norton 1926

the photo of the church army canteen van, is what I considered was the most important vehicle in the British army.:cheesy: the 6 men 5 standing one bent down in a group are members of the mixed service organisation,thy were polish,Latvians, ukrainians,russians,etcetera displaced in the war, thy did guard duties with dogs, and general duties. I am the sprog in the guard box. :red:

thank you for informing me about rivet counting ,it sounds very exciting I might take it up as a hobby. (just joking) :cheesy:

hi I go to idle regularly to 5 lane end shopping center. are you member of the famous idle working mans club. glad you liked the photos, unfortunately I didn't get a camera until late into my service as I could not afford one.I bought it with my cigarette allowance as I did not smoke,I used to get 1 mark for a 20 packet of senior service htay cost 1 shilling a packet, and there were 12 marks to the pound.

glad to hear you are OK now and still driving. I know what it is like to give some thing up I had both knees replaced had to give up motorcycling ,I can still drive a car . good luck to and the very best of health to you. and keep those wagons rolling.

hi you might be interested in my photos on the forum some are some of the 1st batch of conquerors to come into Germany. allso some centurion tanks. taken between 1953-55. well done with yours.

I heard something about that we lost more men in one day on the Somme than the Americans did in the whole of the vietnam war ?.

if anybody wants to know any thing about my photos , I am willing to try and answer any questions for you. by the way what is this rivet counting thing ?.:red:

it looks very shiny as if it was lacered, it has rear wheel covers are these onmost jeeps,or just on mp jeeps ?.

I cannot rememeber were or when the jeep was taken, possibly it was one of our escortswhen we were transporting conqueror tanks from hamberg, I see it has our division sign cross keys no2 infantry division.

did you like the one were we are changing the trailer inner wheel

all the best andy have a good day gordon

glad you liked them . I did not realise how lucky I was at the time, and at 18 to be driving the largest wagon in the world the mighty antar.

hi I am gordon giles (norton 1926). I do not have any thing military but have an interest in scammells and mighty antars, as between 1953-55 I was a recovery mechanic in the r.e.m.e. at 5th Inf workshop in witten-annan near dortmund germany. I drove a pioneer a scammell and a antar with a 60 ton sanky semi-trailer. I transported one the 1st conqueror tanks to come into germany. I also rode a 500cc m20 b.s.a. and a 350cc G3L matchless dispatch riding when not on recovery duty. we had 1 pioneer,4 exporers,1 antar,1ward le france, 1austin gantry, 1 austin champ,1churchill a.r.v. with a 25 ton winch a caterpillar tractor D8,1 b.s.a. and 2 matchless motor cycles. my other interests are vintage motor cycling pre 1930s and family history. hope you all have a good year with what ever you are doing.

glad you liked the photos I took developed and printed them in a small dark room we had on camp in germany. I see you live in leeds any whear near farsley ?.

hi you could be right about the power. our diamond T was old you could see the D day star under the green paint. the lads that drove it only used it a couple of times a year to keep it running. we mainly used scammells and the antar for transporting. our main job was recovery. i was in the r.e.m.e.

:D glad you liked the photos was not shure if thay would be of interest. did you see the austin champ our officer had gone though deedp mud and hit a submerged tree stump. we all had a good laugh at him ( after he had gone ) not me of corse:angel:.

yes, the scammells I found very good. in the scammells we had 4 explorers 1 pioneer,and moor other stuff. With the tracks on it was unstoppable. A pain to fit.the photos in the mud are on the tank training ground at Iserlohn I thinkdoing our 1st class r.e.m.y. recovery course. A little later we got our antar I moved up to be the driver of that

ok then. the lads driving the diamond t went to out to bring a centurion tank in for repairs on the way back going down a hill he missed a gear and it run away got up a good speed. some of the lads jumped off. I was outriding that day on a matchless motor cycle, I turned saw it coming and shot up a cart track to get out of the way. The brave lad driving managed to stop it at the bottom of the hill. (he didnt need the toilet again that day;)). A few months later when it asw started up it just kept running full blast thay had to break the fule line to stop it quick. thay took it away as it was no good for heaver tanks.

hi extrogg yes it was germany, 5 inf workshope r.e.m.e. witten-annen . nr dortmond. b.a.o.r.14. it is pronounced vitten-annen.

hi gordon m, yes it is a ward le france, and as you said used for higher and heavier lifts. i think it had a unusal gearchange 1st to 2nd then 3rd went to 4th position 4th went to 3rd position. we did not use it much only for practice same as the churchill a.r.v. and the caterpiller D9 and the diamond t .what happend to that is another story.gordon giles (norton 1926)

hi antar mike. yes it is the mohna dam we were passing and stopped for a break to have a look at it. I took another photo with some of the lads on it, unfortunately i deleted it by accident on the disc i sent to andy fowler. hope you liked the antar ones , especially the one showing the box for punctures on the trailer wheels. I towed one of the 1st conquerors to come into germany, from hamburg to our workshops in witten-annen near dortmund as it broke down on us but thats another story. we should have taken it to iserlohn. it is covered up as it eas the new secret self stabilising gun. I should have not taken these pictures ,as the m.ps and security police were confiscating all films from cameras. happy to answer any questions. (norton1926) gordon giles

andy. thank you very much for putting my photos on the web site, I appreciate what you have done for me. as it meant loosing time rubbing down your scammell:)

no he was a corporel he drove our caterpiller D8,i think it is a D8 you can just see it in one photo,he drove it through the mud hole wear i took the photo of my scammell 06-bd-36 the one with chains on. the D8 engine covered him in mud (he he).i am in the sentry box and on the motor cycles. gordon giles (norton1926)

The artillery moved into the field at night it rained all night and most of the next day. they had 2 guns a matador and the scammell bogged down. we were passing stopped and pulled them out.thay treated us like heroes gave us a good dinner in the sergeants mess. I was the driver of 06-BD-36 a 6x6 explorer(the one with chains on). when we got the mighty antar I moved up to be the driver of it. I had to go on a weeks driving course for it. glad you liked the photos I took developed and printed them at 5 inf workshope, witten annan just outside dortmound germany B A O R 14. gordon giles (norton 1926)