Richard Peskett

The FWD was a popular war surplus vehicle and found many different uses.  By June 1923 again quite a bargain !.

Richard Peskett.

Plenty on offer here  !., One would assume that this depot would have been included in the deal  HM Govt. did with Slough , may be  it was sold on  by them in its entirety. 

Richard Peskett.

Mention was made that not many  class  'B' Liberty lorries found their way back here which  I agree with  but  I have found an advt. claiming  to be offering 600 of them !. This advert seems to be offering a good  strong truck  for reasonable money  but by this time (1923) I think supply had well outstripped demand.

Richard Peskett.

Some may well be bemoaning the fact that there will not be a FA Cup Final this year but in 1921  the final was held at Stamford Bridge  and was between Wolves and Spurs ( Wolverhampton  Wanderers and Totenham Hotspur ) .Those travelling from Wolverhampton and nearby Bilston must have had a somewhat epic journey !. 

Richard Peskett.

Todays offering is a ride on a WW 1 tank !. I think few WW 1 tanks found any practical use  after the armistice but one 'Annie Laurie' found its way to Southend  and used for  'joy rides'.  There were some Alpine trials held in 1919 but  I have yet to find any images of this, later in the 1920s more trials were held  in an effort to expand winter tourism  to  'new' ski resorts with considerable success but using more conventional tracked vehicles . 'Joy rides' in ex. military vehicles was not confined to the Southend tank, I remember in the early 1950s when as a small child taken to Bognor Regis for days out  where  D.U.K.Ws. were being used and at Southport in the 1950s into the 60s a small fleet  of ex. WD Bedford QLs  were owned by the corporation  transport dept. and fitted with open almost charabanc type bodies and used  for trips across  the sands and for circular tours .

Richard Peskett.

The one that got away ! . In my very early days of collecting  and not long left schooI   I had a friend with like interests who in turn had a friend who put up television aerials . The person was quite a good 'scout' for finding old vehicles, this is 1964, message came back that there was a Crossley half track  being offered by the gardener  on  the estate of former prime minister LLoyd George at Churt, Surrey. Upon due investigation and a visit sure enough there it was , all complete except one track broken, dry stored , much of the original paintwork and numbers visible, now sporting a civilian registration CPD 627, a 1935 issue no doubt when acquired by the former  PM.  On offer at  £12. 10 shillings !. , well the broken track  thwarted the purchase . It did find a new home  locally and appeared  at Brighton for the May 1965 Commercial run. Does anybody know what  subsequently happen to it and where it now is .?

Richard Peskett.

Even Harrods had  an involvement in the war surplus lorry market !. It is also possibly  the beginning of the buy one and get one free  selling ploy.  Harrods were already well established  with a large motoring department  opened in 1902 at their Knightsbridge store and even successfully took part in the November 1896  emancipation run to Brighton with a Panhard et Levassor 'hotel bus'.

Richard Peskett.

For a change something on tracks ! April 1920 Aberystwyth   borough council were keen to get some cash in for their tank engine, after the war many were given to towns , plinth mounted in parks and other prominent places as memorials. As a price guide in August 1920  Slough Trading  had bought many for scrap at £21 each complete or £18 without tracks and were offering engines for sale  at  £2 per horse power.  The enthusiasm for the memorial tank  soon waned and by  the late 1920s most had also gone for scrap.

Richard Peskett.

The sort of sale we all would like to go to !!.  Commercial Motor October   1920.    I  have found an image of the  'charabanc' sent to collect prospective customers from Slough station, probably  a Fiat 15 TER , an added bonus to the day out !.

Richard Peskett.

Synonymous with a London bus which served in France during World War 1 the  name 'Ole Bill had been created by Captain Bruce Bairnsfather  during the darkest days  of the war. The cartoon character was one of the lighter sides of the war and trench life with the cartoons being  published in a series of books 'Fragments from France ',   'ole Bill being a soldier who basically lived in a shell hole . Numerous variations of souvenir china, radiator mascots etc.  immortalizing  this character appeared on the market at the end of the war and were very popular  but at this time much appeared  labeled as 'Old Bill' and this term became a generic household  name for WW1 soldiers and London buses . This mid 1920s Halley advertisement depicts a Staffordshire operator using the name 'Old Bill Omnibus Service'. The change of the spelling may have been a copyright issue .

Richard Peskett.

Todays bargain !!.  These Leyland mobile workshops look a good buy. There is no mention of the  Ham (Kingston) works in the advertisement , more on this another day .

Richard Peskett.

I thought with the general international situation that a few things from my collection / library will be of general interest to all and make light reading which  I will for the time being gradually add 'new' items to and hopefully attract interest and some constructive comments .

To start with an advert page from Motor Traction  July 1921 by which time Slough Trading  Co. had created a special interest in war surplus Peerless  lorries and  had established a network of country wide agents .  Offers  are made of  ' easy payments' on a variety of makes !.

I wish you all safe passage through these difficult times .

Richard Peskett.

From Tramway and Railway World January 1923, this Thornycroft J found its way from France to Spain, rebuilt and then fitted with a British built bus bodied shipped to Spain in k.d. form....ummm.

Richard Peskett.

Illustration from Munitions of War, BSA /Daimler war record. Chapter the 105 hp  tractor and tanks , plenty of illustrations., my copy is too tight to scan.,  available on ABE books but expensive but a very interesting book.

Richard Peskett.

Original image of a  'Heavy Aviation' on offer  at Antwerp probably around 1920 . Interesting that Dunlop tyres had been fitted by then, no doubt plenty of 'new' surplus available at the time .

Richard Peskett.

Further to previous herewith  illustration from Old Motor magazine, it is tightly bound  so unfortunately the scan is not that good.

Richard Peskett.

I have quite a large collection of post WW1 advertising regarding war surplus trucks, anyhow all I have to hand is as follows:-

Only small mention so they must have been few and far between , nothing so graphic as the Daimler advertisement . Old Motor  magazine Vol. 8, issue  1 , January 1974 has an article about Bill Bouts and has an illustration of one on aerodrome construction work at Bicester 1916.

Richard Peskett.

Thanks for the interest . I do not think its  a steam vehicle , the controls and generally it looks very i.c. engine orientated etc., ,  the annotation was on the card when  I bought it, also I think Purrey only built steam vehicles.  NAG is close but I am not convinced ! . Whilst on the subject of round/circular radiators here are two more  -

The latter is annotated as being in the Caucasus , unfortunately the radiator badges are obscured on both vehicles, nevertheless pioneering stuff.

The former is possibly in Bulgaria.

Richard Peskett.

Two 'new' images recently acquired at present defying positive identification. Assumed to be French army ownership.

Richard Peskett.

Daimler and Benz amalgamated in 1926 to trade as Daimler-Benz., the word 'Mercedes' is a registered trade mark.

Richard Peskett.

Steve  - I to have wondered  for many years why this BS is  metric and the origins, probably the first metric BS , only took another 50 odd years to catch up !. A possible origin is that pioneer Michelin were making vehicle tyres  from 1891 and these would have been metric, document herewith . Probably the first large user of solid tyres 1905/8 would have been the London bus operators,  with almost 900 vehicles on the road at the end of 1907, 90% plus of these would have been of continental origin ( Milnes Daimler, De Dion, Bussing/Straker ), maybe this is a pointer. Another interesting reference is that this map  published 1947 is using the spelling 'tire'.

Richard.

Another picture of interest, a French 'school' , includes  a US built  Killen Strait tractor, the French must have thought it worth a try. Alongside are what appear to be Wolverhampton built Stars , with the long bonnet they should have been interesting to drive, a good  collection of vehicles !.

Richard Peskett.

My Oxford dictionary tells me that  'tire' is the US spelling, Commercial Motor magazine  seem to consistently spell the word with an 'i'  despite their advertisers using a 'y' at  that time . Motor Traction seem to always have spelt it with a 'y', Another earlier anomaly was that the 'Automotor Journal' up to at least 1907 spelt lorry 'lurry' as did some manufactures.

Richard Peskett.

Further to previous correspondence , the following  1915 BS  hopefully will explain some of the sizes and reasons. The main difference of principal with the American sizes is that irrespective of width the o.d. when new is the same, e.g. the 30" rim all widths are 36" o.d. ( 1/2" steel plus 2  1/2" rubber) ,  with British tyres the o.d. varies according to width within the rim diameter . Another  curious  listing  by Dunlop  was the 881mm X 14" , Thornycroft  'J' rears. Most listings  have 3 dimensions - 36" x 6" for 30" for example.

Richard Peskett.

Strictly not WW1 or of military origin, this 1906 Aries  2 ton lorry has recently  'surfaced' in France , dry stored ,complete and original, one family ownership since 1948. Reputed to have been last used to distribute food during WW1 at Auxerre.

Richard Peskett.