simon king

In terms of the colours and their application, the best reference you can currently get for British Colours in North West Europe is the Mike Starmer book. it includes colour chips http://www.aviationbookcentre.com/military_pre_1946/british_army_colours__disruptive_camouflage_in_the_united_kingdom_france__nw_europe_193645/4388_p.html http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/books/pb/starmer_bacdc.html sk

Haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere but the National Museum of the Royal Navy have just acquired Fairmile B RML497 https://www.hlf.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/amazing-survivor%E2%80%99-acquired-national-museum-royal-navy

Presumably coming from Tommy's War

According to Hodges and Taylor (page 108) in the list of GHQ, LoC and Army Troops for 1st Army from 31st December 1942, 286 is listed as 64 LAA Regiment

Thanks - another bit of useful information stored away for future use

Could you not have used a 1" hole saw to make the hole for the bracket, rather than having to chain drill and file

Or try and find a reasonably priced copy of British Military Markings 1939 - 1945 by Hodges and Taylor published by Cannon Publications

Thanks for that. It isn't in the same league as your incredible restoration though. Don't know if I would do it again in retrospect. Rest assured I will - there was a rolling restored frame of one in Newark but it went down to Essex when I bought my GS wreck back.

Not always............. They have their own challenges

Shame it isn't a Deacon - as that is infinitely rarer than the Dorchester - and Doug's truck would be a unique survivor - unless somebody finds one gently rusting in a Turkish scrapyard as many were sold to Turkey at the end of the desert campaign when they were declared obsolete. I suspect the original order was for Deacons but in use it had been found out pretty quickly that the design was flawed and the Army didn't want any more so the contract was converted during/before production into ACVs All the visual evidence points to Doug's AEC coming out of the factory as an ACV. Contract information is not always right - I've been trying to determine serial numbers for MkI and Mk II Horsas - Some Horsas which serial number lists (derived from contract records) specify as Mk II Horsas have been shown by photographic evidence to be Mk Is - presumably as a result of design or manufacturing delays - so the change from Deacon to Dorchester is not without precedent.

Hi Wally, Both "F" and "L" prefixes were used on different batches of Dorchesters - for instance AEC 4x4 Armoured Command Car L 4144685 to 4144707 No = 23 AEC 4x4 Armoured Command Post F 89104 to 89313 No = 210 AEC 4x4 Armoured Command Vehicle L 4426417 to 4426516 No = 100 AEC 4x4 Armoured Command Vehicle L 4427073 to 4427109 No = 37 AEC 6x6 Armoured Command Post F 280396to 280545 No = 150 Deacons (and the associated Ammunition carriers) had the "S" prefix for self propelled arttillery

Surely the cab structure for a Deacon is very different from that of a Dorchester as it had a one-seat armoured box for the driver. This one has the engine cover of a Dorchester/Matador cab

if there's nobody more local to you, these guys might be an option - just over the border in South Yorkshire. They fettled my jeep's crank for me http://www.stanwoodengineering.co.uk/ I have no connection to the company

Probably raking the surface to remove small sharp pointed stones that could cut into aircraft tyres.

Y2 was the Squadron code for 442(RCAF) Squadron flying Spitfire MK IX. The squadron used several airfields along the south coast from mid May until the 15th of June, when it moved to Normandy at St. Croix-sur-Mer.

The final piece of the jigsaw - courtesy of John and Mary Worthing (and my hard earned) Just a pity it seems to be impossible to get brown canvas of the correct weight or width. I think I also need to age the rope a bit

Judging from the shape of the framework behind the cab, this was once a Dorchester Armoured Command Vehicle rather than a Matador - is that correct? Edit - I've just seen your post on the AEC Armoured Cars thread - so it is a Dorchester - a rare beastie indeed.

Which is fine if you are a fan of Warpaint paint - but perhaps not everybody is

I'm assuming that British jerrycans would have been painted to the current vehicle colour standards - so 1943 cans would be SCC2 whilst 1944 cans could be SCC2 or SCC15 and 1945 cans would be Scc15 Is that right or did they just paint them any old green? Thanks

plus of course The Mary Rose, Victory, the National Museum of the Royal Navy, the Coastal Forces boats and now Boathouse No 4. There's also the Royal Marines Museum at Southsea

If anybody needs a new excuse to visit Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard, Monitor M33, one of only 3 remaining British warships from the First World War (the others are HMS Caroline in Belfast and HMS President on the Thames IIRC) has completed restoration and is now open to the public http://www.nmrn.org.uk/exhibitions-projects/monitor-hms-m33

Comparison of original SCC2 ammo crate with new BS381c/499 service brown paint on trailer Although the light is not good, original SCC2 seems slightly more orange. 499 is IIRC described as "substitute for/equivalent to" SCC2 not "same as" - but as others have said, there will be batch variations

The Lister generators being used are contemporary with the searchlights - 1940/41

I did it the same way as John - although with only one tail light on the offside - so no brakelights - which I assume was the original set-up.. It took me a time to work out that the two pin sockets are not for stop/tail lights but for double contact single filament bulbs. with a wired earth rather than the lights being earthed through the body. Can you get 6v two filament bulbs of sufficiently small size to fit the Lucas or Butler tail-lights anyway? I looked at AES but they don't do the smaller size two filament bulbs in 6v - only 12v I built up a trailerboard attached by wingnuts to the bottom of the trailer's rear crossmember for road use with modern 7 pin plug and socket (only 5 pins used), light units and distribution box. The socket is hidden in the jeep's tool locker as it is an early one with no trailer socket.

Another 10cwt mortar trailer for sale on Milweb - is that the going price now????? http://www.milweb.net/classifieds/large_image.php?ad=78271&cat=7