fv1609

Hans welcome. It looks as if the damage was done some time ago & it is difficult to interpret everything from your photo when you bear in mind it should like this:

The damage may have been done by the driver moving off in 2nd gear putting too much strain on the rear joints. The preferred way is to move off in 1st gear which automatically spreads the load to the front axle as well.

The above joint is the Chobham joint fitted to the rear axle of armoured Humbers (Pig & Hornet) although it was considered stronger than the simpler Tracta joint fitted to the rear of unarmoured Humbers, it was less reliable. The problem was generally failure of the spring clip holding the articulating pads in place.

With respect I doubt that they could be rebuilt to original specification. It was a problem for the British Army in Northern Ireland who at one stage had 80 Pigs off the road with failures like yours. Their solution was to use the "weaker" Tracta joint fitted to the rear of unarmoured Humbers that had been scrapped & when they ran out of those re-manufactured them, this was not a long term solution until the Birfield joint was fitted to most of the so called Mk2 Pigs.

Your Pig was struck off census on 13/11/70 at BAOR which predates the up-armoured Pigs, the so called Mk2.

You refer to your Pig as a Mk2 & I'm afraid anyone looking at your Pig is likely to say that it is a Mk1 as it predates Mk2 that first started to appear in 1972.

I would be interested to see your chassis plate because I assume it states Mk 2 & probably was built under Contract No. 6/VEH/2755. I am sure you are 100% correct to call it Mk2.

The problem is that the Army failed to remember there were 20 Pig prototypes FV1609 built in 1956 that were designated Mk1. When Pig production got under way most plates just left the Mk blank, but some quite correctly were marked as Mk2.

When the up-armouring process came along the real Mk1 FV1609 had long since been forgotten and the current fleet of Pigs were incorrectly taken to be Mk1.

There is some coverage in this article:

https://hmvf.co.uk/topic/718-pig-in-a-poke/#comment-5957

36 BK 19 was delivered to 31st B Vehicle Depot Church Broughton 13/7/56

Struck Off Census 13/8/68

Sold at Ruddington 27/2/69 £50

Here you go:

Lot 305 was 01 BH 00

Yours was Lot 306  £190

The ledger that was held at Chilwell, but a chassis number is essential. Although an engine number can be a clue assuming there has been no transplant.

18 minutes ago, Mark Ellis said:

Those two No. 2 will be the same thing, won't they. 

No I think that the outfit is the whole set up as opposed just the burner itself.

Well I found the Min of Ag & Fish book it was in the wrong place but I remembered where that wrong place was when looking for something else!

The pig book is on butchery & curing but there is just one advert that you might like.

I remember as a small boy being confused by the words of wisdom that used to be on matchboxes "A pig is a paradox in that it has to be killed to be cured" but as a small boy I had no knowledge of the word 'paradox'.

That EMPS is 1986

I see I have ETS for:

Cooking Outfit Field No.2 (Modified) Sept.1995

Stove Gasoline Burner, No.2 Mk 11 Modified. Sep.1987 (not sure if that is 11 or II)

WW2 probably in Regulations for the Army Part 1 1942

I know what you are going to ask! It is a big book but I will look through it in due course, but a may be a little while.

I have a WW2 Min of Ag & Fish publication that is a guide for pig farmers that might have a reference, but it is a case of finding the booklet.

The cover makes reference to the fictional Q Branch giving the impression it would be about SOE, MI6, MI19 etc but no it was entirely about the American OSS & subsequently the CIA.

There wasn't much technical detail, it was mainly about personalities. The SOE had only a scant mention & the impression given was the resistance forces in Europe were primarily organised by the OSS.

Apart from the content the were two other irritations. The text was mainly New Times Roman but some lines at the start of some paragraphs were wholly or partly in something like Calibri. The other irritation - was the use of a hyphen - in the place - of commas or - just added willy-nilly. Not the way I was taught English.

A curious story was that the sign off used by a telegraphist who sends a co-joined SK in Morse Code. It tells the tale of a spy who was caught out by instead sending VA. These two pairs co-joined in Morse Code are exactly the same!

Both of those were HWL FV1604 so had no winch.

According to this EMPS the C P No.1 (Hydroburner) entered service in 1938.

Yes the driver's seat.

I don't know when these shots were taken.

Is there anything of the crane left? I have some rear shots of quite a range of cranes fitted that might help identify the BK ERM.

My FV1601 was a breakdown jobbie that I raided for spares to keep my other 3 Humbers running, although GS/CT gearboxes are not the same as Pig gearboxes.

3 hours ago, Scammelleka said:

I take your point for the 3 digit body number, but would that have been 06 BK 83?

06 BK 83 was a Humber Pig struck off in BAOR.

Although I have never identified a chassis stamping myself, I have told they were sometimes seen on the chassis upper surface as you peer down on the near side in the vicinity of the chassis plate that is on the vertical side.

I have quite a few pictures of Humbers converted into breakdown trucks most were CT/GS rather than HWL. What is the civilian registration of yours or what is the colour scheme?

Not exactly a small book Mark, it 2 inches thick. It is not  an instruction or handbook, it is just a VAOS. See what you think of the quality.

I agree it is very tempting to assume that the number could be constructed to give the ERM. But the picture below shows that there is no such relationship as there are only three digits, none of which tally with the body contract plate. 

So is yours actually a FV1604 or a 1601 or 1602 ?

This copy that is going around, is it a copy of this https://www.greenmachinesurplus.com/portable-cookersnos12-and-3operation-maintenance-and-illustrated-parts-list-3182-p.asp which itself is a copy of what appears to be an earlier copy?

Steve the engine no.9099 was originally fitted to 34 BK 23 which was another HWL or maybe yours was that vehicle? 

Regarding No.1, I have no written instructions. What I do have is 8 pages of illustrations with part numbers of the burner & the tools.

This is in 1946 VAOS Sect J2  WO Code No.1569  26/Publications/5984

Steve 36 BK 19 was a Humber Wireless Light FV1604 struck off on 13/8/68 & sold at Ruddington Sale No.99 Lot No.945 on 27/2/69 for £50.

There should be 3 plates one for the chassis, one for the engine & a small one for the body & I suspect that is the one you have found. Can you post a picture of it?

If you tell me the engine serial number I can tell you to which vehicle it was originally fitted.

"Its War Office Publication J2-JB 10912 (1962)"

Alec J2-JB so that sounds like a VAOS Sections J2 JB (ie camp cooking etc)

WO/Army Code No. 10912 is the UHB for Minelayers, mechanical towed equipment, Mk 1. So I am confused.

Is there also a WO Registry Code on the front page top right?

Mods for COOKERS, PORTABLE No. 2, Mk. 2 and No. 3, Mk. 3 are covered in EMER ENGINEERING & MISCELLANEOUS D 307

All items are NATO codified so if what you have is from an EMER it suggests it is quite old as items are coded as VAOS Section J.

I have a 1946 edition of J1 so they have been around for a while. It is illustrated but strangely identifies the various items by name & gives no mention of the VAOS part number, which seems a bit silly.

Mark what is the designation of the document ie EMER, WO/Army Code No.?

It seems a lot of fuss to take 1/2 man hour to just drill a single 12mm hole in the LH wheel arch to allow a man pack radio to be earthed.

Reason for modification - Code 2 - to improve operational performance.

Stores, tools & equipment - Nil

But there are nearly 2.5 pages of instructions in AESP 2320-D-100-811 Mod Instr No.20

Applied to AVCs 1620-0778 & 1620-5778 ie GS (no change of code needed after this mod!)

Mods to fit Clansman items applied to FFRs