ford 369

thank you very much for an informataive and interesting article

dallas dig out this sunday ,is anyone going

this exhibition is really being pushed my wife saw it on itv news last night and there was a competition on LBC to win free entry,I think it may be time for a cultural trip to an art gallery

looking again at the 135 m20 on the birminghamtoberlin website I think it may be Ernie Gaveys old bike with a new owner

kew bridge pumping engine?

it wasnt too bad for a shot in the dark was it

When i saw this scammell it stopped me dead.

I joined the Metropoliton Water Board to expand my knowledge

as they worked on everything from gas turbine generators to gang mowers.My first job on my first day was on the scammell.

Everyone had a go at it,it had a severe brake pull,it had new shoes drums cylinders etc.I had spent a year training on a heavy vehicle and plant course.so with the instructors words still ringing in my ears(look for the simplist things first)off i go and check the spring bolts.Straight away on giving them the wheel tappers test it was obvious they werent as tight as they could be.I couldnt shift the nuts so a bit of heat was used and once they had been backed off they went up a treat.I thought this isnt going to go down well,being a new mush,with the others,so Bruce the driver goes out on rd test.He is a huge bloke ex fairground beard the lot.Comes back alls perfect.i say dont make a fuss and he winks.Half hour later at tea brake he comes in declares there all a bunch of tossers and worst.

Declares Catweazle is king.Thats where the name started.I didnt know where to hide.

Anyway this is not the one but a dead ringer,it was rescued from the yard of a fairground owner ,he had lenghthend the chassis to take a generator.

It has since been shortened and now looks just as it would of done,but it did give me a turn when i saw it.

My punishment for being a smart arse ,they drilled a hole im my tin mug.

Bruce found out who had done it.Tied him in his chair.lifted him and the chair together walked to a l/rover pick up put him in the back and drove round the resivoir and dumped him on the otherside it is 3miles around that resivoir.left him there for the rest of the day.

is that the model of scammel with the fibreglass cab?

think I prefer the second one,miss keeler I presume

kew bridge pumping engine?

more stylish than an m20??????? wash your mouth out with soap

yes I remember seeing that jeep in this years liberation day parade whilst it was parked by the new tourism office,if I remember correctly it is painted in postwar gloss green although I could be wrong about that

dont know how to go about posting a link as I am not particularrly good at all this techy stuff but just google birminghamto derlin.com and then scroll down the home page and you will find the picture,if I remember correctly there is another 135 marked m20 on Guernsey belonging to Ernie Gavey and one in the occupation museum in Forest as well

just been looking on birminghamtoberlin.com and would you believe another 135 m20 appears in thier pin up section,these things are like buses ,none for ages and then a load all at once

this trip is sounding better by the minute better not make it sound too inviting or everyone will want ot go

yes I see it and stand corrected all that is needed now is to find out why some have and some have not got the white background,I also had a look through the photographic archive and although I could not find any pictures of bikes in picture sjpa/002341 the soldier on the left appears to be wearing motorcycle breeches

Nigel

Thanks for the pics Darren they will be most helpful and it looks like a nice bike but I think it should be fitted with pannier frames as in the latewr war years all larger bikes were although I have to admit I personally prefer the look without .

In the force 135 book if you look at the vehicle lists in the back it does list motorcycles and at the war tunnels archive they have several pictures of force 135 with motorcycles in them but unfortunately never a good enough picture to see the badge painted on the tank.

The one question this picture raises for me is should the badge have a white background ,it may be right I have just never seen one like it before

cheers ,Nigel

wyvern is also the emblem of 43 recce

think you will find it is an L type velox as used in heartbeat as a taxi

thank you for some very interesting reading I really must make the effort to get back to hill 60 etc in the near future,is the cafe still there with many original pictures on display?

Nigel

a recent mvt magazine had an article about mark 2 and 3 zephyrs being used by the military police and I know there is mark3 zephyr in Hendon RAF museum,I am also fairly sure I have seen a late mode vanguard in RAF livery

Nigel

thanks for that Darren ,that would be great,do you know if it is an original 135 bike or one that has been marked up later?

cheers ,Nigel

The answer to vehicle signs is easy. Ask Tony at Axholme signs, he has just done some for me, perfect. He made some stick on's to the ratio I asked for.

thats fine ,do you have an email address or phone number for axholme signs? meanwhile I will try google

cheers, Nigel

there is a couple of recently released books about carriers but I cannot think of the authors name but am pretty sure they are available through milweb

,Nigel

Force 135 BD unit insignia are available from Simon, whose surname and web site have gone straight out of my head! I'll find it and post. The Force only took 1/3 of it's transport, the rest was liberated, recaptured, re-requisitioned, call it what you will from the Occupiying forces. (The PC Brigade considered it incorect to refer to 'Germans' in 2005) There were bikes taken over. Mark Lamerton's Liberated by Force 135 is the bible.

BD insignia is also available from Andrew Butler in Normandy so that is not a problem but vehicle insignia is more difficult although I suppose it could be scanned from a picture to make templates but it is quite a complex design and I am having trouble finding thecorrect size and position details for my bikes tank badge,I have checked Marks book and spoken to him about decent pictures but unfortunately all he can find show the wrong angles to be of much use

cheers ,Nigel

unfortunately this just shows a part of the great british public adopting the same attitude as our pitiful excuse for a government who seem completely at ease forgetting that without the sacrifices made by all of our forces over the years it is doubtful that they would have a free country to govern and clearly the trader mentioned is simply that,a trader and not an enthusiast

yes it does have twin bren mount which I know is unusual so that could well be the answer as to whose it is ,so I guess it will be busy in Guernsey in 2010 and not travelling abroad to Jersey