79x100

A really sad accident on the news today. Perhaps best to remove the valve core from a damaged wheel ? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8600833.stm

I'm not sure of the exact date. The usual un-captioned loose collection that gets handed down. The photo seems to be at the location as these two (which I thought I'd posted here before but maybe they were lost in the big crash ?) These show one of my Dad's older brothers. He was an inter-war regular with the KRRC and was just finishing his time in the reserves when war broke out. He went to Calais in May 1940 and spent the war in a prison camp. My guess from his age is that the pictures show a Territorial camp / training exercise sometime in the mid-1930s. The line of hills suggests Wiltshire downs to me.

Just out of interest, what is this vehicle ? It has turned up amongst some family pictures. Any info welcomed.

I came across this instruction in the War Diary for HQ GS 2nd Division. It is part of a set of instructions to the brigade A/T companies regarding the towing of the French 25mm A/T gun which was issued to them in early 1940. It mentions the red split rim nuts and also the introduction of Run-flats.

The bike is a Triumph 3HW. There are pictures of it on the web captioned as a Norton. I had wondered where it lived.

There's never much room in the footwell of an LHD Series Rover. Advantages are that you can't inadvertently kick the fuel changeover tap and you don't have cold feet in the winter. Fitting a smaller steering wheel might mean that you never enjoy the full experience by thumping your elbow on the door when the steering snatches.

I'm sure that Stefano's ID is correct and based on the initial C44***** census number, there is a good chance that it is from contract C8732 which was produced late 1941 / early 1942. The contract of 3000 was split 1500 RAOC Chilwell (for frontline units) and 1500 RASC Feltham (for support services). This number is an RAOC allocation Although early WD/Cs were taken to France by the BEF and there are some photographs of the machines in Palestine, generally speaking it is a bike that was used for light communications duties within the UK. It is always interesting to know where the bikes ended up. Do you know your Grandfather's unit ?

If you're trying to trace previous history, first port of call should be DVLA. According to the site, it was manufactured 1944 and first registered in 1982 which takes you back 27 years at least. The enquiry is complete The vehicle details for 9208 EH are: Date of Liability 01 08 2009 Date of First Registration 01 10 1982 Year of Manufacture 1944 Cylinder Capacity (cc) 8369CC CO2 Emissions Not Available Fuel Type Heavy Oil Export Marker Not Applicable Vehicle Status Unlicensed Vehicle Colour YELLOW It may well be that prior to this it had been off road and only had a paper log book. The registration number is not an 'age related' so unless a 'cherished' number was purchased for it, DVLA may have a microfilm copy of the original paper log book. The registered keeper is allowed to ask for copies of all info held at DVLA and I have done this succesfully in the past with a few to contacting the previous keepers.

I believe that the leather strap was a standard mod on Triumph forks in rough conditions. Unlike other makes, if the Triumph spring broke then the whole fork assembly pitched forward and the crankcase and mag ploughed a furrow.

It sounds as if the letter is simply a computer check letter intended to pick up on simple input errors. The chance of a number entered wrongly having the same check letter is not very high so the input would be rejected rather than being entered on somebody else's records.

I didn't see those. You didn't post them just before a forum crash, did you ? (We used to have crashes, you know !) Keep posting, I love piccies !

Mark, as someone who can type as fast as twelve words per hour, you probably don't understand what it's like for us lesser mortals who type even slower ! ...if we all posted on every thread that we read, well, there just aren't enough hours in the day. I suppose that I tend not to post if I don't think that I can 'add' anything to the discussion. Lots of back-slapping and 'nice truck / photos / kit' doesn't really help those who follow but its absence doesn't mean that the thread is not appreciated. I 've come to realise that I 'm something of a thread killer. There probably won't be any more posts after this one. Sorry mate !

Fascinating recollections. A real experienced military signwriter. Does he still take commissions ?

"Gevuld met" is Dutch - "Filled with" - What have they painted out ? It can't be 'anti-freeze', can it ? Presumably oil type. I believe that the Netherlands forces did use the G3LS. It may be worth a post on the WM20 forum as it is Dutch based and there are a few natives there who may know more http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=3155626639&frmid=16&msgid=0

The amount of ironwork surviving above the front wheel suggests to me the leaf spring fork suspension of an Indian and the heavily valanced front guard is perhaps indicative of the Powerplus ? It is a V-twin and is lying on the sidecar chassis which also points in the direction of the Powerplus model. I think that this is probably what it once was :- http://pioneerflightmuseum.org/vehicles/indian.shtml I'm not too well up on US motorcycles, but wasn't the Indian the most numerous with the US forces at one time ?

I erm did mean my post to sound facetious but I haven't worked out how to use the Smilies on this forum. Could a Beaverette not outdrag a WD/C (or an M20 with a melting exhaust valve) on a long uphill stretch ?

Was the Beaverette as bad as all that ? The motorcycles in this picture are having to scratch quite hard to keep up. Rather a Beaverette than an Armadillo. Bend-swinging with an obsolete flat bed loaded with five tons of concrete pill-box really wouldn't appeal. I could live with a Beaverette !

Some serious mice in that shed ! Chewing the tarpaulin is normal but they really got their teeth into that impeller, didn't they ? I think that you were quite brave going in there in the dark !

Well spotted. What a nice piece of detective work. So often the clues are out there. It's just a matter of knowing where to look.

Glynn, have you tried the Tank Museum ? They have a lot of ex-Chilwell duplicate contract cards, including softskins. They don't have everything and the amount of information varies but is generally more complete for early war contracts. I have seen early cards with chassis number info on. Rob van Meel's reprinted Chilwell list indicates that V.3733 commenced at MW1001-on but there only seem to have been 3500 census numbers issued. Whether the census numbers / chassis numbers were 'married' is likely to be difficult to prove. My experience with the 1940 motorcycle contract that I've looked at in detail is that they tried but didn't always succeed. The ideal would be to gain access to the Key Cards with the RLC because in addition to post-war registrations, they should show chassis number and the census number from which it was converted. Many of these numbers will be later-war rebuilt numbers in the Z1600000 - Z1699999 range but if the motorcycle practice is similar then about 15 % could have survived the war with original number and provide at least a basis for assessing any links.

I think that you'd be lucky not to pick up something from Eskimo Nell. Anyone looking for similar lyrics could also Google "Abdul the Bulbul Emir" or "The Ball at Kirriemuir" Depravity of a level that you can't believe existed all those years ago, before sex was invented.

The Norton club did this for years but it seemed to die a death. I was contacted once in about twenty years (on a sunday by a Norwegian with a blown head gasket which I could provide so the system worked). The list was a printed one that was only provided to those who appeared in it, not even to all members.

Is there really no procedure for registering a vehicle in France when the paperwork has been lost ? There is in Belgium and The Netherlands - or is the problem because it's unregistered armour and that's no longer possible ?

I think the risk is not that they won't let you out (the ports are too busy) but that they'll photograph your reg. number and fine you six months later after you've got back. I bought an ex-Recklinghausen LHD Series 3 in the UK about fifteen years ago and later sold it in Belgium. Should I be expecting a knock on the door ? I think that they have always known the legislation was unenforceable but with the advent of on-line registration they can make it compulsory with no extra work. It's ironic because the most used military vehicle in the world today is surely a white Toyota pick-up with ten kalashnikov-armed nutters in the back.

The bike is a DKW, something like an NZ 350 I think. http://www.dkw-nz.net/cms/front_content.php?idart=95