early british ww2

The one with arabic plates is up for sale: http://www.milweb.net/classifieds/large_image.php?ad=53143&cat=3

 

When they describe their PU as a C8, it makes you wonder what else they don't know...

Hi , The pu/8 on Milweb is the one that Rex Cadman sold for the family of the deceased owner at the 2007 War and Peace Show - I tried to buy it at the time but didn't get hold of Rex in time before it sold for approx £5k i believe - A friend of mine has told me today that it is up for sale now for £10k! I haven't had chance to ring the chap yet to see if the price is correct but it doesn't appear to have altered too much in the last 3 years , not that the picture is too clever - At least it doesn't appear to have got any worse and still wears those lovely balloon tyres ! :coffee:

Standard crew is 4 as you say Glynn. My dad was a signaller in one of the Morris versions. Not impossible for a three man crew to operate it in theory though. I thought the breakdown was driver, who was in charge of the truck and gene operation/charging the batteries etc, 2 signallers (so there always one on duty) and an NCO in charge. That's why there's 2 seats in the wireless house, apart from the operator's seat.... Maybe there were other crews allocated for different roles. Simon

Hi Simon , Yes that's the ticket - The chap who crewed the Guy Ant was the Man in charge and he was a Corporal in the signals , The driver was , as you say in charge of all things petrol powered and then there was the main wireless op and his right hand man who were both interchangeable - There are two seats in the cab accupied by the driver and Officer who had there rifles with them in the cab and communicated with the rear compartment by a speaker tube which had whistles on either end which you replaced after talking down the tube - to get the attention of your oppo's you would remover the whistle and blow down the pipe alerting the chap at the other end .

In the rear you had the main operators seat in the middle of the table - You had another seat on the wheelarch next to the genny cupboard and a fold down one in front of the door attached to the genny cupboard - There were also rifle brackets for 2 more No. 4's in the back - Your main armament being a Bren Gun or better still a captured burp gun ehich if you had to use it behind enemy lines when setting up forward communications would not alert the germans .

This chap was extremely knowledgeable and we had an excellent weekend with him .:coffee:

p.s. Simon , I Like the cs8 by the way!

Does anybody know whether any of the Civilian Guy Vix- Ants as used as the Queens Messengers ever made it into preservation or does anyone know of any other wartime Vix - Ants which have survived ??

Any pics - I have one of a Guy water tanker in the Queens Messenger livery - Any Others?? :coffee:

From what I have heard from a friend who knows the guys there are only supposed to be one or two bits that are having reserves on them as all the vehicles etc are there to sell , but there are some very nice pieces of kit here , if it is what you are into of course and I personally can't see them going cheap especially after paying out all the commission fee's etc as has already been said but I will still be watching with interest but keeping my hands firmly in my pockets !!:coffee:

Hi folks,

 

 

 

 

I have one listed on my 2nd Irish Guards (Armd) Listing as embarked for Normandy 1944:

 

 

 

 

Guy - Z4859742 (Gin Palace) 15cwt W/T RCS

 

 

 

 

Crewed by the following Guardsmen:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

43171

Maj Sir John R Reynolds - Sqn Ldr

3855257

Cpl Winstanley C - Op/WL

2380565

Sig Cathcart J - D/Op

 

 

 

 

if it is of any interest.

 

Alan

Hi Alan ,

Many thanks for the info - That Guy Truck must be from the same contract number as mine from 1942 - The interesting piece to note is that there are only 3 crew names as I have been led to believe that they were crewed up by four - Driver/Commander(officer in charge)/wireless op/wireless op-signaller from a visit I had from a corporal in the signals many years ago who had searched me out after seeing my Guy Wireless truck at a show :coffee:

Hi Maurice,

 

That would make sense as during the mid-war period the so called Mickey Mouse pattern camo was used and all upper surfaces were either very dark brown or black, so it save painting the canvas.

Hi Maurice / Richard - I have certainly seen a Morris Commercial Fire Engine with what appears to be a Black cab cover ( I have some photo's somewhere) and there used to be a Morris Commercial C4 around these parts that had brown canvas tilts on it with a funny sort of brown camo pattern to the paintwork and R.A.F. markings - Both trucks were certainly post '42

Interestingly enough the old chap who was restoring what is now my 1940 Guy Ant had a rear canvas made for the truck in Brown before he passed away - The cab cover that is on it is an original one which was the Beechwood colour although now somewhat faded but the same colour as my Guy Wireless truck:coffee:

From what I remember the seats in Glynns CS8 were made when I had the truck (unless they have been changed since then)

Them and the canvas cover for the body were made by a firm in Preston

The seats were made to an original pattern

Hi Chris , Hope you are both well - Yes you are right the ones that I have in my 1940 Morris Commercial CS8 are still the ones you had re-made in the green canvas by the chap in preston and they match the original wartime ones which came with my 1939 CS8 and the radio ones in the Guy , although turned round the other way for the seats in the wireless body - you can only just see the drivers seat in the attached pic :coffee:

Hello Tim,

No need to fear mate, you have the right cushions. I had a look at a very nice 15 cwt cs8 over the weekend and his cushions were the same. The strap at the rear holds the cushion in place when the seat is tilted forward. Bedford seats don't tilt, so no strap at the back. From what i can remember you are right about the seats, those morris were thrown together!!!! Its just a base and the back of the seat is a cushion on the back of the cab.

Hi Alex thanks for the compliments ... I think !! Both my cs8's are identical in the seating arrangements The seat bases both clip onto the push dot eyes on both sides which helps on the passenger side as that seat does indeed tilt up to get to the fuel tank underneath and the back cushion is fixed onto the backboard of the cab / body with the turn dots which allows the passenger a bit more room in the cab .

I do think however that someone has tried to standardise the seat cushions as the bases are the same in the Morris C8's in the fastening sense and the operators seats in the Gin Palace on my Guy Ant Wireless Truck also fasten the same way , which may mean that it was more of a Morris thing as they made the 15cwt Wireless Gin Palaces for Guy as well as for their own C8 Wireless trucks and possibly the Fordson wot's etc - The seat bases in the cabs of both of my Guy Trucks do not appear to have any fastenings much the same as my Bedford and most of what you would think are original seat pads appear to be in a Beechwood sort of colour , some being internally sprung and some not - Interesting differences !?:coffee:

http://www.advancedbatterysupplies.co.uk/

I've had good service from this lot. The Optima 6 volt is superb, tiny but 840 amp cranking! Last quote i had for one a couple of months ago was £138 but they are in short supply , the British Army are nabbing all they can get. I evntually got a pair of lead acid for £148. I did thsi as i can series them and put them on a 12 volt solar trickle charge. Long story.

Cheers Guys , I will look into the two leads you have given me thanks - It has definitely got to look right but I may have a play around with an old rubber case at some stage and see Cheers:coffee:

Does anyone know of a decent supplier of Hi-Capacity 6volt Jeep batteries??

I would prefer ones to look like the rubber cased originals to fit in the standard ww2 jeep carrier - I have been told you can get the new type gel batteries but does anyone do this type in a rubber type casing cheers:coffee:

I can ask Rex, I'm seeing him fairly soon. I remember it too, very original looking and an arabic plate on the front - awesome. The RLC one didn't make the dunkirk event. was never going to.. they rang me about 2 weeks before asking about tyres! I took my '37 CS8 though, which was well rec'd.

Isn't there a MCC PU in Holland somewhere? I though there was, but maybe I'm wrong (again!)

simon

Hi Simon - Yes that's the one it had a bent arabic plate on the front and the canvases were just starting to let go but it was still a good find - I would be interested to see where it ended up going to if you could ask and get back to me cheers:coffee:

Four in UK as i recall. me , Rory, RLC example that was being preped for the dunkirk trip and beltring, and one other that was procured from the museum in scotland, rather nice as it was original condition complete with african plates etc, not sure on that one as i believe the guy who bought it may have passed away. I did not see it at last years beltring and it was present on the previous two years on the trot.

 

Any one who has definatley got one how about a hands up posting to keep track of em ??

It could be attached to the morris gallery as a known link, same applies to the 15 cwt types.

 

Regards

Tim

I know of two but then one appeared at Beltring in 2007 while we were there with the Aero screen Bedford that obviously hadn't seen the light of day for a while but unfortunately its' owner had passed away and Rex Cadman was selling it on behalf of the family - We tried to buy it but missed out - It looked fairly complete and was finished in sand paintwork and if I remember rightly the reg number was KBB121 I will try and dig some photo's out - Does anyone know where this ended up?? cheers:coffee:

http://www.warandpeaceshow.co.uk/Show-Information/2010-Show/Trophy-History.html

Very appropriate Clive , I was shocked when I saw the Obituary in Windscreen as I missed Dale at Stoneleigh this year as we didn't get down - What a great guy he will be sadly missed - Please pass on my condolences to Alison and the family

Rgds Glynn - Yorkshire Dales Area MVT

Saw these two beauties at the Border City Steam Fair

To have one Crossley must be good,but to own two!!!!

Hi Chris ,

Have seen the Blue Crossley a few times before and it is a beauty - It has been a regular attender at the Cumbria Steam Fair at Flookburgh - It usually lands on the back of a low loader complete with a very nice Crossley car as I have been led to believe the owner is a relative of Crossley but may be wrong as you know how these things go

Cheers mate:coffee:

There used to be one of these commers which turned up regularly to the Cumbria Steam Fair at Cark Airfield , Flookburgh but haven't seen it lately - will try and dig out some pics cheers:coffee:

Glynn,

 

 

Do you have any pictures of your gun you can post on here ?

 

Rob......................rnixartillery.

I will have a look through my pics etc...watch this space

H all have jus been given this 20mm anti aircraft gun con some one tell me were it was made anb if i can get a manual for it all the best jerry please take a look at my web site www.jerrysjeeps.co.uk

Hi I have a wartime version of this gun which was made by Hispano-Suiza and supplied to both allied and axis forces in 1944 - Mine is a 1944 Hispano- Suiza HS-404 20MM Anti Aircraft gun . Yours has the basic chassis as it were that mine does but has a lot more added to it and is on bigger wheels etc so suspect that it must be a postwar version of my HS-404 .

Very nice piece anyway and probably still fairly rare , Cheers:coffee:

goodday glynn and jules I was asking my self if you guy's are near your military vehicles some day to take some inside pictures of the radar/radio body's if this is possible. :bow:

it will help me to get more info for inside of my No 1 MK3 radio body.

cheers jaap :beer:

Hi Jaap ,

May get chance this weekend and if so I will post some pics up for you cheers Glynn

Does anybody know what happened to him? I've tried to contact him without success.

I have been led to believe that this chap may have sold off at least some if not all of his stock of these filters and parts early this year but do not have any contact details for him i'm afraid cheers:coffee:

Hello tim,

From what i've been told, the filter fitted to yours is the early morris filter. I don't think it has anything to do with the desert. I think the morris's also went over to the oil bath filter about the same time as the bedfords. So that is the morris equivlent of the belows. I think one of glynn beresfords morris's has been converted to the sand filter from the type in yours.

The filter in Tims' very nice pu is one version of the early war air filters and as far as I was aware they were not just restricted to use for the dusty climates - Most perople call them the "early Morris" filters but this again appears not to be strictly true as these large box type units were also fitted to other early war vehicles such as Guy Ants and they were also the standard filters used on the air intakes on the compressors on Compressor equipped 15cwt trucks by this I mean the large units with road breaking tools etc in the back of such as Morris cs8 and c4 compressor trucks and not the underfloor tyre inflators . The concertina type cloth air cleaners fitted to such as early aeroscreened Bedford MW'S were another type which were fitted to other early trucks and I again have seen these in Guy Ant pictures and AEC Matadors etc . Alex you are right that my 1940 Morris CS8 has the later type Oil bath air cleaner in it - for the minute anyway until I take delivery of one like that in tims picture . These box filters I have seen in Morris Commercial CS8 , M.C.C PU8'S , M.C.C. CDSW'S ETC , GUY ANT 15CWT . Cheers:coffee:

hi alan here back from the hotel magnum. the ant is a 4 x 2 the first time i saw it was when i went to cann near shaftsbury to collect it with mike gates from poole. this was in the late seventies early eighties. at the same time we collected a guy 6 wheel workshop which unfortunetly was ravaged buy rust and was falling apart where it stood not having moved from when mike moved into a new workshop and yard. i took it on a low loader to a young lad near oxford about two years ago. whilst helping mikes brother simon to empty the yard after his death. we took the ant to france in 1989 and then guernsey the following year. i cant remember when the ant was put in the van body but it did not come out until we emptied the yard. it did survive a serious fire which started in an adjoining pallet yard which destroyed quite a lot of other things. one being an opperman three wheel truck which had oniy just been restored.lots of military kit went then but simon was good at finding homes for it only rust and rubbish made it to the scrap yard. a couple of things were kept by simon a jeep, a bedford QL tanker, a morris commercial and a coventry climax fire pump all requireing restoration but still here.

Hi Alan ,

Any pics of any of the material you mention especially the Guy Ant and the Morris Commercial ?? cheers:coffee:

Forgot to put this on last week - Spotted a nice Bedford Ql - No canvases on the back but looked straight enough on the back of an autotec recovery truck heading from the M65 through Colne , Lancs towards Keighley in West yorks - Perhaps it may belong to a member of the forum?? Very nice anyway thanks:coffee:

Welcome to the forum Alan - Give us a shout when you get a chance mate I'd like to know more about your Guy Ant cheers:coffee:

Welcome to the forum Ray - Nice collection you have there Cheers:coffee:

Welcome to the forum mate