Great War truck

All to much effort. I agree with moving the furniture out in to the front but leave it there and get some fresh stuff out of a skip. There is no need to replace the carpet, just get another one out of the same skip and put it on top. If windows are dirty, boarding them up is a wise option and you wont need any curtains. Just stick lots of posters over the walls. Saves money on repainting them. I still have loads of those 1970's ones by After the Battle. I will bring them in. I notice that we dont get many spammers any more on this forum. Maybe they think we are all a bit too odd? Tim (too) Right. Better go and do so me work now.

I stand corrected. It is in fact a D type. The CD range came afterwards. It wouldn’t be an ‘F’ as it is normal control, rather than forward control, and doesn’t have a W (winch). Thanks for putting me right Alan. Tim (Too)

I might be able to stop by at some stage. I understand that some friends will be nearby that weekend camping with their green machines before going to Branscombe air day on the Sunday and were looking for something to do on the Saturday. What time is the C47 due to fly in? Tim (too)

Right. I have just been into the garage to look at the Jeep and my signwriting really is not that bad. Quite respectable for being done in the field while under fire etc. However, looking above the Jeep i noticed that i still have this on the shelf: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/DSCN4489.jpg[/img] It is a 44 dated 50cal (really) ammo box that has been painted green and had Chaplain painted on the lid. I understand that the Chaplains used whatever they could find to hold their equipment and not all of them received the portable altar kit. I found it in a antiques mall in the USA. My best find that trip. Have you ever come across any photos of anything similar in use. Tim (too) Incidentally, that is a folding canvas bucket on the shelf - and that is where i am going to leave it! :tup:

Goran If i remember correctly from your letter in W & T you asked about markings on Chaplain's Jeeps. I sent you a photo of mine which had been just restored and which looked like this: Actually the writing in the windshield looks quite ragged on this photo. I dont remember it looking that bad before so i will go and have a look at it in a minute. I have found this other photo to hand which is quite similar. I had some more but cant find them at the moment: When i took the Jeep to a local show, a very Scottish bandsman saw me and came straight for me armed with his bagpipes. He came over to tell me that during the war that he a was a driver for a British Army Chaplain and that his Jeeps windshield had been marked up in the same way. However he had obtained a bridging plate and cut it into the shape of a cross, painted it white and mounted it on the top centre of the windshield. As for Chaplains equipment. I have no original US Army stuff, although I do have a British Army Chaplains stole(?). I have watched things come and go on E Bay but they all make ridiculous prices. The one that i wanted but missed was the portable organ which sold for just $100, but shipping that from the USA would have cost an arm and a leg. One thing that i would like is the "banner" or flag that came in the Chaplains kit. A post on the G (which i see that you are familiar with) showed a picture of one but i have not been able to find a real one. So my question to you (Goran) is... tell me everything that you know on the subject. :-D Blessed be Tim (too)

Ha, my prayers have been answered. Someone else prepared to stand up and admit an interest in the Army Chaplaincy. Actually i expect that you are a bit suprised that i remember your letter from all those years ago. It is a bit odd really, but i have an unusual ability to remember the unimportant (usually involving military vehicle facts) and forget the very important (wedding anniversary, wifes Birthday etc). Anyway, back to the subject in hand. But before Jack jumps up and says :offtopic: maybe this would be a good time to start a new post on the subject, so i shall. Tim (too) Well yes of course, that goes without saying. Jack is a person of many talents, some hidden, actually in fact most hidden. But talented all the same.

The Lord works in mysterious ways! Amen Tim (too) Very nice photos you have been taking by the way.

Are you the same Goran Noren who wrote into Wheels and Tracks in 1991 asking for information on WW2 US Army Chaplin's Jeeps. If so i am still awaiting a reply to the letter i sent you. I have been checking the post every day for the last 16 years and i have still not had a response. :argh: :argh: :evil: Tim (too)

Yes, that squite right. The worm would have gone in to the oily orifice (now doesnt that create a mental picture). The whole back axle is an unusual shape and i dont recognise it. It is probably from any time between 1910 and 1920. It would be fun to pull it away in the night. :goodidea: Perhps we could borrow a big piece of kit to lift the front up and shake the occupants until they slide out the back. Knowing how these things work though we would probably find all the wheels locked solid. I will keep my eyes open for bikes. Perhaps they might be used as foundations for garden sheds? Tim (too)

The Morris is a CFDW which were built from 1933 to 1939. I think most were lost at Dunkirk. There are a couple of survivors though. This one belongs to Tony Oliver and is at his superb museum at Etonwick (Windsor). Well worth going to as he has some very interesting vehicles there. Tim (too)

I think that those are the floor boards of the house above. They look too narrow to be the original floor boards. I might be wrong though. We were lucky to hear about it. A chap mentioned in a magazine that he had one under his house and was it worth restoring (ie worth money). He thought it was a Dennis. We managed to get a couple of bad photos from him and realised that all the important bits (anything other than bare rolling chassis) had been removed. Also the rear axle was not a Dennis subisdy lorry which is what we were looking for. We passed on the lead to a chap who collects Dennis fire engines and a friend of his took a look at it and these photos. The chassis is of no interest to us (as we have several spare Dennis ones already), but might be of interest to the guy who took the photos. In all honesty it is probably not worth recovering due to so much being missing. However as it is in a nice dry location, not in danger of being cut up and not going anywhere it is probably best to leave it where it is for someone in future years. If we come across someone looking for one like that we can give him the address. Many years ago Steve bought a Dennis Charabanc chassis that was minutes away from being cut up. We brought it back to Devon and found a chap who was restoring an identical charabanc but which had a really rotten chassis and who was thrilled to get this good one. They only ever made 6 of them so he was very lucky. We know of several others still in situ, one of which is due to be cut up this year. That reminds me, i must go and have a look at it. I will keep you updated. Tim (too)

The interesting thing about WW1 period trucks is the location that they turn up in. The most common location is being used as the foundation of a house. You couldnt get planning permission to build a house, but you can for a mobile home - so dig a hole put a truck chassis in it and hey presto - a mobile home. When the home eventually comes down, out comes the truck chassis, straight into the loving arms of a scrapman - unless you can get there first of course. Here is an example, although you may have to study the picture for a moment to work out what you are looking at: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/IMG_0263_2.jpg[/img] http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/IMG_0266_2.jpg[/img] Now, who would live in a house like that? Tim (too)

We knew an old boy who used to be a Swordfish pilot. Didn't talk about it at all but did let slip that he had dropped a torpedo at the Bizmarck. Too late to ask them questions when they are gone. Tim (too)

Oh I know about not letting go. I dont think that we have ever sold anything, we just build more storage space. Steves next big project is to build another shed to put the Dennis in. Then that will free up some room to rebuild something else. Did you see the photos of our collection on the British vehicle page. If not i will send you the link. Tim (too)

Hi Sue It was a great day out. Didnt really have time to study the other vehicles as much as i would have liked to. Looking at the photos now i see things that i missed before. It was my Brother Steve that you spoke to. He posts on HMVF under the name "Old Bill" (that is Old Bill of Bairnsfather fame not "Mr Policeman"). This is what he looks like: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/OldBill.jpg[/img] Actually thats not what Steve looks like, but "Old Bill" himself. I expect that Steve will have something to say about that. You have quite a collection of vehicles. How did you manage to get so many? Tim (too)

Those are great, i will get a couple. A bit of a price disparity between the maps and photos though. £35 for the map and £4.99 for the photo, or am i missing something. Different quality paper, double sided print on the map maybe? Tim (too)

A chap i know got his old tyres off by putting the whole wheel on a fire. This would of course create an enormous cloud of black smoke so he did it night. It still created a black cloud, but i guess no one could see it. I would be a bit worried that the heat would cause the wheel to distort or weaken. Best off using a nice bit of kit like that press. Fantastic job. Well done. One of my favourite WW2 vehicles. Tim (too)

Yes, they are good fun. Nice solid but basic engineering. I have not been able to find any photos of it (outside Crismon's and Vanderveen's books) and no manuals. I suspect that the new owner will not get too stuck into it for a while as he has plenty of other things going on. But it is nice to think that it is safely tucked away over here and that it will get done some day. It is better that than being used as an advertising hoarding for a US garage i think.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Tim (too)

"Bucketist"! I like that word and will write to Oxford Dictionary for it to be included in their next edition. It has made me think of the French Jeep dealer "Jeepest"! I always thought that that was along the line of "cheapest" (but fails on their prices though). Maybe it means anti-Jeep? Tim (too)

Quite shocking examples of such blatant bucket activity! Surely these are not members of the HMVF. Tim (too)

What a blow (being polite here as i know it would be mostly edited out by the system). Apart from sailing off the side of the bridge that looks about as bad as it gets. You often hear of Dizzy T's being broken for parts, but i have never heard of a WLF being done so. With all those ex Swiss WLF's in that Belgian yard for sale, you wonder whether they have any stock of spares. Might be an option. What a ******* awful b*****d thing to happen. Tim (too)

Oh gosh no. I have enough to be getting on with for the next 20 years. I would love to have it but have no space. Just goes to show that you can get a very early truck for not a lot of money. Import cost estimated at about £1,500, so that brings the cost to just over £2K. Not a bad price really. Actually it is very tempting. Yes, Yes! You are right. Hang it all i should have bought it. I know it would ruin my life, my marriage and destroy the fragile relationship i have with my neigbours but it is a GMC and i want it! So anyway. It is not 1900. It is from between 1916 and about 1922 i think. The 6 spoked metal wheels are probably from between 1918 and 1922, but they could be later than the truck anyway. The fluted rad suggests an earlier model. Hang on, it should look like this http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/1918TtrainX.jpg[/img] I am not aware of any in the UK. Not used by the Brits, only the French and yanks i think. I hope the new owner gets it going. Tim (too)

A good friend in Dorset has just bought this GMC off E bay. Take a look at http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=300123921337&rd=1,1 I am certain that it is a type 41, but i guess that it has later wheels. It seems to be mostly complete, but the previous owner has sandblasted the thing in situ so it will need a complete rebuild to get the sand out the engine, diff and gearbox. Missing a few bits, but mostly complete. Anybody got any thoughts or comments (or possibly a manual)? There must be something about GMC's gravitating to Dorset. Tim (too)

Whoops! Sorry steve. Yes i meant Canadian Scottish. Suprised that they didnt take the dirk off you. Mind you the Morris Commercial had a Vickers MG in it and they did not seem too worried about that either. Tim (too)