fv1609

Ah Wally a Foaming Pig that is a rarity indeed. It is thought that there were only two, because checking the BK ledger at Chilwell there are on two entries. But there was a third one 27 BT 90 an ex-RUC Pig formerly 2991 OI. I wonder which one that is?

Wally I never realised the collection was so extensive for just one vehicle type. I have his sales leaflets for Pigs & Shorlands, any pics of those? I wonder how many Shorlands he had? The most I ever saw was at Clive Evans Ordnance at Sturminster Marshall.

Here you go:

Army Code No.61666 Illustrated Parts Catalogue. Remote Handling Equipment, Tracked, EOD Mk 7 (Wheelbarrow). Jul.1977 I have a copy somewhere I'll try & dig it out & look it up for you.

The buff one is original, about 25 years ago the Tank Museum had loads of these & was selling them I think for £2. The blue one is a copy. I had occasion to sell off documents from an estate for what I thought they were worth & what I would have to pay to buy them from the MOD as at the time I was a registered customer with my own UIN. The prices were lower than those being asked for the reprints.

It is easy to forget that most documents in a collection are not gifted but traded, swapped or purchased at the going rate or sometimes beyond that rate. Consider a recent ebay sale of a Catalogue of War Office Publications 1947 that started at £24 then sold for £360. I was not the purchaser, but once it is handed over for free circulation then the document becomes largely worthless.

Covered in EMER POWER S 532 & on

Just got back today through all the mist & drizzle, glad that did not descend on the show when for the most part the weather was ok. As always I enjoyed the show & many thanks to the relatively small band of people who make a great effort to put on this show for us every year.

I have not got anything in that series you mention. Although I have many FSPBs & FSRs for GB & India that cover HT & MT, rail & sea but nothing specific to motorcycles. I have Training of Motor Cyclists 1952 but nothing there. I have a 200 page book Instructions for Movement Control (Overseas in War) 1938 but no mention in there either I'm afraid..

Alec hmm "Boat-Tail" I think you are teasing me now! The internet is awash with this little copy & paste nonsense of "known in Land Rover Circles as the boat tail Shorland" where site after site just pinch content & it gets repeated that people believe it to be true. But I suppose it is true if Land Rover circles know it as that : ( I have spoken to members of Shorland crews both RUC & UDR, people who made them & even the Shorland Sales Director, but none of them have heard of the expression & thought it rather odd that I asked as it doesn't resemble a boat tail at all. I suppose I have this internet nonsense to thank for the endless questions asking if it floats. I must lie down & take some smelling salts.

Alec, there were two batches of RUC Shorlands which were all Mk 1. 10 issued 1966-67 5 issued late 1969 The Dunsfold one came from the second batch & was issued on 4/10/69 so it only saw RUC service for a couple of months before they were all withdrawn & put into storage with the Pigs & Commers. Although mine was serial No.9 it was the 5th one to be issued to the RUC. The first 4 Shorlands were sold to Bahrain then the next 10 to the RUC. Not sure why they think Harland & Wolf were one of the two manufacturers, the Shorlands were made by Short Bros & Harland.

Yes it is sometimes best to keep quiet. I remember an old boy telling his grandson (I assume) that my Shorland was a Bren gun carrier like he drove in the war.

Thanks both. It was a bit wrench saying goodbye from having nurtured it from a non-runner after 34 years. There are no dedicated MV shows in Wales, driving it to England required a long drive mainly on the motorways where it can be frightening with restricted vision and limited speed. Many drivers seem unable to appreciate this and bully-boy HGV drivers driving frighteningly close to force me to somehow increase my speed made driving it unpleasant rather than a nice day out. Few Shorlands turn up for sale these days and sadly some that got exported have been severely blinged & turned into fantasy vehicles. It is true that you can do what you like with your own vehicle, but I felt a moral duty to preserve mine not just for the work I put into it but it is a historical artefact especially as it was the only survivor of the original ten issued to the RUC. Although I believe I could sell to the highest bidder as it were & even selling to a trusted buyer there is no guarantee they will not sell it on once the novelty has worn off. A museum seemed the best hope to preserve it, particularly Ulster Transport Museum where it would represent both social history but an example of a local product. The staff of UTM were most keen to acquire it & did their best to speed up the process but due to the administrative hoops to jump through it took about 10 months before the sale was complete & just in time one day before Wales went into a COVID lockdown. I enjoyed displaying it & met many interesting people although I will not miss the people who think it was home-made or the Army veterans who dismiss out of hand as they served for decades & never saw one so it must be a fantasy vehicle without reading my information board which headlined with a few simple FAQs. Is it real? - Yes Is it home-made? - No Does it float? - No If you have any other questions I would be happy to talk to you. There was a major misconception often fuelled by Land Rover magazines & on-line experts that it was a "riot control" vehicle. It was green because it was intended for rural use particularly in the border areas.

I sold it over 3 years ago so it was a relief to see that it is still running in this recent video. https://www.ulstertransportmuseum.org/collections/shorland

I wonder if those have a cracked porcelain pillar & there is arcing deep within the plug? There is an example of this in my Bright Sparks article. This would be a good example of how misleading a neon spark "tester" could be, as it would light up indicating that the plug was sparking, but not at the gap! Yes good idea to keep the same types together.