Dusty

Bill You might find the attached of interest. It should be remembered that these were not necessarily impressed by the military, they could just as easily have been used by civilian A.R.P. organisations during the war. I would welcome any information you could find on their original owners. John Bus and Coach at auction.doc

I have Austin chassis number 47122 as a K2/YV short wheelbase Towing Unit for the National Fire Service. It should never have been used by the military. John

Here are those from a sale at Elstow in December 1950. Dusty Elstow Military December 1950.doc

Bit late with this but in another sale at Elstow on the 19th. April 1950 appeared this - Krauss-Maffi Personnel Carrier H6246253 2xTrack Dusty

Hello Big_S These were at a Ministry of Supply sale at Elstow in April 1950, are they the sort of thing you are after? Dusty Elstow Military April 1950.doc

Could you give us a location for this yard please? Dusty

And some more from the newspapers Nineteen soldiers, all Canadians stationed at a NorthEngland camp, were killed and two seriously injured when an Army lorry crashedinto a house after failing to take a sharp bend in the road at Burley-in-Wharfdaleearly yesterday, Thursday 15th. June 1944. The lorry contained 21members of a picket. The lorry was travelling from Ilkley towards Otley and theaccident occurred on the main road near the Malt Shovel Hotel. At an inquest which was opened on Friday 16th.June an Army doctor, who attended the men at the scene of the accident, said 17were killed outright, two died in a wardens’ post soon afterwards, and anotherdied in hospital on Thursday night. All the men died from fractured skulls, hesaid, and it was probable they had received their head injuries when the lorrystruck the side of the house. At the resumed inquest on 23rd. June the solesurvivor, Sergeant Camile Cote, told the Coroner that in his opinion the causeof the accident was that the driver approached the corner at too great a speed.Two or three times I told the driver (Elmond Durand, who died in hospital) toslow down as he was travelling too fast. I should say he was going about 50miles an hour. Captain P. de Martigny, a transport officer, said the typeof lorry was capable of 50 to 55 mph and could overturn very easily on cornersif not driven at a moderate speed.

It looks good. What period did they operate in? Dusty

Is this event not on Saturday 4th. July ? Dusty

The National Fire Service acquired a number of ex military Leyland Retrievers about 1944 on which their workshops built a variety of bodies, this one had a crane fitted and became a Breakdown Lorry. In 1948 it passed to the Birmingham Fire and Ambulance Service and it is interesting to see it still has their radio call-sign M2FB20 painted on the rear bulkhead. Dusty

The BBC have just reported that the planned fly-past of the two Lancasters over Lincoln Cathedral today has been postponed as due to bad weather the BBMF has been grounded. The Canadian Lancaster is still hoping to fly over the cathedral in company with the Red Arrows shortly. Dusty

This came from HANSARD the offical report of debates in Parliament which are available on-line. Dusty

In March 1946 in the Commons Mr. Attewell asked the Minister of Supply and of Aircraft Production if it is proposed to allow the sale in this country of a proportion of surplus Army stock of lightweight folding motor cycles, known as Welbike, to individuals desiring to purchase for their own use. Mr. Wilmot all surpluses so far declared have been disposed of to an export firm for re-sale to America. This transaction was particularly welcome in view of the urgent need for dollars. These machines could not in any case have been used on the roads in this country without considerable conversion to comply with the requirements of the Road Traffic Act, 1930. I wonder what circumstances had changed that made it possible to auction Welbikes off to the public by December 1947? Dusty

John Interesting question. My first thought was that as it received a new registration in 1946 then the motorcycle had been sold in one of the Ministry of Supply sales and being ex military would have had to have been registered in order to put it on the road. But you state that this is a re-registration so that can't be the case here. Are you sure that it was used by the military? I have found a few civilian vehicles that were re-registered during the war with Government registration marks in the London C.C. range and were used by the National Fire Service, no idea why they did this and I don't know if the original owner received them back after the war. However this was in 1942 and I would think that 1946 was far too late to be indulging in such things. Possibly the owner registered the motorcyle from new, then it was laid up when the owner was called-up and when he tried to tax it again in 1946 perhaps there was a problem. Maybe he had lost the log book or the motor taxation books at the local authority office had been destroyed in the blitz, either way perhaps the local authority decided the easiest way out of the problem was to re-register the motorcycle to the original owner. Has the owner any paperwork such as log books which might show a change of ownership during the war? Perhaps you could reveal the two registration numbers as this might help to suggest other lines of enquiry or ideas. Dusty