RAFMT

On the basis the you never have too much of a good thing i found these amongst the RAF Museum collection while looking at tenders. A couple have been shown before i'm sure:

And to show the old "if it ain't broke don't fix it" attitude of the RAF, the same trailer type in use in 1937:

The RAF museum holds the following which may help:

AP4576A; Fire crash truck, Mk.5A: General and technical information, repair and reconditioning instructions

AP4397A; Truck, 3 ton, GS, Cargo, 4 x 4, Thornycroft, Nubian, TF/B80: Tractor, 10 ton, GS, 4 x 4, Thornycroft, Nubian, TF/B80: Chassis, 3 ton, GS, 4 x 4, Thornycroft, Nubian, TF/B80: User handbook (this is the Thornycroft manual covering the engine and chassis issued in an AM cover)

Chassis lubrication diagrams

EDIT: sorry, i just realised I missed off an AP!

AP4386B covers the equipment fitted to the Mk5

The Mk.5 and 5A are the same chassis/engine with different bodies and slightly different equipment from what I can tell.

There may be something in the RAF Museum library, and by chance i shall be that way tomorrow.

I'll let you know if they have anything of relevance.

These are different cars, used by the Arab Legion and built by a German firm in Jaffa, but nice pictures.

If it's of any interest these trailers were known post 1918 as the Mk1 for the extensible version and Mk1A for the fixed 21ft version. They were also fitted with pneumatic tyres sometime between their introduction and the RAF sorting out their nomenclature system.

6x4 vehicles in use by the RAF in the Middle East were usually Crossley IGLs so...

I'll leave it to someone better versed than I to confirm it.

Ah, thanks, i need to stop using my phone for looking at the internet and get a new computer sorted out.

The Rolls Royce chassis was used as the basis for the wireless tenders used by the Armoured Car Companies under the idea of commonality of parts/ease of maintenance theory so prevalent today. The fact they then went and threw in a large assortment of tenders for the general load carrying role spoilt it a bit.

Cant quite see on this small screen, is it one of the Albions?

The earliest CWGC graves at Orpington (St Mary Cray) Cemetery are all the RAF personnel killed on the 30 August 1940 raid on Biggin Hill buy the looks of it.

The last WW1 death interred in Orpington All Saints was Quatermaster Sergeant Mark Crowder, Royal Irish Rifles on the 26th August 1921. He just made it into the qualifying time frame for a CWGC grave:

The Commission commemorates those who died during the First and Second World Wars in service or of causes attributable to service. The designated war years are

 

First World War

 

4 August 1914 to 31 August 1921

 

Second World War

 

3 September 1939 to 31 December 1947

The "death in service" can include someone who dies 1919-1921 who wasn't actually on service during 1914-1918, but i've only come across one of these.

The RAF made the move from blue grey to green during the 70s if i've remembered right, i'd need to check for the exact date.

It's not impossible that one of the civvy users had it stripped back and painted.

If you get a chassis number its usually possible to get a service registration number - theres a couple of people around who can help you - and from there you can get a rough history of the vehicle.

Do you have an RAF reg number to check Will?

The Defence Fire and Rescue badge applied to vehicles almost always bears the crown, and as far as i'm aware their vehicles are painted red. The RAF Fire and Rescue service has a different badge and also uses red vehicles.

Hello everybody, my name is Bryan.

I am not yet an owner, being more of a historian- particularly of all things wheeled/tracked/skied belonging to the RAF and its predecessors and "subsidaries" (Iraq Levies, Aden Protectorate Levies).

I've lost count of the number of times I've been directed to this forum by search engines whilst looking for things so I thought it was high time I signed up and tapped in to the vast storehouse of collected knowledge here!

I look forward to learning from you guys and perhaps even imparting some of my own limited knowledge.

Regards

Bryan