Richard Farrant

Here is a Diamond T 980 that is a bit special :-D

Phil, Sounds interesting. The last Ruddington sale was 1983, there were a few Hippos in service just before then.

That Morris sounds like a CDSW, but not 6x6, it would be 6x4. They were built from late 30's into early war period I think, judging by contarcts list. There was one in preservation in the North of England some years ago, forget where now.

I was at Biggin on that day, standing at the fence by the Invader as it left, then shortly after saw it do the manouvre when it all went wrong.

Vince, There is a pic showing the back end of it, at Headcorn....and on the opposite page is a pic of my Bedford

Something puzzles me with what you are saying about the RB44. I had them come through my workshop section early in their service life....but memory of details on them was slim as at the time we were rebuilding crashed DROPS trucks from Bosnia. You say the RB44 had disc front brakes and air over hydraulic brakes, well that does not tally with a video made of their production clearly showing vacuum brakes and front drums. I know they undertook mods on them during service life, but changing to air brakes and having to install a compressor would have been a radical move surely. Here is the film, apparantly produced by Renault Trucks;

Hello Sid, I remember you, did not realise you had same name though! That was an awful day on the motorway services, not seen your father for some years. Ask your father to email me re. his Saracen. regards, Richard

I think the first lorry is an AEC (Y-type ?) and the following two with disc wheels are Leylands, the wheels were a feature of theirs. The lower pic, not sure, but think it might be a Guy, the box looks to be the same size as the VM toolbox still used at least into the 1990's.

Another quality job from Catweazle & Co. :thumbsup:

Just found a photo of a Q4 in convoy with the Centurion tank on the way to Emu Field / Maralinga for the atomic test, but realised it pre-dates the coming into service of your Q4. It only shows a part side view with Cent on transporter in front. That is not to say it was not used later because numerous test carried on for several years. I did find another photo of a British REME detachment at Maralinga and a Q4 could be seen in the background, with a hydraulic loader crane between cab and body, that was never a standard fit on Army Q4 in the UK. I will keep looking.

Hi Geoff, I guess you got the info from the RLC Museum in Deepcut? Usually the records show that when struck off, where it was disposed off, ie disposal depot, like Ruddington, etc. My feeling is that it may have been transfered from Army "ownership" to an authority involved in the bomb testing in Australia, the timing would be about right. Then it was disposed of locally. I have seen a photo of the Centurion on the way to or from Maralinga (I think) with a Q4 in the background, will have to see if I can find it.

John, Yes, I remember that one now, it looks very similar to the cab on Radek's Austin K30 too.

Think I got the wrong guy from Czech', the lorry with odd cab that I was thinking of, is Radek's Austin K30/YK, see pictures on his website, www.austincars.wz.cz

Hi John, I think the cab has similarities to Tatra ( this could line up with kpt Higgins truck with a similar cab as he is in Czech'). The chassis may well be Bedford, the petrol tank and mountings are right, as is front panel, bumper, towing eyes and rad cap! Front hubs are not Bedford, nor are the side panels or front wings either...so it looks like a rebuild from the Eastern Front perhaps.

There was a Churchill in Fort Newhaven, years ago. It was moved from there and went to a museum in France, possibly the one in Brest (?). Our local REME TA unit were involved in the recovery, as it had to be winched over an embankment at the Fort.

Hi Sid, Welcome to the forum. Your name seems familiar.........did you once have a Saracen? regards, Richard

Thank you for the link. :shake:

Thanks Jim, I will find the guys names and see if you recognise any of them.

Mike, Good photos, thanks. The first photo of a Ferret was mysterious, I see it did not have an engine or transmission, but think it may have been a diesel conversion, maybe by GKL who are based in your region. The telling point is the silencer is on the opposite side. What you thought might be a Staghound is actually a Daimler Armoured Car. Happy Christmas

Hi Jim, Welcome to the forum. Were you ever stationed at SME Workshops at Moorebank? I was there for a few weeks in '92 and got to know some of the RAEME guys, but lost touch over the years.

Geez...that was a full bucket, hope no one was in the CAT

The similarity that causes this confusion is the centre locker / bouyancy tank. The prototype Foxes had a round cover as did the Mk4 and 5 Ferret. The other similarity is the reduction hubs and disc brakes, but these are different to the Fox and parts not interchangeable. I learnt this early in their service life, when needing some hub parts for a Fox. A number of Mk5 Ferrets had come in to have wheel stations removed prior to going as range targets. Then found they were of no use to us as a spares source.

Thats an old one, I remember many years ago going to a dealer who had Jeeps advertised at from £1500. The one at that price was not a pretty sight :-D

No, I think you missed the point, they bought a good one and advertised it with no price, but those at £5,000 upwards are the rougher ones. One in picture looks in pretty good shape, but I recollect there were some wrecks at Withams, from their website.

So as that that looks like your garden Clive, is it Lee's new project?