Richard Farrant

To be accurate, the Rag And Oil Company ( as it was known to the troops!), did much more than supply of armaments and explosives, they were the Storekeepers so to speak and anything required came through them, be it food and rations, fuel and oil, parts, vehicles, weapons, clothing, bog paper, it all had a Stock No. and was issued from an RAOC Depot. They were absorbed in to the royal Logistic Corps, along with the Royal Corps of Transport (RASC before that) and I think, the Army Catering Corps.

Rick, The "converted from" number is the wartime census number stencilled on either side of bonnet and across back panel, 3.5" high letters / figures. The number is prefixed with M (eg. M1234567). S/M2275 is the Contract number, this was a batch order by the British Govt from the US. 72BVD was 72 "B" Vehice Depot, "B" vehices were any softskins, the BVD's were operated by the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Sometimes on these Key Cards, there is a disposal date hand written in. the jeep may well have been disposed of direct from that depot. I am not certain of which location it was in, but there were many around at the time, one was Donnington Park, where the race circuit is.

That is a tropical roof, it has an air gap to keep the cab coller ( well ,that was the idea), and yes there were bonnet sides, normally, but it is not unknown for them to be removed to access the engine, then drive off and run them over!

Hi Tony, I have seen photos of these civvy driven transporters, moving Centurions to the Vehicle Depots, trying to remember the base they operated from, think it was around the Yorkshire area. Think they may have been in Wheels & Tracks, will keep a look out. Are you sure they were run by the Home Office? I thought it was the Ministry of Supply.

and luckily, no computor to distract me there. Hope you get sorted out at home soon. Tell the builders you will send the boys around, that'll gee them up when they see a convoy of Ferrets and Pigs coming down the road :-D

Thanks :tup: I came in late on this one, a good response from everyone though.

So........its not a cannonball launcher then ? :whistle:

an aqueduct? date..........c.1909

I notice a catch here, re. location of hotel. A guess, Palestine Police force, (maybe not the correct title).

Clive, Afraid you are wrong, it is an Otter :tongue:

Baz, That engine brings back memories! It is a 214 ci, a late one at that, going by the oil filter, and it was rebuilt by 44 Command Workshop REME, Ashford, in 1977. How do I know that, because I was a fitter there and spent time building these 214, 300, 330 diesels and a number of other types. Memory tells me they were for VAS coaches, Hawson bodied vans, J type ambulances, etc., all had slight variations on them. I fitted a slightly later rebuild 214 in to a MW, trouble was, the new engine was for a TK and the bell housing did not have mountings on the lower sides, had to swap the original plus starter and flywheel. These engines are 100 bhp against the 72 bhp that the 28 hp gives out, so you will notice the difference.

Rick, You will find these numbers on a lot of British vehicles in 1950's era, there has been specualtion that it could be a rebuild serial number, or something to do with the Vehicle Storage Depots. I have seen them on Austin K2 ambulances, Champs, Austin K9, etc.

actually ,it is NSW, Australia. A while ago it was on Aussie Ebay and was describaed as being powered by a Rolls Royce V-12 engine..........yeah, dream on!

Clive , From what is shown, there are two options, either a GMC Canada (Chev) C15TA armoured truck or GMC Canada Otter ligt recce car. In preference I think the first. Oh, and Tony B, that is not a Marmon Herrington pic you had posted, it is an AEC armoured car.

It might have been a lot different if their plants had been decimated by enemy bombing raids, and of course, raw materials were more readily available. What our industry did was truely remarkable at the time, which makes the old British vehicles something special.

Tony, Trouble is, how many vehicles are there, restored in the UK? Many owners have more than one, so most times only one is brought out. Some, due to their age, condition, etc. are not driven too far from home, so would rely on transporting, that brings costs in to it. The numbers of vehicles coming in to Beltring have risen, but it is staggering how many of them are visitors from overseas and the majority of them are PW non-British. So as a long term exhibitor there, I feel that British vehicles are not neccesarily on the decline there, but just out numbered. Somebody else pointed out how Dunkirk would have effected the numbers of vehicles that have survived, I do not think this is true, because our manufacturing was not fully mobilised at that time and it in fact weeded out a lot of outdated and unsuitable vehicles. Take a look at photos on the beaches, there were a great number of comandeered trucks of all descriptions. After Dunkirk, makers came out with 4x4 3 tonners like the QL, WOT6 and K5 for instance, it gave the motor industry a chance to show what it could do. I can remember in the 50's and 60's, a great number of WW2 British vehicles still being used, parts were available either from vast WD surplus stocks or the fact that postwar civilian models were very similar. These vehicles were worked to death as they were cheaper than buying new. Many is the haulier who started their empires with ex-WD lorries. Those Brit lorries that have survived into preservation have either been stored under cover for years, been in reserve stock from overseas forces or have undergone a major restoration. There were still WW2 British trucks in service with the British Army in the very late 1970's, with spare parts stock as well.

Andy, I take it that you have never been to W&P? If that is so, you ought to go at least once and not listen to others, you may find it better than you thought. I have been going to this show from when it first started in Tenterden 1983, a few years later it moved to Beltring. Over the years it gradually grew, it was the IMPS annual gathering and from the very first we had entries from Holland, Norway, etc. I accept it is now a commercial undertaking, but it is still run in the main, by enthusiasts. My reasons for going is meeting people, making contacts for parts, etc., getting together with old friends from around the world, searching the stalls and of course, looking at MV's! It is one good weeks holiday. I would have liked to have taken part in the British convoy, but unfortunately a group of us had booked a meal out of camp that night, so had to miss, but it seems it did not happen. It was a good idea, but I think at the wrong time, many people are then thinking of preparing for their evening meals. There was a large entry of WW2 Brit vehicles, and yes, it would be great to see them all together, but with a show of this size, it would be difficult as owners are always out and about and it becomes difficult to get everyone in one place at one time.

Andy, Where is this K6 Gantry based? The only one in this area, used to belong to a friend and I helped to look after it, now moved on to another local collector and was at Beltring. The only two that I can think of is an ex-Royal Navy one that was in Farnborough, but could now be sold, and a sand coloured one. If it is the latter one, then it is ex-REME museum and I had a small hand in it restoration many years ago.

Well Adam, I have not seen this month's comic so am going on what you have posted, for reason 1, that Kent is too far away........? Too far from where. I am from Kent and brought a WW2 British lorry along, as I always do, there were a good few British softskins around, perhaps the mag writer did not venture around the fields to see them or they were so well camouflaged ;-) To be honest, I can think of quite a number of vehicles in this catagory, in this area of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, which do not attend for one reason or another, but there are just as many postwar owners who also do not go there with their vehicles, many owners just prefer to visit the show and views others and go around the stalls looking for that illusive part. I do not fully believe that it is because the owners are now getting on, because some of these are owned by younger people who prefer to collect vehicles from our own countries military history. It could be true that some vehicles are going overseas and can think of a very few, but not significant numbers. I just looked through the programme and in the medium class, there are 18 15cwt trucks listed, a fair percentage being Bedford MW, also Morris C8 gun tractors, Matadors, Scammells, Austin K2, K3, K6, Bedford QL, OY, Fordson WOT models, and WOA2, Tillies. Not sure whether a WW2 British truck is an investment though, the prices have stayed reasonablly level for years, unless you see one for sale that has had a lot of money spent on its restoration.

A transit case maybe? Not sure about the plastic bag, it seems small and may not be the size of the box, this could be misleading us.

Tony, Looks like a Cat D7 with cable operated blade on trailer behind the Albion.

Tim, My favourites are The Two Types, by Jon ( I think), following two Brit officers on their war travels from N. Africa through Italy.

Could also be a drying room for clothes, uniforms, blankets and / or fumigating them, if so this could date back to WW1 when narrow guage railways were used in France.

So the question now is, does the material that is to be heated, cured or cooked, stay on the railway wagon or is it off loaded diectly in to the building, I think the latter, which would mean this material, is either heavy, bulky or difficult to handle. The rail track is I am sure, narrow guage going by other measurements on the drawings. The period, I would say is 1914 to 1930 approx. I will have a stab and say that it is for curing meat.

Clive, You have lost me now, because on reading the drawing it has a structure within the building with four sides indicated as "slope". The iron beams that support the floor appear to go over this, as the dotted lines on the drawing show. I did Technical Drawing a long time ago, ..... but it might be that the illustration is misleading me :dunno: