zemsi Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 After the war the Swiss Army acquired quite a bunch of Ward La-France and Diamond T Wreckers. These were used for tank recovery and on airfields. Unfortunately, all these wreckers had the same manufacturing year stated on their "Swiss" building plate. Here are some wreckers I know of: Ward LaFrance (2nd number is the chassis number) 1943, 535364, M1A1 Model 1000 Series 5 1943, 422090, M1 Model 1000 Series 2 1943, 545315, M1A1 Model 1000 Series 5 1943, 434370, M1 Model 1000 Series 4 Kenworth 1943, 52287, Model 570 (1941) Diamond T969 1943, 969B0005 1943, 969A0988 Does anybody know how/where I can source these actual building dates (month/year)? Thanks very much Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Hi Chris, Bart Vanderveen's Wheels and Tracks no.3 has an extensive article on WLF and Kenworth Heavy Wreckers. It includes a lot of information on build dates and chassis nos. but admits these are vague as the information varies depending on source. For Ward laFrance the first two digits are the year of manufacture so eg. chassis no. 43XXXX would be 1943. From Series 5 the first digit of the chassis no. is a 5. For the vehicles you list the build dates are therefore as follows: Ward LaFrance (2nd number is the chassis number) 1943, 535364, M1A1 Model 1000 Series 5 - 1943 1943, 422090, M1 Model 1000 Series 2 – 1942 1943, 545315, M1A1 Model 1000 Series 5 - 1944 1943, 434370, M1 Model 1000 Series 4 - 1943 Kenworth 1943, 52287, Model 570 (1941) – agree 1941 As for the month, the only thing you can do is take the series of chassis nos. and the period in which they were built and do a little maths to work out approximately when in that period a particular truck came out. You are unlikely to get this any more accurate. I would thoroughly recommend the Wheels and Tracks article as an authoritative source of information on these trucks. Regards - Mike Edited January 25, 2012 by TooTallMike Didn't make sense... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 Hi Mike Thanks a lot for your information. This is very helpful to me! I think I even got that W&T No 3 somewhere in my collection. I'll look it up. I didn't expect it to be so "easy" to tell the manufacturing year from the chassis no. Many thanks again Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 chevy Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Following up with what Mike stated, by reading the Wheels and Tracks article, you should be able to determine the USA registration number assigned to the vehicle also. John G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 ... thank you very much, I just had a look at my magazine copy and found all the information I wanted! Greetings Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 Just a quick follow up. Found and old US Manual SNL G-116 used by the Swiss Army. All serial numbers can be found there. I uploaded the page on flickr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) ... if anybody is planning a trip to Switzerland in the near future. On Saturday October 17, 2015, there will be the 2nd public day in Burgdorf at the Stiftung HAM. You can see +300 Swiss MV's!! Here are my pics from 2010 (1st opening day) There will also be the launch of a new book about Swiss MV's from 1900 - 2015, where I'm one of the co-authors. Edited May 18, 2015 by zemsi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted February 1, 2016 Author Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) Kenworth 570, Swiss Army Museum in Burgdorf CH. Used for L Pz 51 (AMX-13) equipped units. Kenworth 570 by Massimo Foti, on Flickr Edited February 20, 2016 by zemsi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashcollection Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I have both a Diamond T wrecker and a series 5 Ward La France i think they are both ex Swiss, the Diamond T has larger cable reels on the twin boom and different lighting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markheliops Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Kenworth 570, Swiss Army Museum in Burgdorf CH Kenworth 570 by Massimo Foti, on Flickr Very Nice - I likey. Markheliops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 I have both a Diamond T wrecker and a series 5 Ward La France i think they are both ex Swiss, the Diamond T has larger cable reels on the twin boom and different lighting Your Ward LaFrance is clearly a former Swiss Army. On top of the cab is written " L Pz 51". That means Leicht Panzer 51 (light tank) and refers to the AMX-13. Referring to your Diamond it's hard to tell. Glad to see some more survivors. If you write me the chassis numbers by PM I can probably tell you the Swiss Army's registration number. Greetings Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 ... the Diamond T has larger cable reels on the twin boom and different lighting The cable reels look like this one here: Diamond T969B by Massimo Foti, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I have both a Diamond T wrecker and a series 5 Ward La France i think they are both ex Swiss, the Diamond T has larger cable reels on the twin boom and different lighting[ATTACH=CONFIG]112605[/ATTACH] I just spotted the RE Scammell tractor in your barn, do you know its military reg? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashcollection Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Your Ward LaFrance is clearly a former Swiss Army. On top of the cab is written " L Pz 51". That means Leicht Panzer 51 (light tank) and refers to the AMX-13. Referring to your Diamond it's hard to tell. Glad to see some more survivors. If you write me the chassis numbers by PM I can probably tell you the Swiss Army's registration number. Greetings Chris Hi on My Ward LaFrance why does it have L Pz 51, referring to the AMX-13? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashcollection Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Actually we have a rough Kenworth 570 in our collection as well. Don't know how valid the markings on it are, but i believe it is on the front cover of a very old copy of windscreen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Hi on My Ward LaFrance why does it have L Pz 51, referring to the AMX-13? ... because your Wardi was used in the tank repair platoon. Wreckers were used at airfields and in the tank repair plattons.. Your Wardi was probably latest used in a Platoon were only AMX-13 were used (no Centurions and Swiss Pz 61/68). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashcollection Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 ... because your Wardi was used in the tank repair platoon. Wreckers were used at airfields and in the tank repair plattons.. Your Wardi was probably latest used in a Platoon were only AMX-13 were used (no Centurions and Swiss Pz 61/68). Thank you very much that's very interesting information, I will have a look soon and get you the serial numbers. Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 ... have a look here and here http://www.militaerfahrzeuge.ch/unterkategorie_11_8_330.html http://www.militaerfahrzeuge.ch/unterkategorie_11_8_75.html The tank troops used 60 Ward LaFrance, the airfield troops only 30. From nearly every series the Swiss used them. Two friends and I recently published a 300 pages hardcover book about all Swiss Army Vehicles and Tanks, from 1900 - 2015. We discovered some more information about Ward LaFrance and Diamond Wrecker usage in the Swiss Army. However, I won't publish that in the internet because it took a lot of research.... Book «Fahrzeuge der Schweizer Armee» (2015) by Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashcollection Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 serial plate for the Ward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 .... great, thanks for posting. I found her details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashcollection Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Do the clues point to this Diamond T being ex Swiss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashcollection Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 [ATTACH=CONFIG]113008[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]113009[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]113010[/ATTACH] Do the clues point to this Diamond T being ex Swiss also as well as the gauge and the light being different, the tire pattern the cable reels, and you can just see where the green has flaked off, gray underneath on the bumper and fuel tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 ... the indicators look Swiss style. Found this period pic were you can see it well. Compare also with the other two. Diamond T969B by Massimo Foti, auf Flickr Diamond T969A by Massimo Foti, auf Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 ... used by the airforce Ward LaFrance M1 by Massimo Foti, auf Flickr Ward LaFrance 1000 by Massimo Foti, auf Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemsi Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 ... used by the tank repair units. The first one at Pzj G13 (Hetzer) equipped units, the second one at L Pz 51 (AMX-13) equipped units. Ward LaFrance M1A1 M-81534 by Massimo Foti, auf Flickr Ward LaFrance M1A1 M-81568 by Massimo Foti, auf Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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