XS650

That excavation is a death trap.

Photo from the other thread , JUV833 is still in use in 1968 / 1969 as Bedford RL fire tender beside it is G reg. and of course it could be much later, 1970s even.

Answering my own question there is quite a bit on these on the thread in British Vehicles. 'How Many Humber 4x4 Utilities are There?' and they were indeed post war conversions of ambulances for airports. They appear to be an early TACR.

Very interesting . First question that springs to mind is why would Army Fire Service have civilian registrations? I have a vague recollection of seeing a photo of one in a civilian airport fire line up but this may have been after release of course.

With the AFS disbanded in 1968 it would take a while to get the surplus sorted out and auctioned off. They kept a reserve store of some of the 4x4 RLHZ fire pumps because they thought that they could traverse bombed out streets easier in the event of a nuclear war. There was nothing wrong with the 4x2's. Ironically in the major use these 4x4 pumps had (replacing striking civilian fire appliances) the 4x2s would have been better as they were more stable in corners and probably a little faster.

Joetow, why not post a pic of it. I am interested in all trucks. Dare say we are all vehicle enthusiasts here so does not matter if it is civilian version. Craig

Thought they were all diesel. Have you got a civilian version? Craig

RAF Austin K2 ambulance, Austin K6 and Fordson WOT1 fire tenders at at RAF Upwood 1952 . Ambulance has something many modellers forget- white wall tyres even on spare! 😁 Stills from the film Appointment in London about wartime Lancaster Squadron. This is on You Tube and has a great selection of RAF vehicles.

The Mulberry harbour pic is very interesting as there are three Army Fire Service Bedford QL fire tenders on the right.

I wonder why none of these wartime pumps used the vehicle engine with a pto for pumping. Would seem much more economical on materials in wartime.

This is great thread. Would any one like to guess how many 980/981s are still around world wide? 100, 200, ,300.........??? And does anyone know roughly how many in UK? 25, 50 .100...........???? Craig

I posted some links and stills to some postwar colour Scottish TA Regiment films and and the blue colour of the Saltaire badge varies from a deep blue to a light blue even in the same outfit. Scroll down to the last two stills of the armoured cars for a quick instance - BTW-This is a stunning restoration , no corners cut , can only gaze on in wonder as I find it hard to keep one old motorbike on the go! Craig

Curious as to why Saladins used .Were the RE repair teams tasked to inspect runway bomb damage whilst the air attack was still on ? Craig

I know post war there were 3 ton and 6 ton 'Mechanical Horses ' and the trailers were very different in size . Farmers favoured the 6 ton trailers. So make sure yours is right size. Craig

Paul , great information thanks, my big interest is BEF vehicles so if I am reading right only the later BY5 carried Folding Boat Equipment. Therefore the BEF of 1940 would not have FBE trucks? Fancy Albion having a different engine in each subsequent variant over such a short period , what a nightmare for spares stock! Craig

Great restoration. So nice to see a Brit rarity rescued from the dead. Could you tell me what year it is? And do you know the years of the BY1 and BY3 production? Questions questions! I have seen many photos of them with the BEF, usually wrecked in France. So wonder what model they had in 1940. Some made it to Dunkirk beaches where their boats were of some use. They are seen near the 'lorry piers' which were constructed by the R.E. 's. Pic below is a Dunkirk lorry pier with possibly a folding boat . I will see if I have any Albion F.B.E pics Craig

Wow, superb .

Could it just belong to someone who liked US markings ? Might be an MV enthusiast if the Jeep is also his or hers .

What is a Gloster Saro conversion lightweight ?

Couple of QL refuellers in post war service from the Laing archive on Historic England website.

So they didn't notice 6 TONS of motorcycles until well into their journey and the auctioneer missed 450 Land Rovers, every single one. The vehicles most punters went there to buy.............mmm Hard to believe

Surely with the thousands of vehicles auctioned over many years the odd mistake must have been made. Like leaving something in a truck or mis describing a lot.

Always thought of these as an AEC product really ( and AEC were very good at dump trucks) . Though they carried Leyland , Thornycroft, Aveling Barford and I think Scammell badges at various times . Where were they made? did they survive AEC Southall factory closure in 1979 ?

Is this something else Airfix got wrong!😀

Yes very much so and 'Flat Tanker' bikes. Suppose it is natural progression , people want to have or restore the cars of their youth so everything shuffles on a decade or so as people leave this mortal coil. ' Was it ever thus'. Watching the entertaining ' Bangers and Cash 'TV series about Classic Car Auctioneers Mathewson 's Derek the auctioneer says their is very limited demand for pre-war cars now. Makes me smile when the classic vehicle fraternity say we have no youth coming through, If they mean teens and twenties very few will be interested . When I was young in 70s I wanted the latest wizz bang and all the classic clubs were mainly ancient 50 plus people as it is today. As long as you have the new middle aged still coming through whats the problem.