johnwardle

I think that it is a caravan with a lorry parked behind it, if you enlarge the photo and look at the wheel arches they are tapered towards the lorry bonnet end, suggesting that the lorry bonnet is at the back of the caravan.

I agree with you Baz, these Mowags were used as a mobile target for infantry small arms, not anti tank weapons, the view out of these is terrible, armoured screen at the front and just very small viewing slits on the side. The turret is fixed and the gun is a dummy, and no other armament, this would not make a good recce vehicle. I believe that they used a Dodge WC 51 chassis with the engine at the rear, a friend used to own one and it was an absolute pig to drive. Rumour has it that the people that drove these on the ranges were doing it as a punishment. There was one in the reserve collection at Bovington a few years ago, I don't know if they still have it.

The correct alternator for a Leyland Daf T244 is 90 amps, the NSN is 6115-99-255-3125, there is no manufacturers part number on the 711 (parts list) but there is a FV part number FV2034150. I would suggest finding a good auto electrician and getting a quote for a rebuild, I had the alternator on my FFR Land Rover rebuilt for a fraction of the cost of a new one.

The jack handle is used to tilt the cab, so if you have the correct jack you are sorted, alternatively the handle of a cheap 2 tonne trolley jack also fits the cab pump. The auxiliary air line connector is a tap with a threaded end located on the right hand chassis rail above the spare wheel, if you have the tap I have a N.O.S. Inflator hose available p.m. me if you are interested. I'm rather surprised that you need air tank drain valves as they don't wear out and very rarely get damaged, they work by pushing them to one side, don't try to pull them downwards. There is a full set of Leyland Daf manuals including Operators Manual and Parts List available for free download, I think they on Overlander.com, but a search for Leyland Daf 4x4 manuals will find them.

The parking brake on a Leyland Daf T244, being air operated, works on all 4 wheels, much to the amusement of my MoT tester, yes he did try it!

Yes they are the same as Bedfords, although Comptons 2000 don't list prices, you may be pleasantly surprised at how reasonable they are. I work for the Land Training Fleet at Warminster, and Comptons 2000 supply all the canvas for the current army vehicles, we had a delivery of new canvas for the MAN SVs and I was surprised at how little they cost.

It was restored by Don Wilmott from Marshfield, between Bristol & Chippenham, he was in the process of restoring another Bedford when he died suddenly at the age of 81. It was then bought by John Glanfield, who lived in Cambridge near Gloucester. John was on his way to a show when the Bedford ran out of petrol, after he had topped up the fuel he was checking the radiator when a car traveling at high speed ran over the warning triangles and cones that John had put out and ran into the back of the Bedford, the brush bar hit John in the chest, knocking him to the ground and the Bedford went over him and killed him, the front number plate is still bent where it went over him. So I lost 2 good friends who both owned this Bedford OY. I do still have an unused key ring with a photo of this Bedford if the new owner wants it pm me.

Yes they are heavy, we could only send 20 sets at a time for disposal ( max 1000Kg per box). I handled hundreds of them when the Mastiffs came back from Afghan, most were covered in Afghani dust that stank.

That's exactly how they are used. They obviously bought some from Whitham and believed their description. As I mentioned earlier, these traction mats are only issued to Cougar variants when on operations, some CES lists state 'Op Herrick only'.

I just received an email from i-bidder.com about an online auction for various tanks, other vehicles and spares, including Centurion, Chieftain, T69, Abbot, CET, Antars, and lots of spares, some of which look NOS. The auction finishes on 6th December and the vehicles etc are located in Heywood Lancashire. I have no connection with this sale except that the Bedford OY X-Ray truck was previously owned by 2 friends of mine.

I'll see if I can find a Mastiff operators manual and copy the relevant pages.

That's it Tony, the traction mats are quite long, they are long enough to take all 3 axles of a Mastiff. On the subject of sand ladders, they are now called 'Traction Aids' and are supposed to be laid on the ground and driven over with no means of attaching them to a vehicle and no anchor provided. The only vehicles that currently have them as part of the CES are, Foxhound, Husky, Jackal/Coyote and RWMIK+.

No, the technique is to place the traction mat as close to the stuck wheel as possible, unroll it then attach the anchor away from the vehicle then drive on to the traction mat. The anchor is to stop the traction mat from sliding under the wheel when the power is applied.

Tony, these anchors are not for winching, they are for securing the traction mats to allow the vehicle to get out of soft ground, they are attached to the traction mats by a webbing strap and 2 carabiners which are missing from the set advertised. Mastiffs don't have winches fitted.

No problem, I didn't want you to waste money on something that wouldn't be any use to you. By the way, the Folding Solar Battery Chargers that Whitham have on their auction site aren't worth buying either, they just don't work! It took us over 3 years to get rid of them!

These items are NOT for Land Rovers, they are part of the CES for Mastiffs when on operations, the item in the Black Bag is another Traction Mat, these items are big, the stillage that they are in is 1 metre X 1.2 metres, and heavy, approx 100kg for the set, I know as I have moved a lot of them from CES kits when the Mastiffs came back from Afghanistan. Also beware of the Rudd Snow Chains for Land Rovers sometimes offered by Whitham as they are from Mastiff CES as well, so they are far too big for a Land Rover. There were 3 Snow Chains ( not 3 pairs) and 2 Traction Mats each comprising of 1 mat, 1 anchor as in the previous post, 1 webbing strap and 2 carabiners, the straps and carabiners are missing from this set, and quite often were missing from the CES kits when the vehicles were returned. We sent hundreds of these Traction Mats and Snow Chains to Whitham for disposal, so buyer beware these items are for BIG vehicles only.

Firstly join the MVT, then contact the Verification Officer via the MVT website, she will then contact an appointed MVT member near you who will visit you and inspect your vehicle. The inspector will then send a report to the Verification Officer, who then forwards a report to DVLA on your behalf. This may sound complicated but it is quite straightforward and satisfies DVLA. This is a free service for MVT members.

Theoretically yes, but the nuts on the clamps that hold the body on are welded on so it would be a lot of effort to demount it, this was done at VOSAs suggestion.

No I haven't, that photo is about 6 years old, I would love to respray it, but I don't have anywhere to do it.

This is the only photo of my Leyland Daf that I have on my iPad, I don't have any photos of the interior, basically I scrapped my old caravan on then put all the fittings in to the Radio Repair body. The criteria for a motor caravan is that it must have fixed cooking and washing facilities, fixed seating that may convert to a bed, fixed storage facilities and a table that may be fixed or removable. The important thing to remember is that all these things must be fixed.

After reading the Commercial Motor article, it seems to me that the changes would apply to vehicles being used commercially. My Leyland Daf 4 Tonner fitted with a Radio Repair body is registered as a Motor Caravan and it goes through a large class 4 Mot each year, this truck has been inspected by VOSA when they still had testing stations, and by someone that I was chatting to at Wicksteed at War, who turned out to be a DVSA examiner, both were happy that the camper conversion was in line with the criteria set down for motor caravans. Some people seem to waste a lot of time and effort to get MoT exemption, my personal opinion is that it is worth paying a few quid a year for the peace of mind that the brakes etc are up to scratch.

So do I, a few years ago West Wiltshire MVT came up with a proposal to build a full size accurate replica Mk IV female tank to replace the presentation tank that was given to Trowbridge in 1919 in recognition of the town raising £1,000,000 pounds for the war effort, which was an amazing amount for a population of 12,500 at the time. After getting support from our local MP, a lot of research, finding someone to build it and sourcing funding, we had a meeting with Trowbridge town council for permission to put the tank in the town park where the original presentation tank was sited. Well that meeting was something else, with councilours ranting that we were glorifying war and one said that all we wanted to do was "kill a kraut' which was rather embarrassing as there were delegates from the German twin town at the meeting. Needless to say, we didn't get permission to put the tank in the park and all our time and effort wasted, although I did manage to read an original 1916 Mk IV tank operating manual as part of the research. Back to the Guy Martin replica, I have read that the Channel 4 programme about building the MkIV will be shown around Remembrance Day, in the same article it states that the Norfolk Tank Museum is preparing a 1948 Rolls Royce engine and drivetrain to power the tank, could it be a Meteor?

I have just read in the latest edition of Soldier magazine that 6 of the White Helmets Triumph motorcycles will be auctioned by Charterhouse Auctioneers at Sherborne Dorset on Thursday 16th of November. Estimated price on the Charterhouse website £5,000 to £8,000, so I wouldn't be surprised if they go for a lot more.

Hi Doug, I can't find a link for the video of episode 1, have you tried looking for history.co.uk? Episode 1 is on there but no more episodes as yet.

Episode 1 is on the History Channel UK website, so hopefully episode 3 will be on there soon. I did watch episode 3 and agree that Rick got the credit that he deserves, Suggs on the other hand should have watched Dads Army before dressing as a member of the Home Guard, armband on the wrong arm and belt on the wrong way round, at least he got it right by the end of the program.