robin craig

Yesterday I plowed out the snow and made a road to the ambulance. It is a function of the properties of snow at these temperatures that if worked and compacted and allowed to freeze over night will become concrete like by the next day. It makes working in winter wonderful.

Our plan was to take in a pick up truck loaded with tools and jack the vehicle up before towing it out. The tyres had sunk into the soft autumn ground and had now become frozen in. My mate Rob brought a good trolley jack and one by one lifted each corner and we threw wood under the tyre and let it back down.

The path into the bush was a bit tight going past a dirt pile and a big wooden crate both of which were frozen tight.

Once out of the ground we used the venerable farm tractor and suspended the rear of the ambulance from the loader bucket and threaded it out of the undergrowth.

R

Just to update this thread.

The vehicle is an M43 as described but should really be called an M43 CDN as it is a Canadian specific model and is different from an American one despite being very similar.

Anyhow, back to the story at hand.

After posting about this vehicle on Maple Leaf Up it became apparent that the current owner was a lurker on there. He then posted the vehicle for sale on a local auction site that we use. A number of us locally approached the owner and engaged with him and eventually we all bowed out to leave our friend Rob and his dad who have an M37 as the lone interested party.

The two of them came a few weeks ago to the island where I live and had a look at it and from their inspection negotiated a price they could live with.

A plan was hatched for the recovery that naturally involved me.

R

Could you please take pictures of everything you can?

You will be surprised as to what people are interested in and what will be useful down the road of time.

R

There are many photos of different projects on their website, takes quite a while to look through it all.

We will see if they join us and explain what they get up to. No shortage of big kit that they use

R

Diana,

Thank you for posting that.

R

Just to update this thread, I have received pictures of what the Canadian Forces has in stock. These frames may be a local manufacture but they have the elements required to achieve the task at hand.

The first picture shows the horns on to which the frame connects.

I am going to make two at least. I will post up my interpretation of the item.

Robin

Bill PM sent

R

Gents,

Bob is a reputable dealer and exporter.

He will likely not sit here and tell us all his trade secrets and ins and outs, its is what puts bread on his table on a weekly basis, you must respect that.

I have been involved with Bob and have purchased items from him and have been involved with a couple of people he has exported stuff for, no problems with what he does.

I am not related or in any way affiliated with him or his business.

R

Justin,

Just so you are aware, I am in Canada and have familiarity with exporting from the UK to Canada. I am not an expert.

Speak to a few reputable dealers and they will set you straight on what you need and why. When they tell you they wont export it ask who they suggest.

R

Yes Tony you have seen some of these years ago in LRO when Richard Howell-Thomas was the editor. It was my article and pictures.

I thought you were dead FYI, check your home email.

If you think that a lot of my pictures are biased towards Land Rovers they are, as that was my main interest, but I do have others as well.

There are a lot of details to take in if you look closely

R

It was nothing for the workshops to make modifications based on what the users needed. That was fair game. Look at these very closely and you will see many subtle modifications.

The basic season of exercises meant that over the winter there were work parties sent out and both the civvy and military staff went through the kit for a major rework as needed. Usually a score sheet was conducted and decisions made on what needed to be done to which vehicle and which would be a donor. That was especially true as the series fleet wound down just before the coil sprung fleet appeared. At Wainright the fleet changed in one season but at Suffield it continued to be mixed series and coil Land Rovers for a couple of years.

Over the years I have been involved with having photos taken on my behalf at both Suffield and Wainright in Alberta, Canada where there are British Army Training Units hence BATUS for Suffield and BATUW for Wainright. All these images are my property.

The general rule of thumb was that Wainright was smaller unit formations and infantry goings on and Suffield was all out armoured warfare with live fire for main battle tanks and down to the infantry support.

Over the years things have changed and BATUW doesn't really exist the way it did.

I wont bore you with the history but it started in the early 1970s and continues to today.

I am no expert, and I welcome people chiming in and giving their slant and viewpoint and knowledge. Both BATUS and BATUW were home of the non standard for many reasons which I will try and explain:-

1 The prairies are so different no one else has the set up they do so the needs are different

2 They were both "make do and mend" but "get it rolling" establishments. Exercises required minimum numbers of vehicles and so field fixes were common, ie it was very close to war footings.

3 Both units are thousands of miles from the UK and the supply chain is long and expensive. The practice of having CAST vehicles in a bone yard and actively robbing them of parts was SOP. Often CAST vehicle looked like a carcass after the hyenas had had their fill.

4 both units seem to be the home of every "I have never seen that before" modification going.

A lot of kit was local purchase ie a white fleet of Chevrolet GMC and the like.

If you have pictures of your own why not drop them in here with an explanation.

Hope you enjoy

Robin

Your vehicle never looked that good even leaving the factory I am thinking, painstaking attention to detail

Credit to you

R

It matters not that a response has taken this long.

My objective in starting threads is to open discussion and put the knowledge in the open. Thank you for taking the time to dig up the photos and post them

From some searching there is an image that shows up of what may be a left hand drive Saxon if you google "Saxon Tikrit". Unlike your photo there is no licence plate or writing to prove if the image is reversed.

From 2007 there appear to be some Saxons in Nigeria also left hand drive.

R

Justin,

I am well known for being blunt and not holding back.

You are the seller, the terms should be:- "as is where is, no warranty expressed or implied"

You should not be jumping through hoops to export it, it is not your forte.

There are others who do this for a living, let them do what they are good at. I would be happy to suggest a name if needs be.

The purchaser should be doing his own homework and that is his problem.

I agree with others that you want to know what you are doing.

Robin

In a heartbeat, yes, you need one.

Its all done online these days, it is like waiting for a shooting star, sometimes the paperwork arrives quickly others take for ages.

The system seems impenentrable and lacking in human contact possibilities, just sit and wait. Kind of like "Waiting for Godot"

R

forgot to add the photos!

Doh!

Graham,

i came across these few photos the other day and was about to pass them by when I recalled your thread here.

I am not a Mini Moke kind of guy so please let me know if these are of anything significant. They were shoyt in the late 1990s, 1997 I think, at Tobyhana MVPA event, I thunk.

If you want the original slide email me and I will send them to you, I dont need to keep these any more.

R

Thanks for the heads up, I reworked the copy and paste of the thread link for us all.

R

BRDM driver, could you please post a picture of the socket please?

Clive, In your text on this you state that some first Gulf war Ferrets had them. Are there any shots around of that, there is someone on here trying to kit his Gulf war Ferret out and may need to put it on.

Im sure he would like to see it

Thanks in advance

R

for anyone wanting to see what was in this yard please go to here:-

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?437-Scrap-yard-relics

I would say this thread is complete now.

Thanks to all for their help

R

The M35 is now owned by Martin Saunders apparently.

The amphibious bridge is 26 BT 11

The Fv434 is not a wreck but this is the vehicle that I spied from the road and caused me to do the U turn and go weasel my way into this yard.

Many thanks to those who have added comments to both threads.

Hope it all makes sense now.

Robin

As far as I can count and or recall there were four CVR(T) Strikers here although they are well hidden in the tall vegetation storage. One of them is the one I am standing in front of here in Canada last year.

I am hoping that the current owner of this vehicle recognises their start point and I would love to make some prints for him or her. The numbers on the front are 95 MS 05 and must be one of the first released many years ago.

The 432 with the Peak Engineering turret does not seem to have any numbers that I can make out clearly.

R

The next 3 are all of the Centurion ARV.