robin craig Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 I think your quest is so very interesting and parralels the quest I am on with my Canadian Ferret. Its so intrigueing the hunt for markings and sorting the wheat from the chaff as it were. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FourFox Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Did anybody mention Saladins in Sri Lanka? Sounds like the cue for a song! Love the driver's cap plume! Note the interesing aerial bases. Even more interesting device fitted behind where the horn used to be,... an air horn? And what's that mushroom shaped thing under the swivel mount? Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schliesser92 Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Germany had a number of Saladins, issued to the Bundesgrenzschutz (Federal Border Protection Service). Designated FV601D, they had the co-axial MG deleted and German smoke dischargers fitted. They were replaced by the Luchs (Lynx) armoured car. Colour scheme was overall "Tannengruen" (Forest Green). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoolsHumor Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 There is what appears to be an insignia on the muzzle cap to match the one on the Commander's cap. Nice touch. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
challenger Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Hi there, I can confirm 100% with guarantee that these Saladins came from Oman. I hope this helps with your research. Was there anything else you were trying to ascertain on these? brandone Oman Saladin, most of the vehicles they had were "bought back" by Alvis as part of the deal to equip with Scorpion. I believe there are three remaining in Oman, two at the MBT regiment camp at Shaafa and one in Muscat at the Armed Forces museum. This one is at Shaafa. The call sign plates on those other Saladins do not match the way the Royal Army of Oman use call signs. The "P" is not right, P doesn’t exist in Arabic although this is from the English alphabet on this vehicle. See the other picture of a typical call sign in Oman, in this case 11B writing from right to left. Other than the "P" they do seem to be from Oman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugly Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 Oman Saladin, most of the vehicles they had were "bought back" by Alvis as part of the deal to equip with Scorpion. I believe there are three remaining in Oman, two at the MBT regiment camp at Shaafa and one in Muscat at the Armed Forces museum. This one is at Shaafa. The call sign plates on those other Saladins do not match the way the Royal Army of Oman use call signs. The "P" is not right, P doesn’t exist in Arabic although this is from the English alphabet on this vehicle. See the other picture of a typical call sign in Oman, in this case 11B writing from right to left. Other than the "P" they do seem to be from Oman. [ATTACH=CONFIG]58463[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]58464[/ATTACH] Thats interesting - would the call sign be that same as the reg mark? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
challenger Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 (edited) If I get the gist of your question. Numbers in Arabic are written left to right but that is whole numbers. Words are written right to left so 11B is not 11 bravo but 1 then 1 then Bravo, writing from the right. See the previous picture. So whole numbers, say 120 and 130 in a line would be written 130 then 120. Reg numbers are usually a group of single numbers such as the one below. But are read as a whole number. In this case the numbers are 91881 but are read as if it were 91,881. If it were read applying the rules it should be read as 1 - 8 - 8 - 1 - 9 So to keep it simple the reg numbers are read as we do from left to right. The number on this Chieftain is actually a four digit number and not five but you get what I mean. It is 9188 Edited March 4, 2012 by challenger Add information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugly Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 Thanks for the information challenger ! - There are also some arabic writing in the hull, which I hope to get translated at some point . The number 8 in those pictures matches the 8 on my number plate. I dont know what the call sign for my vehicle was - there was nothing on the rear of the turret . Ther are some marks on the right side of the turret but that looks like someone has been using it for target practice ! None of the equipment on board appears to have been modified, or overhauled ( or at least its not marked as such.) i was reliably informed that by the time the vehicles were ready for swapping, the main guns were short of spares and the Omani's mounted a .50 INSIDE the main gun mount. It was also mentioned that the Saladins came back as part of a swap for CVRT. I have read a great account calle "The Tinned Equivalent" which is a account of the Sultan's armoured car squadron. Good reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugly Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 (edited) Here is the writing inside the hull ( or part of it) - I went over it with marker pen as it was quite faint. (anyone read Arabic?) Edited March 4, 2012 by Fugly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
challenger Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Hello agin, not an Arabic reader as such but the second picture right hand word is Allaah (God) So it is probably a reference to the will or greatness of God. Could be wrong but the first word is definately God. I will copy your pics and put a bit of time to it. Although someone with a little more knowledge may beat me to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
challenger Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Hello again, I have had an Omani look at your graffiti and this is what he has conluded. The first picture says "Abdullah Saif Nassir" ie a name. The second one says "Oman Abdullah Saif Nassir" So they say pretty much the same. The writing is written very quickly and is not grammatically correct. He assumes that the writer is not educated. The small one or two characters are meaningless and he does not know what they mean. They could be just notes i.e. the first letter of a place or such like. In the scribble there are lots of dots missing that would make sense if present. Again the writer was not that good at correct Arabic. Just Graffiti of a name. My previous post regarding God was a simple mistake he tells me as Abdullah is a derivative of Allah. So there you go. I have asked to try and find out if they ever mixed Arabic and English characters on their call signs so to explain the "P" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugly Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Thats really interesting, especially the "Oman" bit ! So we have a name ! - I will see if thereare any more dots ! Thank you very much for your help - will see if there are bits I missed out. Its hard to read and went over the writing quickly with a marker. Will get my torch out !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugly Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 (edited) I will go over the writing a bit more carefully and try and highlight some more detail ( I did it in a hurry, in the darknes of the hull) - another person had a look at it and thought there were maybe some numbers. The Oman word is a great find though because it just confirms a lot of the other information. The account "THE TINNED EQUIVALENT" gives quite a few names and "NASIR" "ABDULLAH" are common names (perhaps like Smith etc ) . It all adds to the history of the vehicles. The "P" in the callsign may be a red herring - I see it in the photos but am not sue if they are linked or not. In the combat accounts in the above account , they refer to vehicles with T callsigns. The T is shown on a a contemporary photo Edited March 7, 2012 by Marmite!! Copyrighted image removed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
challenger Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 The photo looks like they had a completely English call sign. They seem to be on a miniature range as they have the .22 sub caliber bracket on the gun mounting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
challenger Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Saladin, not Oman but British Army in Cyprus in the seventies. 17th/21st Lancers at Pergamos and on exercise. very similar colour scheme but a little more glossy than Oman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugly Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 The FMR would account for the .22 cartridges I found in the hull - Oddly enough a few days after finding these I was at a show and found a bag full of rubber tanks they used on the miniature range - thought it was an omen so bought them for 50p each:nut: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
challenger Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Unusual .22 case! I would say that perhaps it wasn't fully chambered when it was fired thereby blowing the base into that shape. Are the others in a similar condition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugly Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 (edited) Only this one , found a live ons but passed it to a .22 FAC holder. Another interesting development - I was looking round the Saladin yesterday and whilst chatting with someone, my eyes fell upon an object I had not noticed before. Hammered into the slot by the top of the front right shock absorbers, was what i first though was a washer.It turned out to be a coin. I gave it a light blasting and its an Omani coin. This is another pointer to the vehicles identity. After blasting it I worked out the date at the bottom to be 1390. This did not make sense until I googled islamic date and it works out that they use a calender that uses a different lunar cycle time , and their calander starts in the year 622. I am not making this up :-X So you take the date on the coin, times it by 0.97 and add 622 years . If you do the sum for yourselves it comes out at 1970. Here are some pics - after removing the coin I decided it needs to stay with the vehicle as some sort of good luck charm ! I know builders used to put a coin on the lintle, maybe this is the same theory? !!! Edited March 18, 2012 by Fugly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Ah the ancient tradition of placing a coin on the springs of the old donkey cart . . . . NOT! While your about collecting bits and pieces for your vehicle, about this for the living room http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360352963725?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_3720wt_1004 R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugly Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 I think a picture like in the lounge would tip my wife over the edge of patience..... I have already taken over all the sheds, garage , the neighbours garage and everywhere else....... I dare not bring the hobby too far into the house... Doesn't mean I cannot have it up in the workshop ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
challenger Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 I think a picture like in the lounge would tip my wife over the edge of patience..... I have already taken over all the sheds, garage , the neighbours garage and everywhere else....... I dare not bring the hobby too far into the house... Doesn't mean I cannot have it up in the workshop ! You see that print quite a lot in messes in Oman. I think your coin is ten Baisa, when I was there about two pence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoolsHumor Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Wives tend to be narrow minded that way. Several years ago mine was upset about freshly painted Ferret parts drying on her laundry table. The Ferret is still with me but she is not. I am NOT suggesting anyone push there own fate that far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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