LarryH57

Another photo - this one showing dark sea blue on two tugs, but it looks to be on land, with a two prop aircraft in the background? Was this dark blue from USN / Lease Lend vehicles?

Over the years I have collected a few photos of RN vehicles, mostly in ports and harbours and shore bases etc. Strangely (or perhaps not) I can't find any 'RN vehicle colour regulations' to confirm what was in use but I suspect that after the early war period of light grey it bacame whatever the Army Regulations were (which would have suited the manufacturers) Inititally I think the RN used light grey (like this perserved Tilly) , though some people maintain the idea that the RN always used dark sea blue, which I suggest that was late-war The Wrens in their car photo, with lorry behind, looks to have black mudguards typical of Fords, and the ambulance also looks more light grey - than dark sea blue (similar to the blue that Fleet Air Arm used on Vought F4U Corsairs in the Pacific). Civil registrations, white blackout edging and the use of RN may be a hangover from prewar & early-war like the RAF. Also it looks like the ambulance was supplied by the British Red Cross, but I guess it is still an RN vehicle

Like some members on here, I have cars as well as an MV. (I have edited this question - see last post on 9th Nov) My year 2000 Rover 45 had a new battery fitted earlier in the year but I forgot to disconect it when the vehicle was laid up Now it is completely flat. If I recharge it, and use the car, will it charge from use and still retain the charge and work properly?

Have you told anyone in Ukraine about this product?

And what make is this Staff Car used by Bomber Harris in 1945?

I guess Bryan is correct in stating that the RAF had a surplus of Beaverettes once the Army had proper armoured vehicles, so I wonder if these attached are also experimental? I have seen the one with for gun turret and wonder if it was a gunnery trainer. Why the other Beaverette had a dust bid turret , I do not know

I found another couple Bedford OYs converted to an Armadillo 2 The similar one to this on OXD obviously had a shorted rear tub And also a strange RAF Armoured Lorry, said to have plastic armour?

Dear Ted, Regarding the salvage of Lancster EE193, does the attached help? Regards Larry

Great post - how did I miss it in Covid times And now to earlier times. Did the Albion Refueler have three hoses to refuel three biplanes at once - but by the BoB it was only able to do one Spitfire or Hurricance at any one time?

Adrian, I guess the 'plough' with mini castors is shaped like the letter C with squared off corners but the board behind, needs a horizontal shelf space for the sandbags?

And also, as various scientists have said, while hiding in case of reprisals, is that Co2, is not a pollutant.

I am familiar with these as there was one at RAF Christchurch in 1941 and I have a shell case from the COW gun. The RAF ground gunners also had two Bedford OXDs to fight off any German Paratroopers dressed as Nuns. Back up was also provided by the Air Defence Experimenal Establishment with a Dodge type lorry called Tubby the Tank Buster, mounting a canon from a WW1 'Male' tank side gun position.

Thanks Simon. BTW - is the Chilwell list online somewhere?

That's an interesting photo, and my guess is that they are converting a supply of various ex-civilian types into an Armadillo, all to the same design of the rear fighting compartment. However, the Bedford OY and OXD designs all look to be conversions of existing / new military vehicles, so were they converted once the war situation had calmed down a bit?

This may be a Bedford OXD or an OY. It was of a type created for the Army in the despirate days after the fall of France in 1940, but as you can see from the RAF roundel, it is now serving with the RAF, but still carries its WD serial

The RAF made use of the Bedford OXD for airfield defence circa 1941. The OXD had a wooden fighting box on the rear compartment full of pebbles and sand and I am looking for photos of one. The Bedford OXD is not to be confused with the Bedford OXA with a 'steel body' and Boys AT rifle or the 3 Ton Bedford OY with a 1.5 pdr COW Gun. I cannot find any photos on the web

But surely Ruxy, if my Lwt was a proper Military Vehicle and the history says it was with the Royal Artillery, surely any comments concerning shortages of Land Rover CL's is not relevant (without being rude)

I guess it looked like this?

Has anyone got info on the set up and equipment used by a FOO?

Dear HMVF members, Thanks for your posts on alternative fuel sources for my Lwt and also for how things were 100 years ago. There might be hope yet of getting a WW2 Jeep to the 100th Anniversary of D-Day parade, albeit with a pre-announced health warning for spectators and the man walking in front with a red flag! For those of you who like me believe in 'Man Made Global Harming' I will leave you with this!

A Forward Observation Officer is another good possibility, so I can now add all the parifinalia, for such a role, such as stripped down body, no tilt, with roll bar, twin GPMG, and every bit of kit known to a soldier, lashed to the outside. If a FOO was 'up the front' directing fire for the troops the RA was supporting, would it be all camo'd up, otherwise it might be a target for enemy gunners? Interestingly I have remembered that the tilt was painted too with matt black paint, when it was cast which was un- authoried but this could have been done by anyone, not just a FOO.

Lets forget the Lwt FFRs for the moment. I know Officers used them, under sufferance, but as far as I can remember I never saw a Royal Artillery Battery Commander with a GS Lwt with a single /sole Clansman radio in them for comms. So it must have been for a less important role / rank.

Yes, the question is why and for whom. Plus a photo of the bracket to support the Dexion for a Clansman, that the clips in the Lwt suggests was mounted behind the driver, who I guess hadf to drive and listen out on the net for radio comms, that his 'ever so important passenger' didn't

As Clive and Ruxy have pointed out my Lwt has those brackets fitted on the side of the rear tub, with four bolts each side, which I don't often see at MV shows. I was sent an 'exploded diagram' of the bracket and how the diagonal support for the dexion racking bolted on to the top. It was there when the Lwt was cast. So for me the question is why did the Army and RA in particular convert a 12 V GS to have a Clansman, when there was never a shortage of FFRs? Whom ever it was used for, the Lwt needed to be contactable but didn't need to work the Net on several Frequencies like an FFR office set up. There was no Radio shelf in this set up. In the 1980s Army that I remember, the set up in my Lwt just reminds me of a vehicle good enough for a roving NCO to visit lonely positions perhaps with some tea and a bit of grub on a cold night but not roomy enough for an Officer, unless a GS Lwt was sufficient for a Padre, if they had one in RA Regiments?

Incidentally my Lwt was with 4th Field Regt RA, at the time it was in the Falklands but I dont claim it was ever in the Islands, and was probably left in the UK. Or was it, and would a GS Lwt, with a single 351 or 352 Clansman be sufficient for more than just keeping the Padre or Battery Sgt Major informed. Did they have a roving role to fulfil? Also I agree that it is hard to justify a shortage of LWB FFRs, as the TA were not short of them at this time.