restoration Bedford MWR restoration

HI ...PM sent. Regards Andy B

lovely work, those doors are a work of art

Had an relay good weekend working on truck ,lots of jobs finished and starting to put everything back ready for the show season ,

the doors are finished the allied stars and Z number have been stencilled on ,

the cab is all back together

and i have started to fit the switch board and the wireless battery's

the first show this year is 1940s weekend at the Circh tramway museum at Easter

i have now finished with the second hand drivers door i got from Rippo, it is a complete door ,the wood frame is intact and shows no sign of rot or wood worm ,the door skin has been removed from the wood frame to help under stand how the doors are built, shows some minor rust but would clean up and re-use the top capping is damaged but is usable as a pattern there were no lock or hinges on the door when i bought it looking for £50.00 buyer collects

Hi PM sent

Nice work Paul, it's looking very nice.

Jules

Andy photos of door as promised

if you look at the photo above there two extra screw holes (the shiny bits ) they had self tapping screws going in to the cross brace on the wood frame i think they may have been added to stop the door skin drumming on the frame

Nicky

Hi Thanks Yes I will have it.

First trip out of the year to Crich tramway museum in Derbyshire to a 1940s week end the roof rack and the radio aerials are still to be fitted to the truck as i don't think they would have got on very well with the tram wires

The nights were very cold for camping

can ask our radio experts for some help i need to have made a COVER WATERPROOF NO 5 (the British version) i have been through the limited number of photos of this i can find and Simon Thompson kindly sent me a sketch of his cover

but i am still not sure i have all the information i need, some of the photos show a hole in the top of the cover for the set aerial

i also need some more information or better drawing of the detail of how the cover is made to fit around the carrying handles for the radio sledge

what are the markings on the cover

do all the covers have the loops stitched into the front and side for the aerial wires

Hi Nick ..PM sent Regards Andy.

Hi Nick that was an excellent photo of the MWR at the Tram museum, I hope you don't mind but I thought it was so good it warranted a bit of photo shop ' Somewhere in England' :-)

regards

Pete

well done ,yes there were some excellent photo opportunity's if you waited your time and let the public get out of the way a very enjoyable event

Nicky

very nice! Tom

Hi

Firstly – nice restoration – just started on my MWC – working out the cab detail as the truck had a modified one and was interested in the photos of the doors

Secondly – Radios

I noticed that you have put a WS19/WS19HP in yours, there are some installation photos and notes in Wireless for the Warrior (Volume 2 Pages W.S.19-75 to W.S.19-77). If you don’t have a copy, PM me your address and I will send you a copy of the relevant pages.

Also in Wireless for the Warrior Volume 1, there are some photos of installations in of a WS12/R107 combination in a Morris Wireless Truck. The WS12/R107 combination was used in many radio trucks but I don’t have any photos of this combination in an MWR.

Cheers

Richard

I thought it was about time i up dated my restoration blog ,i thought i would start with some of last years show photos ,the end of last season saw the mileage on the truck at 5000 miles most of which have been trouble free .

photo 1 is east Kirby airfield lanc & tank event in late June 2017

Followed quickly by the longest trip of the year to Tilly-sur-seulles , Normandy for the liberation celebrations and to take part in the xxx corps tour of British & Canadian battlefields .The tour convoy consisted of twenty five all British marked vehicles including 3x 15 cwt trucks ,K2 ambulance,Bedford OY 3ton ,3x bren carriers ,3 x Daimler dingos and made a very impressive site on the road

The deputy Mayor of Tully-sur-seullies runs the local museum and was to be found most days in the rear seat of a carrier guiding the convoy around local historic sites .

Most of the camp was period tents this photo showing my newly restored 160lb tent

Some of the locations we visited looked very much as they would have looked in 1944 especially the calvados brewey at Jerusalem cross roads

And when turned black & white look even more period

The weather was very hot not very good for wearing a wool battle dress and the water bottle became an important piece of kit

Yorkshire war time weekend in July saw my first attempt at a radio display

Woodhall spa 1940s weekend in late July saw the truck winning best military vehicle prize

The radio display at the Victory show in early September had so much gear we needed to add a trailer to carry it all which the truck pulled that well i all most forgot it was there

The last show of the year was Crowle & Eland 1940s weekend in late September

Hi Richard

Yes i have been following your MWC blog with interest do you plan to put the truck back to the canvas cab ,thanks for the offer of the details from W for the W but my growing interest in all things Military wireless lead to there purchase last year .

The 19 set in my truck really goes with the B squadron Irish Armoured Guards markings on my truck being the correct set as used by an armoured unit the radio B set was used for short range inter vehicle communication ,the 19 set ,power unit and most of the radio installation are currently being restored more detail to follow later .

First trip out with the truck last weekend to the Yorkshire MVT crank up in York it was nice to get back behind the wheel of the tuck after its winter lay up.

The event followed its usual format with a mixed convoy of military vehicles from Tadcaster into the centre of York to Clifford s tower and a static display

Picked up an interesting item for the radio display an 80 watt generating set and got some excellent news regarding the trucks history ,i have never had any idea of the identity of my truck both the war time Z number and any post war military registration number having been lost .The Z number displayed on my truck was a best guess using the approximate date of manufacture following up on a list of MWR chassis numbers posted on the Bedford MW face-book group i just happened to check if the chassis number for my truck was on the list which it was and now following confirmation of the search on the post war military number by RLC Deepcut i have the complete identity

war time Z number Z4903759

post war number 34RD84

contract number V4714

sold off Ruddington 21/7/1962

[TABLE=class: MsoTableGrid]

[TR]

[TD] 294/v/4714

Contract card

V4714[/TD]

[TD=width: 91] 1699 UNITS

CONTRACT CARD SHOWS 1700[/TD]

[TD=width: 131]

TRUCK 15 CWT 4X2 G/S ADAPTED FOR WIRELESS “MWR”

Body contract nos B11046 (Citroen ltd )

B11045 Normands ltd

[/TD]

[TD=width: 100] Z4903700-Z4905399

Z4903700-Z4905399[/TD]

[TD=width: 89]

DATE ORDERED 29/8/41

DATE COMPLETE 24/10/42[/TD]

[TD=width: 91] NO 20

COPY OF CONTRACT CARD

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

more jobs to be added to the list i now need to change the Z number and change the contract number on the dash plate

just thought i would add the photos of the MWR on the recent 30 corps trip to Holland in here ,it was the first time i have managed to get a full crew of five in the truck with all there kit ,beds ,chairs ,a shower the roof rack worked a treat and we all slept under the penthouse which which rolled out from the right side of the roof rack .