Two suprises at once!
Sorry this is quite a long one but thought you would find it interesting.
It was a great surprise to find an old friend getting a rub down in your back yard and I’ve got Bluebelle to thank for that! No it’s not her - but your 1955 Scammell! She wouldn’t take kindly to a session with a ‘Card Scratching Armourers’ (file card).
I went out with 3RHA to Egypt in Feb 1954 where we had a different Scammell & ARV. Two years later we all moved up (Vehs & 25pdr Sextons by LST) to Libya early in 1956 (now part of 10th Armd Div). The photo BlueBelle posted on here shows the LAD and your new Scammell, Cent ARV and Pete Roberts, our Recovery mech. I took the photo at Homs on an Admin parade. Pete is the lance jack standing in front of it. When I left the Army in 1960 he was a Sgt and my MQ next door neighbour.
The second surprise I had was after looking through my photos 1957/60 of Bulford & Perham Down, believe it or not, your Scammell was again with us, now in 3rd Infantry Div UK. The story behind how it was shipped from Libya and reissued to us in Bulford I will never know. Even the personel weapons were left in Libya plus all our equipment, vehs and Sextons. The small arms metalwork was so shiny being the armourer, I was hand painting with PFU Olive drab most of the Stens & Bren guns as the rustproofing (Browning) had worn off with continuous use in the Canal Zone during the troubles there – pleased to get rid of them and start again with refurbished kit.
So you would be authentic to have our tac signs on your workmate. It was No.74 in Libya along with the Rhino in white on black with a white circle on the RH side or more appropriate in UK, No 46 (in 1957/59) or No 32 around 1959/60 along with the 3 Inf Div triangles. We had the RHA Cypher cap badge(about 10” high) on both cab doors. All our REME personal wore the RHA cap badges on their battledress lapels and mostly proud to do so. Most REME Wksps had REME badges all over their Scammells – usually cast locally in ali within the Wksp in all shapes and sizes. We also had the RHA decal on all our LAD veh Cab doors. I was amazed to see we had the same Scammell in the UK as I remember going to the RAOC Central Ord Depot at Feltham to collect all the LAD’s vehs when we arrived back in the UK but that did not include the Scammell. This appeared in the weeks following my arrival as i/c the LAD advance party and didn’t recollect it was anything other than a ‘new’ one. Only Pete Roberts would know the real story. He left the RHA LAD around 1963/64 (after the tour 1960/64 in Kenya & Aden) and went to work as an engineer, I believe, for Bernard Matthews and his turkeys. He was from Norwich (that’s the story I have been told!). If he is still alive he would jump at the chance of seeing his old Scammell, and give you a hand too! He would by now be at least 80! Not so far away from you?
I can send a few supporting photos, better images of the signage and may be have an answer for a couple of RHA decals if I can have your email addy etc. I will add a couple of photos during the next day or so.
Good luck with all your hard work - Who knows, maybe i've painted your truck in past times. Max