John F

IIRC the red ones hold the split rims together, the white ones are for fastening the wheel to the hub.

And if it's any help, RAD Abt. 8/230 was based in Lobenstein, Thuringia.

Could it be a female to female jack plug connector? No idea of the scale but it looks about the right shape.

Good info from Le Prof there. Also, the use of full stops after acronyms (e.g. "U.K." in this instance) had fallen out of fashion in British English by the mid to late 1980s. Maybe that'll help you get a bit closer to the date of manufacture.

Very interesting, a bit like an armoured 3-door Range Rover TACR2a 6x6.

Haha! No worries, the offer's still there if she gets stuck... that sort of stuff is my daily work :-)

I don't know whether you've seen this (e-)book before, it specifically deals with Wehrmacht vehicle track structures & designs - perhaps it would be of help? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Panzerketten-Gleisketten-deutschen-Kettenfahrzeuge-Weltkrieges/dp/3943883000 It's in German, but I'd be happy to translate any specific sections for you if needed.

Any thoughts about the tracks yet, Jon?

It doesn't look like a "flimsy" petrol can. The cap suggests a Vickers MG water canister, but it's not wide enough & the handle isn't at an angle.

Hydraulic hoses can delaminate internally, preventing a return of fluid from the callipers or slave cylinders. That would jam the brakes on. It's a fairly common problem with old brake hoses.

OK then... guessing again, would the right era be the Vietnam war?

The camouflage pattern on the "turtle's" head suggests WW1 German army to me, but that could be way off the mark. I'll hazard a wild guess: is it a booby trap device, similar to the dead rats packed with explosive that commando-type units are said to have left on German bases? Or a camouflage helmet for commando-type units approaching enemy formations in water?

The speed claim isn't necessarily incorrect, I remember reading about T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) speed-testing 4.7 ton Rolls Royce armoured cars in the desert at over 70 km/h.

I let some 1940s air out of one of the motorbike tyres back in 2001, it was surprising that it was still inflated after 60 years in the sea...!

That looks more like a slipper drop tank... difficult to know what size it is from the picture though.