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I've posted this photo in various places before but not here, I think. The start of this thread seems a suitable place for it. This is a wartime picture of one of the original 1935 Mk1 15 cwts with the Clayton Still radiator before the bonnet line was altered.

Hello Radek, I see that you've been asking the same question on MLU ! This is the sidecar wheel drive Norton chassis without its body :- The Nortons were the only specifically military-bodied sidecars to see service with the British Army. Big 4s also had the alternative of a straightforward 'Commercial Box' or an ''AA' box with a pointed front as used by the breakdown recovery service. Conventional motorcycles seem principally to have had either a single seat passenger chair based on the pre-war Swallow type or a box.

If you go the photograph search page on the IWM on-line archive, there is a field for "photograph number" - In that box, don't enter anything other than a capital 'B' - Then 'Search' - You should be able to see all of the 'B' series (The British Army in Normandy 1944) that they have put on line to date. If I see an IWM photo credit in a book, I always make a check on-line for the rest of the collection. The pictures are frequently quite sparsely captioned so ploughing through the series usually throws up something that you might not otherwise find. Enjoy yourself ! Rich

I hope that no-one objects if I turn this into a bit of an Austin 8 & 10 hp thread and include a Tilly ? The forum is a bit short of photos these days. I found this one whilst searching the IWM 'B' series of photos. It is not adequately captioned so a search for Austins wouldn't have found it. A good example of rather over-fiddly 'Mickey Mouse' as so often the case with smaller vehicles.

Sorry Rolf, missed your question at the time. NC is the Norton code. There seems to be a cluster of very late contract Nortons in Norway which were presumably supplied post-war. There are also a few 1940 frames around Narvik. I wonder how they got there ?

Not a Military Tourer but a British Pathé still of a rather sad ex-National Fire Service car being auctioned at Dunsfold after the war. This thread seemed the best place to post it. Somehow I doubt if this one made it into preservation !

I have a feeling that the picture is a still from newsreel film. British Pathé's site is not working at the moment so I can't check there. Judging by the front brake on the left-hand side and the elegant mudguard rib, I suspect that the majority of those bikes are not M20s but Norton WD16Hs - The machines that the WD chose for the Army before the exigencies of war forced the use of lesser makes upon them.

When was the high point for accuracy and depth of information ? Most 1970s books seem pretty thin on hard facts now. I suspect that it's part of growing old. When we start with a new interest, we buy everything and believe it all and then at some point we realise that we know more than many of the authors. They have deadlines and budgets and we can spend years focussed on just one machine.

Rob, the bike is not period or has been modified. Bikes of that era had either bicycle type stirrup brakes or used blocks working on dummy belt rims (the dark ring that you're referring to). The front brake in the picture is a good size internal expanding drum by 1920s standards. Flat fuel tanks were used up until the late 1920s and the fairly substantial crankcases of the ohv engine suggest to me that this is actually a post Kaiser war machine. Are there any other stills of it ? Rich.

"Troops from the Vehicle Maintenance Depot proceed with the dismantling of a future restoration project for Tim-Great-War-Truck prior to throwing the gearbox into a pond, burying the coachwork and planting stinging nettles"

I was interested to read Snapper's comments on the British press presence in Normandy on the 1944 thread. Earlier in the war, there seems to have been very much a reliance on official photographers with unwieldy equipment. The IWM on-line archive rather handily allows searching on the basis of photographer. I came across this picture (presumably a self portrait) of the then Lieutenant (later Captain) Keating taken in France in 1940 where many of the well-known pictures were taken by him. Is that his light-meter in his hand ? He seems to have had a particular interest in vehicles in general and motorcycles in particular (Top Man in my opinion !) By searching under his name, it is possible to follow his progress in France, Norway, North Africa and Italy (don't know what happened to him after that). He seems to have been closest to the action in Tunisia. His pictures are useful for restorers but rarely make much impression as photo journalism.

The Jeep doesn't have blackout masks on the headlamps. Could this mean that it is post war ? I can spot some of the differences on O/Rs uniforms but not on Officer's SD The timber frame over brick building looks more English than NW Europe. The pantiles are probably Eastern England I would guess. Rich

Wasn't the opinion here that it was airfield lighting equipment ? Lots of (the majority ?) of the motorcycles are actually Norton 16Hs. If anyone's diving there again, could they have a look at the engine numbers for me ? Cheers ! Rich

It all fits John. According to the Chilwell Census numbers list, reprinted by Rob van Meel, 5809758 - 5813757 were prefixed Z and applied to contract S6450 for 4000 Morris-Commercial - truck 15cwt 4x4 G/S There are no dates given but based on the Royal Enfield contract which followed it (from C5816151), which was delivered from September 1944, a latish 1944 build date would seem likely. Rich

Keep your chins up Joris and Jack. It's the sort of thing that reminds me why I prefer old technology, particularly if it's oily and noisy. Outlook lost all my emails last week but I've stopped worrying about it already. Rich.

The gun is the French 25mm Hotchkiss issued to some BEF units to standardise with the French. George Forty describes it as "almost useless" I agree with Richard's view that the large blob is gas-detector paint. It is generally more visible in BEF era pictures when the fear of gas was still high. The early-war paint seems to have been a brighter yellow than used later. In the presence of Mustard, it turned a pinky red. The normal size for vehicles (other than M/Cs) was about a foot across so it looks as if this crew knocked the tin over :-) The Bedford is presumably in Khaki Green No.3 with an overpainting of Dark Green No. 4 or Light Green No.5 "Most" (dangerous word that) pictures that I can find of Front-line BEF vehicles do show some camouflage but because it worked with different hues rather than tonal contrast it is not so immediately obvious as later schemes in b/w photographs, particularly if low-res. Rich.

six hundred and fifty years or so ? Not coppiced since the war.

Indoor Trials are great fun and if it's your own house then you don 't need a Competition Licence ;-)

Prompted by Baz's progress and Joris's wish to see more motorcycles on the blogs forum, I thought I'd better show that I've been busy too. I don't know what the strange blue shade around the head joint is. Flash reflection on grease I suspect. There is NO silicone goo on this motor ! Baz is a step ahead of me actually but after four years of collecting parts, I don't want to rush things :-) Rich

"Now you know why they told us to hang a canvas bucket on the back!"

:oops: Yeah Andy, put it down to my conventional upbringing. I always start reading at the top of websites and can't understand people who begin at the back of a newspaper ! I spotted Stefano's review after I'd posted. :roll: I wonder who owns the rights to the Hodges and Taylor book. It's one that could really do with re-publishing, preferably with improved photo reproduction. I'm sure it would be a gold mine for the publishers because it's highly sought after by modellers as well. + Cheers, Rich.

Simon, Is it a CO ? Have you been in touch with Jan Vandevelde the numbers nerd (Sorry Jan :-D) regarding his WD/CO numbers survey / research ?

Colin, Following on to my comments on this thread, http://www.hmvf.co.uk/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=38&topic=6947.0 Mike Starmer has identified the same Khaki Green No. 3 on my 1939 Norton and its Lucas components as on a 1941 built Canadian Carrier so there is a remarkable consistency and it would seem to be the correct factory colour. In addition to Mike making his own matches, my parts have also been scanned by The Vintage paint Company with whom Mike has previously worked. http://www.vintagepaint.com/index.asp They should be able to match the colour but as I'm still at the prepping stage, I haven't tried it yet. Go ahead....Be my Guinea Pig ! ;-) My bike was field camouflaged with the LG No. 5 so that is what the BEF were using at least to some extent in the dark and dreary winter of 1939/40 in northern France but I don't know how long it was used afterwards.

Stefano hasn't replied so I hope he won't mind me chipping in. Hodges & Taylor published by Cannon is a wonderful reference book, particularly with regard to the range of Arm of Service insignia which it covers. It has however been out of print for some years now and if it appears is priced well above the £100 mark. Don't be tempted by the Original Almark edition of Peter Hodge's book. The subsequent Taylor addenda more than double it. The camouflage and colour information remains reliable but is a fairly minor part of the book and could be fairly easily copied. I've been in touch with Mike Stamer regarding the matching of the Khaki Green No. 3 and Light Green No. 5 on my untouched 1939 BEF Norton and he has arrived at some interesting conclusions. His NW Europe book is currently out of print (or should I say "Out of paint") and is being revised in the light of his latest findings. It will be republished but he is currently working on a book on the Caunter Scheme. I've had the privilige of watching Mike at work. Not only is he extremely systematic, he has a wonderful eye for colour and if you match to his colour chips, you won't be far wrong in my opinion.

Pre-war and wartime rear lights certainly have a problem in terms of reflector area and as Richard says, a QD post-war lamp and number plate may be the most satisfactory solution. I haven't quite worked out what I'm going to do with my 1939 bike's Lucas MT110 without stop light facility - It is pre-panniers so I may have to drill the number plate board as the lesser of two evils. Paul Goff has some useful LED stop / tail conversions but they won't quite fit in a period housing. http://www.norbsa02.freeuk.com/goffyleds.htm I think that I may end up with a modern pattern MT110. I shall carefully preserve my original item in cotton wool (They fetch more than £100 on eBay y'know ! ;-))