fredm

On 2/16/2019 at 9:27 PM, greyhound32122 said:

thank you for your comment fredm 

this diamond t was used in the italy theatre during ww2 so your late father may have driven it?

regards sam 

cheers mate , now thats a thought

great to see this great mammoth restoration being done , well done mate these vehicles must be saved, I have a great interest in diamond Ts as my late father drove them in the war in nth africa and italy and used to tell me about them he had a great respect for good luck with it

try youtube you may be lucky, fredm

was in clacton today and passed a nice restored truck ww2 not sure if it was a austin or leyland looked nice but I never had time to look anyone know it, fredm

^{Not quite a boot find, but a sweet old lady knocked on our door over the weekend and asked if we would like an old tent , bed, and cooker that belonged to her dad, to go with our truck.. She also showed a photo of her family using the tent in 1933. She said it was last used in 1938 !}

^{also with was a great letter from a London chemist , handwritten, with the formula for making your own waterproofing mixture.. Lots of chemicals including red lead and alum...}

^{Tent came with all the original pegs and ropes... Great bit of history}

 

I had a bukta track suit in the 60s are they still going?. fredm

hi I don`t post on here but read with interest the many tales and restorations, to get to the point I was having a clear out the other day and came across some old classic commercial mags in one there was the reminiscences of an old driver who joined the army in 46 and he tells of experimenting going on after the war and diamond Ts fitted with spitfire engines, it is only a couple of lines so no more of this story, I have never heard this before my late father drove diamond Ts in nth africa and italy but never mentioned this, the magazine was dated 2005, so is it true or a load of you know what. fredm

we are all equal to have an opinion, if my parents were alive they would probably say bearing in mind my mum survived the blitz and lost a lot of good friends and my dad who drove a tank transporter through nth africa and italy for 4 years who also lost good mates, bury the ****ing thing down another 60 feet, I also agree about the amount of money its costing does anyone know who is paying the bill, I agree in saving stuff but where does that stop. Am putting on the tin hat awaiting the flak and expect to get expelled for swearing, have a good one fredm

have to say the bedford will always be my favourite ,I don`t have a preserved vehicle and sadly when I was a youngster working for my cousin in the 60s I cut up a lot of MWs and O types and sacrilege willys jeeps but they had no value in those far off days hindsight is a great thing, I grew up as a passenger in all types of bedfords with my father when I was young, my cousin had a lovely MW breakdown with 2 michelin men on the roof it really looked the part but alas when it was worn out (they had a hard life with my cousin) it was the old oxy acetylene torch for it. I wish my father was still around he would have loved this site he drove diamond T tank transporters throught out the war in nth africa and italy he had some great stories none of which were about the horrible stuff only funny stories he would love all the restored motors on here as well as I do all you fellas who take on these restorations I take my hat of to you, sorry to go on but I have had a few all the best fredm

when I built my garage which is approx 25 foot x 28 foot I got 9x3timbers for the roof secondhand from a local demolition firm the guy was very helpful and told me he often came by 30 foot lenghts of 9x3 or there abouts, sadly this firm has now gone but might be worth looking around for reclaim yards or demolition firms, good luck oh and if you get long 9x3s you will need a hand to get them up, fredm

I saw john mills on a chat show some years ago and he said the scene at the end when he downs a lager in one go had to have a few takes and he was quite merry at the end, how good does sylvia sims look in that film I love all these old brit war films they are a bit corny at times but great o watch its my age I suppose it was such a different time then, and I am new to this site but great work to all you restorers you are a brave bunch but there are some great restored motors on here well done, fredm

hi all will make this a short intro I live in east london essex borders I am not a restorer or own any collectable vehicles but I just have an interest in old stuff , and being an old lorry driver and I was a breaker back in the 60s I find the restoration threads great you guys are certainly brave to take on some of motors I have seen on here although some of the stuff I cut up back in the 60s would bring tears to your eyes now but they had no value other than scrap back then , I also have a liking for old bedfords as I spent a lot of time in them as a kid going to work with my father O types ,A types, and S types , my father also drove diamond T tank transporter throughout WW2 in north africa and italy sadly he died before the onset of the internet he would have loved this site , so thats me keep up all the good work you restorers and the pics which are great. fredm

i am in hornchurch essex only a couple of miles from brentwood but have not seen a flake yet and as far as I a concerned it can stay in the sky, for those that have some be safe and look after the older people, fredm

hi there got to say thats a really great job you have done on the GMC and what an unusual motor full marks mate and good luck with it, I am new to this web site are there any shows in essex or generally in the south I would love to get to one this sumer. cheers mate fredm

Many years ago I met a chap at a rally who drove Diamonds during the war. His T was 'HOTSPOT'. In this picture (photo 1) you can see them celebrating with Carlesberg beers ( look carefully and you can see the bottle labels ) after a Panther tank crew (photo 2) surrendered to a British unit together with a Lica camera. I have about 40 photos of this Diamond unit all taken in Italy. This chaps job was to transport the Panther the length of Italy to a rail junction, hence the celebration on arrival.

Photo 3 shows another T in the unit, HOT RHYTHM, along with Italian mascot. When I met this chap, probably 25 years ago, he still had the Lica camera and said that it still took a good photo.

Photo 4 is for the trailer buffs. Is this a German trailer? It shows a 70 ton King Tiger in good condition being towed by a DT. I wonder if this is the one in the Samur Museum in France which is a 'runner'.

All the best. Tony G

hi new to this site great threads especially the diamond t one my father drove them throughtout ww2 in north africa and italy and he told me some great tales , sadly he passed away before the internet was invented he would heve loved this site I would be interested to see the other ww2 pics you have in case he was in one, I used to be a lorry driver and saw many DTs on the road as wreckers up and down the country but have not seen one for any a year so it great to see so many ipreservation keep up the good work lads, cheers fredm