Tony Graves

hi smithy, that diamond belonged to a chap in sussex and the davis family have had it for many years, since purchasing it the poor old girl has always lived outside, i do not think it will ever be restored and it is gradually fading away, the problem is that all the equipment they have is in trust and i doubt if anybody could buy it, it,s a great shame, all the best, tony g.

hi cosrec, the attachments you have put on are invalid, perhaps a problem, all diamond ts coming from the states had a standard tool kit which was expanded as the war went on. the photo shows the kit minus the scotch blocks, the tractors were never alone normally coupled to a m9 trailer, these trailers came with four scotch blocks and two snatch blocks, the complete outfit was designated the m19, as an aside the tractor unit m20 came into britain as flat packs and assembled by such companies as l.e.p. you will clearly see the trailer kit and tractor kit, hope of interest, tony g.

hi dizzy, the site you want is, recovery lorries an album on flickr, hope of some use, all the best, tony g.

hi, does anybody think this is a scam, they say that there are only 7 tigers left in the world but ithink thats way out, i believe bovvy has four, there are at least two in the museum at samur, we have the vimoutiers tiger here, there are at least three in belgium including la glaize and several in russia, in germany they have the ex aberdeen proving ground tiger and the us has a couple more. having said all that there are only two runners in the world, a king tiger at samur and bovvys 131, hope of interest, tony g.

hi dizzy, thanks for your reply, if you go on flicker diamond t wreckers you will find two photos of watts of lydney diamond in colour, all the best ,tony g.

hi dizzy, i hope i am not being pedantic but the cobberton diamond is not the watts of lydney one, the cab on the cobberton diamond is the civilian version with no cab vent and no vent on the scuttle, the watts cab is the military one. it is a long time since i have seen the cobberton diamond but i am sure it was a 980 and clearly the watts t is a 981, it also has a big air cleaner outside the bonnet probably a cummins engine, i know the cobberton diamond had an engine change but i cannot remember the type, it would be nice if the other watts diamonds photos came to light, all the best ,tony g.

hi, in response to the question about the grips, i believe they were made by dunlop tyre company, hope of some use, tony g.

hi dave, the two photos that i have shown i bought from the imperial war museum archives probably forty years ago along with a lot of wartime pickfords diamonds moving various loads. the photos are about 6 inches by four inches and are very clear, if you would like a copy of both i am in bayeux next week and could send you a copy, all the best, tony g.

hi, with regard to scotching with a diamond t i can only presume that there would be a shackle on each scotch and a length of chain with c hooks attached to the towing pintle securing either side at the rear. as an aside the photo of the diamond winching the truck out of the pond is still around, it belongs to john coomber, hope of interest, tony g.

hi, sorry to be a pain, i have just found another photo the same shot but from a different angle clearly showing the two scotch blocks, all the best tony g.

hi, i am sorry cosrec but the diamond t 980 981 series was supplied with two scotch blocks as part of the normal tool kit, the photo shows the standard tool kit taken at chislehurst common during 1942, you will see the blocks next to the fuel cans right hand side of photo.the usual method of securing the truck when winching was to use a substantial balk of timber jammed between the tyres on the first and second axles, hope of interest, tony g.

hi wwiitrucks, the crankshafts on the dfxe were a constant prolem with breakages, normally due to over revving, i had two snap over the years and when i stripped them down the journals had been straight cut, removing the curved piece on either side of the journal, in fact the bit that gives the strenth for the crank. in the fifties these engines were completely stripped down and rebuilt by reme apprentices, two of my broken cranks had the oilway redrilled and reetched about 1/2 inch further round the jounal, also remember these engines were never the best also that they are now well over 70 years old, hope of interest, tony g.

hi warlock, to put your mind at rest, the tractor 980/ 981 were never fitted with a facility for security chains, if the trailer did break away and was full of air the brakes would come on. i had a couple of diamonds that had a post war modification with two pieces of 1/2 steel with 2 inch holes in them riveted to the under side of the chassis. i think sometimes these safety chains had rings on them that fitted over the towing jaw, hope of interest, tony g.

hi if you or anybody wants further information on this subject you are welcome to call me on 0033231101198, all the best tony graves.

hi mellie, remember i said the wharf has been extended probably 100 ft from the original edge of the wharf and that the sunken barges filled with land fill formed the basis of the extended wharf, in my time at barton,s i was shown several positions by so called witnesses, it was from my aerial photographs many of which were german we were able to pinpoint the exact position. some showing the damage to the canopy and later showing the repair to the roof. i hope mark is well and will be in contact shortly with as i have found another site over here, hope of interest, tony g.

hi, i spent close to thirty years trying to find eric, i met many witnesses and still have a huge dossier here on all my findings, the timber wharf has been extended out to the thames but we excavated down to the old edge of the original wharf where the timber barges were tied up to and found the anchor chains of the barges that were sunk in front of the wharf. eric,s hurricane hit the overhead canopy of the wharf and went into the mud. aerial photographs of bartons are confusing because they do not show that this canopy came out at least fifty from the edge of the wharf, this is because the timber barges could unload under cover. i do not believe the recovery report from 1940 and from what i have heard the team spent their time in the albion arms pub. my conclusion was that eric,s hurricane lays beneath one of the sunken barges at the edge of the wharf. for years the property at bartons used to belong to the ministry of defence and the operation to remove the barges to get access to his remains would not be cost effective, i would dearly love to see eric,s remains found, as i still have a letter from his widow giving permission for the excavation, if any body wishes information from my dossier about this project please get in touch. this project was also blighted a few years ago by a certain wing commander from manston who did not have a clue what they were doing, i wish all concerned good luck in this matter, all the best, tony g.

hi, trophy 160, you are totally wrong to suggest that all pistols come under section 5 and are prohibited, i still have my fathers colt .455 on my firearms licence, the colt was taken by home office and fired and proofed and entered on my ticket. the reason i was able to keep it was because of the calibre .455 eley which was the version of the american .45, this ammunition is unobtainable and there other calibres which fall under the same category like .41, hope of interest, tony g.

hi, am i right in thinking that those tracked trailers were made by boulton and paul, also famous for their fighter in the battle of britain. all the best tony g.

hi, without going back on old ground, i was always told when i had my rogers trailers that it was illegal to tow a trailer with a pre 1960 tractive unit unless the trailer was of the same period, ie pre 1960. as was in my case the rogers trailer had no spring brake chambers and did not come under the construction and use laws to be towed loaded. the chances of passing pre 1960 trucks with mot i should imagine is quite remote, i can only speak for diamonds but it will only take an accident for the law to come down hard on our hobby. over the previous threads on this subject i contacted vosa they said that perhaps you could run under a showmans licence, i hope this may help you, all the best tony g.

Hi Chad, Thanks for your enquiry. I have seen the photos of my old diamond at a show in Aussie, pity they have had that horrible stainless exhaust put up behind the cab but there we go. The Diamond was converted by Bill Jackson who was managing director of Chaseside Eengineering who built the famous cable operated loading shovels in the 1930s with Fordson Standards, Fordson E27N and Fordson Major E1A, later also with hydraulics. When Chasesides finished Bill Jackson started Dial Holmes UK converting heavy trucks to wreckers with Holmes equipment. Your Diamond was fitted with wartime Garwood wrecking gear from a Canadian Mack. Gatward Recovery from Maidstone in Kent bought the Diamond from Bill Jackson and had the choice of two, the other wrecker with Garwood gear went to Crow Carrying the famous tanker people. I have several photos of the wrecker in use and i will post later. The picture depicted is the recovery of a hydracon crane which toppled over trying to lift some storage tanks down by the river Medway in Kent. I hope this is of interest to you. As an aside my beautiful Pickfords Diamond is up for sale on Hemmings in America. All the best. Tony G.

hi dizzy, you can contact me here on 0033231101198 for the diamond in paris, and as an aside have reluctently put my pickfords diamond on the market after owning it for close on forty years, all the best tony g.

hi, a couple of before and after shots i took on chislehurst common the last time i was in england just five minutes from my daughters house, a lot of military vehicles were photographed at these spots, the one with the church spire in the back ground is with the 15th century tigers head pub behind me , the second with the diamond and rogers trailer , at the back is the crown public house, apart from new lamposts and slightly new road layout nothing has changed , hope of interest tony g.

hi a friend of mine who had a transport business near paris has sadly passed away and his wife is selling the business including the company diamond t, it is fitted with a cummins 220 and is all up and running, if anybody is interested you can contact me here on private message, hope of interest, tony g.

hi , well done to all military vehicle owners who visited in normandy with vehicle passes, but what a waste of time, living here just behind omaha beach all residents and farmers had to have vehicle passes issued by the local marie,but hundreds of vehicle owners were driving around with no passes showing on their windscreens and no intervention by multitudes of gendarmes, we had people staying at our house with jeeps and with prior warning about passes arrived with nothing saying we will take a chance. it makes a nonsense for all the owners who took the trouble to obtain a pass, all the best tony g.

hi, a recnt visit to catz near carentan was this caterpillar d8 with blade and le tourneau gear, sad to say the block is cracked and the cast air inlet is cracked as well, probably due to no anti freeze , the poor old girl has just been blown over with green paint and is now a static exhibit, hope of interest, tony g.