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Great War Truck - interviewed.


Jack

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So here is the latest interview by HMVF's very own Michael Parkinson :angel:

 

Snapper has once again pulled a rabbit out of the hat - the victim is a lot closer to home this time - it is our very own Tim Gosling AKA Great War Truck and his wonderful family.

 

You are going to love this interview - these guys are an amazing talent and are great fun too, you don't get many folks like this to the pound.

 

Thank go to the Goslings for their time and for sharing with us an insight in to their life a works and many thanks to Michael Mark 'Snapper' Barnes for his great questions.

 

 

......read them and weep!!

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Guest shane taylor

Fanstatic interview guys, a bloody good read. You guys must have some serious dedication to the cause.

 

What happened to all of the WW1 trucks - did we use then long after the war?

 

Regards

 

ST.

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You are all too kind chaps. We are just a good team doing what we enjoy.

 

Shane asked what happened to all of the vehicles. Well that is a story in itself. In 1914, the British Army had 70 motor vehicles. A couple hundred more were imediately called up (Tim has the precise numbers) and a major procurement exercise was started. By wars end, the Army had over 120,000 motor vehicles of all types and a serious disposal problem! During the War, it had been realised that repairing used vehicles was more economical than buying new and a repair depot was set up at, I believe, Rouen. This was soon doing excellent work and it was decided to set up a major repair depot in the UK. This was done, just outside Slough, but the War finished before it was completed. Many thousands of vehicles were brought back and parked on adjacent ground giving the depot the local name of 'The Dump'. Aerial photographs taken at the time are quite spectacular.

 

Some repair work was carried out in 1919 but it was then decided to sell off the whole lot to a consortium for £7m of which £3.65m was for all of the vehicles including those still in France, Egypt, Constantinople, India and Mesopotamia. The consortium proceeded to get their money back by continuing the rebuilding and sale of reconditioned lorries. All of the Leylands went to Leyland Motors for overhaul and in due course FWD and Peerless became independent companies on what was to be known as the Slough Trading Estate. Some Government vehicle sales did take place both in London and France but I suspect that the vast majority of vehicles were sold into civilian service via Slough.

 

Then what? Well, as well as producing a huge fleet of vehicles, the War had also produced a huge number of trained drivers and mechanics. A significant number acquired these vehicles and set up as hauliers. The lorries were worked, commonly into the 1930s by which time they were old, slow and worn out and most were scrapped. However, some chassis found futher use as trailers and the basis for mobile homes. These are the ones which have survived although the second war scrap drive took a great toll of them. Those sold off in France have fared a lot better as the French seem more inclined to work them and then park them. Our Autocar worked in Cambrai until 1954 and the FWD around Lyon until 1970.

 

Hope that answers your question!

 

May I recommend 'The Slough Estates Railway' by John Isherwood. Lots of lovely pictures of lorries, factories and railways.

 

Cheers!

 

Steve :rtfm:

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  • 2 years later...

Several people have asked us how we got into the hobby with World War One trucks. If anyone is sufficiently interested to read it, Mark Barnes did one of his "Interviews" with us a year or two ago under the title "An interview with Great War Truck and his family". You can find it by clicking on

 

http://www.hmvf.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102:great-war-truck-tim-gosling-a-family-by-mark-barnes&catid=24:interviews&Itemid=26

 

We should have some more photos of the Dennis restoration posted up soon.

 

Mod Edit.. Copied Over from http://www.hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?p=157152#post157152

Edited by Marmite!!
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