BillS

I'm also sorry to see you go.  Although I wasn't able to contribute much  I always looked forward to the new posts, both for the pictures and for the information that accompanied them.  It is rare to find such a great range of in photos of in-service vehicles from 50s and 60s .  I shall look out for your book. 

Thanks Richard, that's helpful.

I knew the Bedford Tankers and the Bedford drilling rig used by the Royal Engineers also had duals on the rear, but I hadn't realised that the tipper did.  I might have to go and revisit a model of it that I made!

Most Bedford MK light recovery vehicles that I have seen have dual  rear wheels, yet according to the sources that I have to hand the track measurement for these is the same as that for the standard Bedford MK cargo vehicle.  A silly question perhaps, but can anyone tell me whether the rear axle on the light recovery vehicles, and other Bedford MK variants with dual rear wheels, is the same as that normal (four wheel) Bedford cargo?  If it is, how are the dual wheels fitted, and how is it possible to do this without increasing the track measurement?

I'd second that request - the New Posts button was very convenient and user friendly.

If you go onto the Braille Scale Discussion Group on Missing-Lynx.com - http://www.network54.com/Forum/47210 - and do a search for "Dorchester" sorted by date it will throw up a number of threads from November 2017 onwards containing information and photos of Dorchesters. You'll also find a load of posts prior to this, but I'm not familiar with their content.

Hope this helps.

Dear colleagues !

 

I should like to get some Your help in the visual identification of the following Land Rover versions:

 

- Land Rover Series 2A Mk8 Short Wheelbase;

- Land Rover 4x4 Four Stretcher Ambulance FV18005;

- Land Rover Series 2A Mk 9 4x4 ½ ton Long Wheelbase.

 

It will be good to see 1 or 2 images of general view of exact version of each vehicle, mentioned and highlighted above (or to get the links to such images). The Internet searches bring quite many pictures - but they all differ from each other, and because of this, I'm not sure in exact versions.

 

Thank You in advance.

If you want a comprehensive guide to the various types of leaf sprung Land Rovers (i.e. pre 90 and 100 models) used by British Military I'd recommend getting a copy of British Military Land Rovers by James Taylor and Geoff Fletcher, published by Tankograd. Its chapters deal with each Mark in turn and cover both standard general service and specialist vehicles. It also includes plenty of photographs.

 

I don't see anything Bill! :-(

Maybe you'll post them here? I hope so, though as they're probably not sand-coloured, I shan't be too upset if you don't!

 

They were photos of an FV421 that I downloaded from the web and as I couldn't remember where from I was reluctant to post them in case they were subject to copyright. Having just done a Google image search I've discovered that I found them .... on this site. They are not sand coloured, but if you are interested they can be found here:

 

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?15341-Fv439-Ptarmigan/page2

 

The more that I look at them the more I think that the negatives have been reversed, and that it is the left hand side that is shown.

The original design of Fv421s had the front of the 'cab' in one continuous slope, no window in the only cab door which was on the left side and was hinged on its rear edge. There were no hatches in the cab roof proper but provision for an AA gunner/observer just behind on the centreline of the vehicle. They also had the track idlers very close to the rearmost road wheel.

 

Later they were modified and possibly some built new with the more vertical windscreen, roof hatches in the two sloping sections of roof directly above driver and co driver, a window in the now front hinged door. Seperately the idler was moved back about 9" to the position shown in the photo in the post above and mounted on a much stronger adjusting mechanism with its pivot below the wheel centre instead of above.

 

 

I've just noticed that I have a couple of photos of a 421 which has the early sloping front and (assuming that the negatives haven't been reversed) a door on the right hand side.

Hopefully this will satisfy the appetite of those wishing to see a FV421 on trials in Libya, I believe with 3RTR.

 

D

Wonderful. The various pictures I have of 421s show that there were different basic designs, one with a single slope to the front, and this one where the section containing the windscreen is (almost?) vertical. Presumably one was a development of the other. If this is the case, does anyone know which is the earliest?

There is a more complete example in the reserve collection at Bovington, last time it was seen it was in the VCC.

Around this time several of the FV421 logistic carriers were being trialled in Libya, these are perhaps a closer relation to the FV430's.

 

D

Oh please let there be photos of the FV421 - they are even scarcer than those of the Cambridge carrier!

Still with Sextons and 3RHA who were part of 25 Armd Brigade and then, 10 Armd Division and then ..... went off somewhere else which wasn't sandy .... oh, that'll be Bulford where I believe they switched to either towed 25pdrs or 5.5" guns .... DBG.

From Max Warwick REME who was attached to 3RHA in Homs and Egypt (pre-Suez) as their armourer Sgt, we have this photo of the parade square in Homs camp. I'll help you with the line-up; I can see Cromwell AOPs and Command Posts (don't know the marques though other photos may help with identification), Sexton SPGs and GPOs and, a very strange-looking last vehicle. Hmmm, I know what it is, but do you?

No copying rules apply.

FV402 Cambridge Carrier AOP by the look of it - a rare beast indeed.

Many thanks - that's a great help, exactly what I needed.

Bill

I'm trying to work out whether the dimensions of a model of a Stalwart that I have are accurate and keep running into a problem regarding the length. All of the published sources that I have access to give the overall length of the actual vehicle as 6.350m but non make it clear whether this is with the swimboard in its stowed or extended position. Does anyone know for certain what the length of a Stolly is, either without a swimboard, or with one in the stowed position (the length should be more of less the same in either case).

It would also be help to know the length of the load bed from the rear of the cab to the bulkhead that separates it from the section containing the air intakes/exhaust. The length of the drop down sides would do instead as this should be about the same.

I came across a picture a while back of a FV432 in Aden that had been fitted with either a ferret or a Saracen turret over the commanders hatch. It was from a scan of an article, the text of which suggested that it was a REME fitters vehicle from A squadron QDG.

If there were five of these vehicles serving with the Berlin Brigade and two of them were 22 XG 52 and 22 XG 48 it seems likely that the other three would have been 22 XG 49, 22 XG 50, and 22 XG 51.

From information given on the MAFVA website (see http://www.mafva.net/other%20pages/VRNARMY2.doc ) it would appear that YD was used by the Army prior to 1950 to identify B vehicles vehicles first registered in 1949, together with earlier vehicles re-built during that year. Unfortunately no information is given on the specific vehicle types that used those letters.

There's a photo of a Milan carrier in the July 1994 issue of Military in Scale, and another in the September 1983 issue of Military Modelling. I believe that the all that was done to convert the vehicle to the Milan role was to fix a special pallet into to the space between the rear of the cab cab and in front of the rear wheel arches. This held sixteen missiles in racks (four rows of four) and two firing posts. An antenna mount for the vehicle radio was fixed to the top of the pallet and protruded through the centre of the tilt.

There are a couple still in use on the Thames. They are moored close to the southern bank of the river opposite Victoria Tower Gardens, between the Houses of Parliament and Lambeth Bridge. You can see them on Google maps using the satellite view.

Does anyone have any more pictures of the type of Royal Signals half tracks shown in scott9643's post above?

More likely to be a command rather than a REME version as willyslanks notes. The two REME repair versions were both post war conversions I think, and the design of the superstructure of both was different from that in the photo. The h/t in front looks as though it has either a 1st or 2nd Army Formation sign which adds weight to it being a command vehicle.

There's a REME half track with jib in the REME museum collection at Borden.

If you don't get an answer on this forum try asking in the Modern discussion group on Missing Lynx - http://www.missing-lynx.com/ . You may well find someone there that can help.

There are seven photos (one colour and six black and white) of Scorpions in Iraq in Bob Morrison's book "Operation Granby". The text accompanying one of the photos notes that each of the Challenger regimements had a troop of 8 Scorpions attached to provide close reconnaisence. The only (partially) visable VRN is 04FD3* . There is also a photo of an RAF Regiment Scorpion (VRN 49AT09) in Bob Morrison's companion book, "Operation Desert Sabre".

There are a few shots of Ferrets (MKs 1/1, 1/2 and 2/3) in the first of the books.

Some photo's of the Bovington Archer have just been posted on the Missing Lynx site ( http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/thread/1294364167/Valentine+Archer+%28large+pics%29 ), and a review of the Bronco kit can be found here http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/bronco/cb35074.html .

You'll find a shot of some Stalwarts in Aden here: http://flat222.org/gallery2/v/brian/army/Aden-Sharjah/Aden/Stalwarts_+Often+used+to+protect+air+craft+at+Habilyn+against+small+arms+fire+at+night_.bmp.html

The colour reproduction is not good, but I assume that they are in sand and black.

Or you could always do a mock-up of the Stalwart used as a reef rescue vehicle at RAF Gan:

http://www.bwmodels.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=231121

There's a picture in Breakdown (A History of Recovery Vehicles in the British Army) by Brian Baxter includes a picture of a Mack LMSW breakdown tractor towing a modified Rogers 40-ton trailer being used as a transporter for a British LCM.