Richard Farrant

another go............

Trying to get a Youtube link on, but it were'nt having it.....you will like it :-D

Jack, your powers of MV recognition are improving...........well done :-D

In no particular order ; 1. BRM V16 2. Austin straight six 4 litre 3. Foden two stroke 4. Triumph 750 Trident ( the original one ) 5. Manx Norton 6. Merlin (in aircraft) 7. Detroit 6-71 straight six

Dairy Crest have about five plants producing Stilton, one is at Hartington Derbyshire, SK17 0AH ( put the postcode in Google Map search )....................is this related to the CVR(T) ??

03SP39.........not sure about it being a Striker, I have photos of trials Strikers, 03SP40 and 03SP41, so it sort of fits, perhaps the number was reused, or more likely, a Striker hull was modified for another purpose. The workshops at Chertsey had great facitlities, with manipulators for welding tank hulls, etc, so possible it was stretched. If you look the hull is slightly longer than a normal CVR(T), something else which is odd, the exhaust exits towards the normal front end, that and the rear lights denotes it drove the opposite direction. Oh, thanks Clive, just spotted your reply

I think my assumption on Chertsey may be right as it has a Special Project reg number (SP).

We used to have some of those for steam cleaning under the lorries,

Matt, Sounds like it might be 9/16" hex, why not try the head of a 3/8" unified bolt in the plug ( head will be 9/16" AF), if it fits, weld a piece of bar on it to make a wrench.

Looks like a test vehicle from somewhere like Chertsey, and based on a CVR(T), reckon it has either a load carrying area on the back or a weapons platform. I not it is longer, with unequal spacing between some of the road wheels..........Streaker perhaps?

Or further East.........Britcon at Northiam

Ivor, I have been meaning to post the attached photo on here for sometime. It is of the C9/B that is now in the Firepower Museum. The photo was taken earlier though, in 1995 when it had just been refurbished by us at REME workshops, for the RA Rotunda Museum, after having stood outside for years it did not look very good. We got it in running order and repainted, the cab roof was a non-original fitting that we made to protect the cab area, as it was still destined to stand outside, until the Firepower Museum came into being. Then it went away to be worked on as the gun was not correct type.

For the age of your Albion, the engine colour would be BS 101 Sky Blue, normally the gearboxes on lorries was same green as rest of the vehicle.

They are actually, early CMP trucks. Seeing the light under the chassis, it looks like the convoy lamps were substitiuted for something brighter for the film as you do not get that amount of light usually.

CW, The third pic down, yellow truck, is not an AEC Militant, it was originally a Coles Crane with AEC components. Coles built the chassis, the engine was, I seem to remember, similar to a Matador, as was the gearbox. They were built for the RAF.

CW, This one looks like it is ex-Sayers of Newbury, they used to have an immaculate Militant Mk3 recovery in the same livery. The sleeper cab looks to have been made from a barn door :-D

Steve, These plates are a post war addition. The overhauls were often done by contractors to the Ministry of Supply, each one given a number, such as your B403. During the war, they were known as AAW, Army Auxilliary Workshops, quite often garages or engineering companies. I have not seen a definition of M.T.R.S., but hazard a shrewd guess that it is something like this, Mechanical Transport Repair Scheme ( or Shop ). If it were done by one of the REME Workshops, they had their own codes.

To add to this, about the Transfer box disconnect........it could be used separate the engine from transmission to make starting easier in cold weather. But....as has already been mentioned, Maximum running time is 3 minutes with it disconnected, due to build up of oil in the transfer box.

Richard, Perhaps this is the same one? It comes from the Dorset area, photo taken at Beaulieu Trucks & Troops in 2007.

In case you can't find any..................go to an agricultural machinery dealer, like New Holland or Case agents, they stock synthetic thinners for their range of tractor and machinery paints. This is what I use.

Morris Commercial did away with badges around the middle of the war.

Thanks Ian, I was wrong with 96-97, it was around 1999 when all the petrol ones were cast.

There did seem to be a move with British equipment to hide the details of manufacturers. Early in the war, the cast brass plates on vehicles and their bodies, had the makes name and sometimes location, on examples I have seen, all the letters bar the first one of each word, are ground off, for instance, a plate from a generator trailer, maker, Taskers of Andover Ltd, all that is now visible, "T..... o. A....... L..". On Austin lorries, with later type etched plates, only marked as "AM", ie. Austin Motor Co. Ltd. This might have been done to try and hide the location of the factories from the enemy. Saying this, Bedford had their name on the grille of all their vehicles throughout the war.

2a ambulances were definitely still in service during the period of the London ambulance strike, which I think was at the end of 1989. I seem to think some lasted through until the point when all petrol Land Rovers were cast, think this was about 1996-97

Tony, I am not sure they did get accepted into British Army service, they may well have been on user trials with selected units. Perhaps CW knows more?