say that this convoy is a complete mobile airfield on the move ? If not, what other vehicles would one expect to be present.

 

 

 

Going through the convoy,

Ford WOT1 with beacon (?) and trailer (forget what this was called, been discussed recently)

Chev with another beacon (?) trailer

Ford WOT1 could be a crash tender

Crossley crash tender

Queen Mary

AEC refueller

 

You would expect to see a crane if a Q. Mary was there and possible mobile control trailers or lorries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going through the convoy,

Ford WOT1 with beacon (?) and trailer (forget what this was called, been discussed recently)

Chev with another beacon (?) trailer

Ford WOT1 could be a crash tender

Crossley crash tender

Queen Mary

AEC refueller

 

You would expect to see a crane if a Q. Mary was there and possible mobile control trailers or lorries.

 

Most vehicles have 3 in the windscreen I would suggest packet 3 of a convoy no doubt an airfield or Air Stores Park on the move.

 

Lead is a Fordson WOT1 mounted on it is an airfield floodlight commonly refered to as a Chance light made by Chance Bros using lighthouse lense principles it projected a narrow hi intensity beam of light along the left side of a runway from the approach end

The Fordson is towing A Landmark Beacon commonly called a Pundit. It flashed a 2 letter morse ID for the airfield.

The Chev is towing An Aerial Lighthouse this flashed a one letter morse ID.

Next is a Fordson WOT1A/1 Airfoam 45 monitor type crash tender.

I believe this is then followed by a Crossley tractor unit towing the semi trailer seen carrying the Generator ??? in the individual photo, Next an OX with QM trailer with a AEC 6x6 refueller at the rear.

 

TED

Link to comment
Share on other sites

.

I believe this is then followed by a Crossley tractor unit towing the semi trailer seen carrying the Generator ???

 

 

Ted,

 

Thanks for the details on the beacons or lights, it had been discussed before and I remember Chance being a maunfacturer. My mistake with the Crossley, can see now it is the flatbed towing a trailer, as the other photo :tup::

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lead is a Fordson WOT1 mounted on it is an airfield floodlight commonly refered to as a Chance light made by Chance Bros using lighthouse lense principles it projected a narrow hi intensity beam of light along the left side of a runway from the approach end

 

 

Ted,

 

Would this picture be of one of the Chance floodlights? It is a series of photos showing the trailer stripped for packing into crates, by Vauxhall Motors for despatch overseas. A sign in one shot calls it a Neon Beacon.

neon light.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Richard, no not a Chance light. It is the same as the trailer under tow by the Fordson.

Its a Landmark Beacon which we called a Pundit. Its the one that flashes 2 morse ID letters. Neon Beacon is accurate although Neon doesn't appear in its nomenaclature ; its light source was 8 neon tubes each rated at 400watts each having a seperate flasher unit and transformer. I may be wrong but I am sure the four sided glazed beacon unit could be removed for shipping and stowed on the platform behind the generator housing. May be your Vauxhall piccies will confirm ?? Its one of these that we finally identified in the hold of the sunk ship the name of which escapes me ??

 

Putting on my recce instructor's hat : of the 3 types in our convoy;

Taking the convoy in travelling order:

 

(on the WOT 1) Floodlight has a parralel full height circular construction behind the gene housing.

 

(Towed by the WOT1)Land Mark Beacon is the only type that has a 4 sided beacon unit, and the only type to have the beacon on the generator housing.

 

(Towed by the Chev)Aerial Lighthouse behind the generator housing is a smaller square construction which houses the mechanism that turns the lamp and activates the required shutters of the lamp unit. The lamp unit is circular and sits on top of the lamp mechanism housing.

 

The 3 types have all been noted on both Eagle & Brockhouse trailers. All three could be mounted on both the 1939 Fordson Sussex and its successor the Fordson WOT1 , However the most common unit on the WOT1 appears to be the Floodlight.

Here endeth recce lesson one .

 

Now just as you were beginning to get to grips with this, a second type of floodlight made an appearance towards the end of WW2 at first glance identical to the aforementioned but having a square section full height light unit. This was normally mounted on the WOT1A/1 with the later type of cab. One of these is held in the RAF Museum reserve store.

TED

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Ted, for an informative answer. Now the one we were debating in the ship wreck was stowed on the trailer. The one shown being packed by Vauxhalls was split into two crates, first the body platform, with lamp stowed behind the genny. The other crate was the dismantled chassis and wheels.

 

I am not sure if the trailer is an Eagle or Brockhouse, but it is to a Straussler design with torsion bar suspension, like some of the refueller trailers of the period.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...