10FM68

I don't know what the arrangement is with the petition, it was passed to me by a friend. But, I grant you, it does seem to need a bit of an additional impetus if it is to make the cut. Need to find these "Russian Bots" which seem to do so well with petitions! 10 68

Again, my thanks to you all - for the signatures, for the forwarding elsewhere and for your kind thoughts. I'm sorry the petition can be signed only by UK-residents: but it is comforting to know that, at least the original evacuation - Operation DYNAMO - didn't recognise such national limitations. For example, the Polish warship, ORP BLYSKAWICA, (Lightning) which is now the Polish Navy's museum ship, was one of many Allied vessels involved and was working in concert with HMS GREYHOUND the ship which brought my own grandfather off the beach at La Panne. As an aside, the BLYSKAWICA's name was so difficult for the RN to pronounce (it's something like Bweeskaveetza) that she was generally referred to as the "Bottle of Whisky". She was built at Cowes. (A further aside, the Estonian submarine LEMBIT, now in their maritime museum in Tallinn, was also British-built, by Vickers Armstrong, in 1936). Both vessels are well worth a visit if your in that part of the world. 10 68

Many thanks, I'm most grateful. 10 68

Thank you gentlemen, The more we have the better! 10 68

Please do sign if you can - the numbers are needed. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/242090 The numbers who survive are very small and all will be in their late nineties at least and this would be a nice gesture of gratitude to those who gave so much. Thanks 10 68

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/242090 The link above is to a petition being raised with the Government to specifically recognise service with the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium from Sep 39 to Jun 40 with the award of a clasp to the 1938-45 Star. If you are a UK resident or citizen, you are eligible to add your name to the petition should you so wish. 10 68

Richard, I really am losing it! Of course it was SEDIST! Glad one of us still has all his faculties! Now... I must try and remember... pants THEN trousers! 10 68

Sorry Richard, the mistake was mine. I meant Rowcroft! It was late at night. We've talked about this before - I knew it well from running my BFT round the place some years back! And, as you know, EC was Eastern Command, latterly Eastern District. Now, of course, it is all gone, though the manor remains among a lot of new houses. 10 68

I believe they were the Directorate Support Systems (Combat Support Vehicles) - now something entirely different in DE&S MoD possibly Director Land Support, (Vehicle Support), (OSVs) Operational Support Vehicles or somesuch. Here's another one, of similar design, on a Land Rover 2286cc engine refurbished at Rycroft Bks, Ashford, Kent (EC02) in the mid-80s

It's the reconditioning plate. When an MoD engine is reconditioned a data plate is affixed stating the code of the workshop where it was reconditioned, the date and the details of the work undertaken. Then the whole engine is put back together and sprayed duck-egg blue - as yours is. In your case it seems that the cylinder bores are still standard while the main bearings and the big ends have been honed by 10 thou. 10 68

I have for sale a pair of books on German WWII transport and artillery: "German Military Transport of WWII Lorries and Cars of the German Army 1939-1945" by John Milsom and "German Artillery of World War Two" by Ian Hogg. Both are in good condition with slight scuffing to the dust jackets. The artillery book is easily found, but, at the moment, the John Milsom book is hard to come by. I'm looking for £45.00 for the pair including P&P. If anyone is interested, please PM me. 10 68

Ah! That's a bit better! After all, there was a Land Rover in "Ice Cold in Alex"! 10 68

How nice to see our Post War vehicles considered in the same category as those of the SS! 1068

Spoons are traditional prizes for shooting competitions. I suspect that is what these are. 10 68

When I had my Uaz 469, I had a couple of ex-Servicemen come up to me and tell me they used to drive one just like it when they were in the Army. I could only agree, "great little trucks, Champs!

Central Mediterranean Forces, I believe. 10 68

There was and will be. The Royal Engineers Pocket Book. RSME always included an exercise in doing precisely that on the various combat engineer courses. You would have to do it for a selection of bridges and it involved various measurements and calculations. Interestingly, some of the strongest are the oldest - I recall one stone bridge dating from medieval times working out at about Class 120 and even then, its only limiting factor was its width! But, to modern engineers this was shocking of course - building a bridge to carry a horse and cart which was so clearly over-designed! Perhaps some forum members will remember their days in BAOR where every bridge, culvert and sharp bend was faithfully recorded on "Road and Bridge" maps held by RE, RMP, RCT and so on to enable easy planning of convoy routes. Such obstacles were themselves marked with bridge circles showing limits for both single and double traffic. By and large, most vehicles, apart from heavy armour, could cope with most public roads, but I do recall that the 35-tonne Crusaders and the Coles MkV cranes were restricted - the latter due to its height - just over the standard 4m - the general minimum clearance for bridges on German roads. 10 68

Thanks Chris, and interesting stuff from Artificer and Ferret Fixer. I hadn't known that the correct term for a haybox was insulator and I had forgotten the term "Hydraburner" as well. I'm sure there were different styles over the years - the one in the photo, for example, appears to have a hinged lid, the ones I was familiar with, I seem to remember didn't. I never came across 6-gallon dixies as, by the time I joined, the Norwegian Container had replaced them - though they were, of course, a lot smaller. Interesting reminder about the red lining of jerricans as well - it was definitely their Achilles' heel, responsible for a lot of clogging in all sorts of places through the years, I'm sure, particularly with older cans. An interesting thread, thanks. 10 68

https://youtu.be/OmgPlkiEZKQ?t=106 This is a good clip of a Series 1 Land Rover being used at RAF Lyneham in the very early 60s. Note the stop sign on the roof - chimes with that shown in the earlier photo on the Tilly. 10 68

I think they're firemen - double-breasted jackets and large, leather belts. All the vehicles have headlamps except the Bedford which still has a single lamp with shade, so is it late war - winter 44- spring 45, perhaps, or early post-war - same seasons 45-46? 10 68

But, considering their length of service and the number of meals cooked on them, they were pretty reliable. And, in the hands of a good cook , the No1 burner was superb. The heat reaching each pan depended on its distance from the burner - so, if the cook knew what he was doing, then the one at the far end of the trench would be simmering while the one at the near end would be frying or boiling and he'd move them around according to what heat each one required. After a damp, cold night, interrupted by a 2-hour guard duty, there can be little else better than the sound and smell of a No1 burner preparing fried eggs, fried bread, sausages, beans... and steaming hot sweet tea! No2 burners were good, but, of course, they meant doing the job yourself! Talking of cooking, it's surprising that you never seem to see hayboxes coming up on eBay - plenty of Norwegian flasks, but no hayboxes. So can't replicate range days with fish or pie and chips from a haybox... and NAAFI bread wrapped with paper printed with the day of the week! 10 68

Brill. Well, according to my maths the book suggests that the contract was for 4684 110s. But, when your copy arrives you can check that number and also count the number with the same spec as yours. Glad things have worked out. Best 10 68

Richard, I had a look at the MERLIN record for yours. It was a TUM FFR Hard Top, 12/24V 4x4 2.5LTR DSL Land Rover Defender LEP. The first unit seems to have been 2 Yorks from 23 Mar 89 then 1 RRF, 4 SCOTS, 33 Sig Regt (V), DSG Stirling, 94(BY) Sig Sqn, 39 Sig Regt (V) 51 Para Sqn RE and disposal through Withams 25 Mar 13. Because it is later than 1986, that particular ERM doesn't get a mention in the Supplementary Parts List I have, but there are others there with a similar item number - sufficient for you to see how it was fitted out, I'm sure. 10 68

Richard, I have had a trawl through "Land Rovers in British Military Service" by James Taylor and Geoff Fletcher where there are lists of contract numbers. According to the book, FVE22A-304 was for some 4684 One-tens. The variations within that contract are, however, extensive. The first appears on 11 Nov 1985 and is for a single "Recovery RHD" ERM 78KE27. The last one listed in the book is 80KG79 of 27 Aug 87 which is an RHD V8 station wagon. Elsewhere there are LHD GS hardtops (eg 79KE06), RHD CL truck cabs (87KE64) and FFR RHD hard tops (45KF93). So, as I say, quite a variety. After 1990 the One-ten was named a Defender One-ten and those mostly seem to be against contract numbers beginning with LV2A. Hope this helps 10 68 PS, I have just found my copy of the Supplementary Parts Catalogue dated September 1986 and it lists 22 different variants. The earliest vehicle against that contract number is 79KE06 of Nov/Dec 85 and the final one 16KF66 of fiscal year 1986. Clearly, though, more were purchased against this contract until the end of military Land Rover One-tens in 1990. The next Supplementary Parts Catalogue I have is dated 1991 and is for Defender 110s against Contract LV2A/004.

Richard, PM sent 10 68