les freathy

Two more MAN 8x8 photos here with a Atlas telscopic crane mounted on the body and a set of big fat tyres

Here you are Brooky the restored Mack NM5 of Smarts

cheers

Les

follow up photo of the Explorer when in service with Norringtons seen here in the rear yard of the premises

I must be going back15 plus years with this one, at the time a customer and friend had started to take a great interest in building a collection of restored military vehicles and said he had found a 6x6 with coles crane for sale at Chichester he purchased it and we collected on a rainy day on the firms low loader. At the time of its arrival he had been having problems reaching a house with underpinning problems the telescopic on the left i had hired to him fell about 3ft short so we found a concrete skip and the crane was used to lift it to the desired height and the tele used to run the skip from the ready mix truck to the crane. It proved a success but sadly some of the guys useing the crane really had little knowledge and managed to b----r up a few things

I used to see this old girl on my daily rounds, for many years she was owned by the local river authority later the envionmental agency based at the Flots at Rye in sussex. The boom on the back proved very use ful for the type of work they carried out untill the knowing elf and safty stepped in and from then on she was kept for her winching capabilities. I had stressed a interest in buying her on occasions but she never came up for sale then a couple of years ago out of the blue i get a phone call to advise she was up for Auction unfortunatly at a time when our Mat had to go due to my broken leg problems, i never got to the auction so has anyone an idea where she ended up

Bart reported this item long ago and i have asked the question on another forum, i note the tanker is up for a restoration but what has happened to the others the original report said 2 of maybe 3 could be salvaged form the 5

Interesting photo of a Beaufighter with American markings, looks to be in the Middle East

I think the steering on any Mat is bloody hell Mike that one had a militant steering box put in by Dave i agree the revs were high and did cause us a few problems when changing down we worked on the linkage but the previous owner had not looked after her very well and we had not finished all the jobs when our troubles hit us hope Brian has her up and running OK now

well that lot has left me speeclhess what a cracking set of photos that really was some crane in the back, sorry i dont know who took the photo in the book i think its one Robin came up with

thanks for posting them

cheers

Les

Whilst on the subject of Dave Penfold here are some photos taken by him when he completed the restoation many years ago

Not seen Dave Penfold for some time now Mike i heard is was not in the best of health a while ago. We purchased the Mat from John Huggins in Dover where she was being pushed from piller to post and getting damaged in the process i went in there one day saw a digger had whacked the side in and raised a fuss and came out the new owner of the truck strange how these things happen. Now that the photos are back i can see we run the risk of repeating some if not careful i take it different photos of vehicles already on the thread will be OK, here are two wartime shots i did not see a artillery tractor and a experimental armoured recovery built by the REME in the desert

cheers

Les

Excellent photos Red wish they had been available when i wrote the book any more hidden away

cheers

\les

REME museum has a number of good quality models built by the appentice school. i some photos and will dig them out and post for interest

Just for a bit of interest thought i would put up the Mat i used to own with a good mate, due to the leg injuries i recieved in a road accident and my mates knee replacement we felt it unsafe for us to drive her lets face it lovely trucks but animals to drive we had her about 6 years and she now resides in Lincolnshire

Missed the programme on Sunday but managed to pick it up on the BBC website, yes nice models but not as well detailed as the Rootes group models, i used to visit the IWM as a kid in the 1950s and they had the whole range out on display i spent hours just looking at them and wishing i could take them home. To my knowledge they still have them in storage which is a great shame as models of that calibre should indeed be on display for all to see plenty of room at Duxford. Now back to the austins yes they could have been presentation models for the war department but could also have been part of a range of regognition models, you will note the windows are blanked they were most likely a challenge for the apprentices to build at Austins still nice models wish i had em, I agree when this type of item comes up for evaluation the experts fall back on bull****

Just a brief diversion and not intending to lose track on the thread thought some of you might like to see the ex REME half track used at one time by Headcorn , these shots show it sitting at the end of the grass runway

These photos should assist in restoring the body of the K6 they are of a original RAF truck here painted Blue with black chassis and front mudguards and show a genuine RAF number to boot. Graham have you got that right about the late Mike Conniford i was talking to him about 4 months ago and we have been friends for nearly 40 years and i feel i would have been informed if something had happened

cheers

Les

Chassis also used for the 200 gall water tank and the water purification plant

heres how i see them

top 8 ton halftrack and 17cm gun

left. possible 3 ton halftrack and a 3 ton 6x4 Thornycroft?,right RtoL Citroen 45U 3 ton Opel blitz i1/2 ton and a Peugeot pick up

They converted some as a demolition vehicle Tony i will dig the photo i have and post soon as, similar were the deacon and armoured ammo truck

Still at Wards here in 1953 the Carrier HMS Formidable lies at the deep water quay waiting the breakers

A couple of rather sad naval pics showing the battleship HMS Nelson at Wards ship breakers yard at Inverkeithing in 1949

The famous Lancaster S for Sugar bombing up for a night flight her claim to fame was she survived 100 operational flights

A rare colour photo of the very first Manchester bomber built by Metropolitan-Vickers in December 1940, the day following this photo the aircraft and others were destroyed in a air raid. The Manchester was not a success and the Lancaster with its extra engines proved a far better machine

A photo of a Zeyphr in service around the late 1960s