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I believe that Ian Wright at Ark Motorcycles was making replicas at one time. Don't think he has a website but I can look up his phone number if you can't find his contact details. Rich.

The WD was replaced by the MOD in 1964. It would seem strange if anything was produced after that date with the WD symbol. If you're intending to ride then new tyres would be a good idea. Not only have rubber compounds improved, but even tyres stored in good conditions slowly harden.

It's a bit off topic, but if you're selling a motorcycle with a dual seat, a quick squirt of "Mister Sheen" before taking the prospective purchaser for a pillion test ride does wonders for the perceived performance ! (I have tried this one) :evil:

DVLA's standard of record keeping is quite a theme in motorcycle circles. It seems quite usual for the motorcycle entitlement to be left off when receiving a new licence for whatever reason. Has the person in question had a "producer" or been convicted of anything since passing his tests ? If so there may be copies with the court or with the local police. Has an employer ever requested a copy driving licence ? There is a moral here which is to photocopy EVERYTHING that you send to anywhere official including Insurers etc. Most of them no longer retain any paper files yet have pi$$potical standards of computer input.

Didn't we gain a Ministry of Defence in place of a War Department some time in the early 1960s ? Presumably it sounded a bit more acceptable to Harold Wilson and his cronies. Well, he would never have considered going to war with his communist comrades behind the iron curtain, would he ? I have a pair of 11/1939 WD marked tyres so they go back at least that far.

Try a Banana ! :-D (Skin and all) The legend has it that if you're selling a dodgy vehicle, that's the thing to do. Never tried it though.

It's doing it to me too. I can't access the forum page directly. I tried logging out to try again but the cheeky blasted thing told me that I didn't have permission !

I've been looking for a while for a nice set of 1930s/40s overalls. Thick cotton, proper buttons and a sewn-in belt. I think that they look the part with any old vehicle. The only trouble is that they all seem to have been worn to destruction. Modern poly cotton things with press studs look just that. Anyone ever come across replicas ?

Thank goodness for that, I thought that I'd had one malt too many this evening

Germans in the Artic eh ? Makes a change from assylum seekers I suppose :-)

:-)Don't combination spanners give it a rather post-war feel ? And shouldn't there be a canvas bucket dangling somewhere ? Rich.

You can keep the "Q" if you want to but when I worked in motor insurance (which was years ago) anything above Third Party only was almost impossible for "Q"s as Insurers always thought they were cobbled together from mismatched parts. I believe also that they have an effect on certain Traffic Policemen. Some Police Forces have a habit of causing them to be applied to vehicles that they are certain have been stolen but can't trace the previous identity of in order to prove theft. There is sometimes only evidence that the original carrier of a number was so badly damaged (by fire for instance) that the vehicle now in use must be a "ringer" in which case they get "Q"d. What year does the military registration tie it to ? As Kewelde says, if it's pre-72 ish then you are doing yourself out of free road tax if you keep the "Q".

I believe that "Q" plates were issued for "vehicles of indeterminate age and origin" It was frequently used for stolen recovereds or ringed "cut and shut" jobs where the original identity was not traceable. It always used to cause problems getting insurance. It should also be issued to a vehicle built up from parts but the age-related scheme (which I think started after "Q" plates were introduced) has let many people get away with it. If a Land-rover was built around a replica chassis with a TDi motor, should it really run on an age-related plate ? Technically, it should have had a "Q" Unfortunately, some owners who didn't do their homework properly ended up with "Q"s as well. Removal of a "Q" plate once issued will not be easy. "Starting again" :wink: might be the easiest option if you want an age-related plate

Fascinating debate chaps. My only contact with the MVT is via "Windscreen" so the undercurrents are not something that I've been aware of. Is there no pecking order within PW ? Do the coil-sprung Landy boys not feel a bit in the shadow of perfect Series 1s ? Isn't it rather in the nature of clubs involved with old or classic things that older is often regarded as better ? Personally, I'd like to see lots of events around 1930s British Army vehicles. Lots of SD, positively no Battledress and DEFINITELY no Yanks :evil:

I think that there is a universal law which probably applies to any vehicle not fitted with an electric starter :- "Ease of starting is inversely proportional to the size of the attendant audience" An engine that starts with half a turn when no one is around becomes an absolute b****r when the "I used to have one like that, they don't make 'em like that anymore" brigade are out in force. :-)

This is the Dunkirk shot. It is from the French ECPA archive. I have seen a better copy but the book costs 75 euro. The original picture does have a clearly stenciled "Y". http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/1337/km20dunkirkgb1.jpg[/img] It seems unlikely that the "Y" on the BSA is from "Y Section" 4th Northumberland Fusiliers as there is no "TT" insignia and the central position is more usually reserved for Divisional Insignia. Rich

Wonderful stuff Ashley, I haven't seen the article and assume the author is the same chap who co-wrote the markings book that I consulted. Here is another shot of the same unit entering Belgium on 10th May 1940 (IWM F4342 from Gavin Birch's "Motorcycles at War" http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/4059/a1939c399999994rnfbelgium10may1940herseauxxj6.th.jpg[/img] Rich

Graham, I have been looking long and hard at BEF motorcycle markings in connection with my 16H but there is much less information available than for later periods. Are you thinking of a Royal Signals Despatch Rider or a Battalion motorcyclist ? Was the WD/CO available as early as 1940 ? Orchard & Madden list it as going into service in "early 1942" Most BEF motorcycles seem to have had few markings, with even the census number painted over (Have you calculated yours ?) Where the census number appears, it was often on the front and sometimes rear number plate. I can't recall photographic evidence of Arm of Service markings on petrol tanks for this period and have seen it stated that neither they nor Divisional insignia were to be displayed on motorcycles. However, my 16H (see post in the restoration section)has the "crossed keys" of second infantry division on the front and rear mudguards and has cobalt blue RE arm of service marking on the (pre-war type) rear number plate. I suspect that those machines attached to Divisional HQ were more likely to display the markings (although the Big 4 Outfits of 4th Northumberland Fusiliers had them too). Are you thinking of 2nd Wilts as part of 5 Div ? If so, for BEF, as the middle Battalion of the Senior Brigade, their vehicles are likely to have carried a number 14 on a red background. I have a rather poor copy of a photo showing an abandoned KM20 on the beach at Dunkirk and it carries a "Y" which I assume to be 5 Div and a number, either a "2" or "2..." which could be either Div RAC, units of the junior brigade, Divisional RASC units (perhaps the most likely) or a Field Ambulance section. I don't have any info to hand over HG but I have a lot of scanned images from period motorcycle publications. I will see what I can turn up. If you pm me, I can send copies of photos through together with some info from Hodges & Taylor's "British military Markings 1939 - 1945" which is the best source that I have found so far. Rich

Hear, Hear, Snapper. As you have suggested, war crimes are usually perpetrated against the defenceless. The scale of Bomber Command casualties shows that their enemy was anything other than defenceless. Lest we Forget. Rich.

Hanno, I asumed (dangerous thing to do !) that the questioner was asking what colour the British repainted their Jeeps, otherwise it would have been phrased to ask if they were factory supplied in a different colour. Did the British use paint to American specs on American vehicles if repainting was necessary ?

A place where adults discuss things in an adult manner. Perhaps we could call it a forum ! I don't think that I'll ever quite understand though why people spend their time re-enacting when they could be up to their elbows in grease and old oil trying to recreate an accurate representation of a vehicle that probably wasn't very reliable sixty (or in Tim (too)'s case ninety years ago :wink:.

Bearing in mind that RAL stands for "Reichsausschuss für Lieferbedingungen", I would suspect that the only Jeeps with a RAL number would be those that Jerry had got his hands on. Anything wrong with good old British Standards, Old Chap ? Michael Taylor in "British Military Markings" quotes a source as saying that "Olive Drab" was Khaki Green no.15 in BS987C of 1942, as amended ! Sorry but I don't know how to cross-refer to current British Standards :?

furore (N Am furor) A craze; wild enthusiasm; wild excitement; public indignation. (Chambers 9th edition) What is it they say about two nations divided by a common language ?

Don't let any rubbed on embrocation trickle down your bum crease either unless you want to do an impression of a jet fighter using afterburners :-o Rich.

Looks like Johnny Foreigner's been fiddling his figures again ! When did all those French civilian casualties arise ? Are we sure that they don't include the Normandy farmers who had heart attacks when Churchill A.V.R.E.s were driven through their apple orchards ? Of all wars, 39-45 presents probably the most problems in distinguishing those lost to enemy action from those who perished as a result of occupation. Wasn't (Vichy) France, for instance, officially at peace with Germany from 1940 ? Did they really loose more military dead during May and June 1940 in France and Belgium (and afterwards in limited numbers elsewhere) than Britain did in six years of war, fighting in all theatres ?