lynx42 Rick Cove

Thanks Christian, but what is IRR Green? Don't think we called it that in OZ. Rick.

I have had a post on HMVF about this in British Vehicles section without a great deal of success. I thought I would post my request here in Aviation as it seems that the only arm of the British forces to use such a truck is the RAF. I have a 1977 Leyland with the 'G' cab and wish to paint it in RAF colours. These photos show the type of truck I have and I am hoping someone out there has an idea of the correct colour. The photo comes from flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/merf29/with/5687182388/). If you have any information, photos,etc of the 'G' Cab Leyland, I would appreciate it. Regards Rick.

Does anyone know what colour the paint is on this G cabbed Leyland? I have stripped the cab out and am removing all the wiring, air lines, steering etc. so will start with just a bare cab and take it from there. I will not have the exhaust out under the front bumper. Here in Australia it is against the law if the vehicle was not fitted that way originally, and the Leylands here had upright exhausts. Regards Rick.

So we might give India a miss then. I have been through hours of the Ashok Leylands, but they are far to modern. SO.. Lets go back to the RAF prime movers. Any more info on them out there? BTW.. I hope your feeling better too, Degsy. Attached is a 3/4 front photo of a recovery of a 1941 Ford F60L fitted with a recouperator service van body for servicing the 25pdr. gun/howitzer recouperators. (This one is coming up for sale. If your interested contact me.) On the back of the Leyland is a Crane Set No. 7 which has proved itself very hand over the years. Regards Rick

And another one with no details. ( ) The rego numbers are also very close. 74 AN 24 (?) and 73 AN 95. So it seems that the RAF had a few.

I appreciate your answers, Degsy, Richard and Andrew, and I have been searching the web off and on today. I found this one and someone may have more info about it. My Leyland was also a prime mover in it's heyday, pulling milk tankers around the West Gippsland area for Petersville Milk Products. This is sort of what I was looking for. It was found on flickr. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/merf29/with/5687182388/) The caption says that it is a RAF with a Queen Mary trailer taken somewhere on 30/08/1984. It is early days and the info must be out there. It would be interesting to see if any G Cabbed Leylands went to India.

I have a 1977 Leyland with a 410 turbo diesel and a 6 speed with splitter and I use it to move and recover my vehicles. The attached photo shows us off to a display at Avalon Airport some 450km. from home a few years ago. The load is my M3a1 White Scout Car and my 1916 Albion A10 WW1 truck As it is time to give the old girl a respray I thought I might do a military paint job so that it fits in with the rest of the vehicles in the collection. So my question is, did the British or any foreign forces use any Leylands of this period? I know that there were none used in Australia but thought that they may have been used somewhere else. Thanks Rick..

G'day Mike, Do you know the story behind the 25pdr. mentioned in No.(1)? I think that it would be an interesting story for all. BTW I have recently obtained a striker case etc. for my G & J Weir 25pdr. Still need one for the Short 25pdr. though. Regards Rick.

There is a good photo of some WW1 vehicles for sole on Ebay. I think it is a Dennis with an unusual coach-built cab. http://www.ebay.com/itm/British-Armored-autos-Fr-/300747374884?pt=Art_Photo_Images&hash=item4605f0c124 Regards Rick.

This is the other one. (Currently not for sale).

Some photos I took a while ago.

I have had a look at this one. I'm not too sure that it is WW1 but others may know more than I do about Leylands. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/WW1-Leyland-Truck-Ex-British-Army-/300745587414?pt=AU_Militaria&hash=item4605d57ad6 The seller is a pretty good bloke. He also has another similar Leyland on his place. Regards Rick.

RattlesnakeBob, I have Yellow Stars on my 1942 M3A1 White Scout Car. I did this as it was an American Armoured vehicle before the use of the White Star was formalised. I had to do a lot of research to make sure that I had the right markings for early 1942 and this is what I discovered. The blue painted registration numbers were not as readable from a distance or on photographs so that the vehicles and their units could not be easily be recognised by the enemy. A plain White Star was seen on some U.S. vehicles in England as early as 1942. It was also seen in the South West Pacific (Guadalcanal). By 1943 it was seen on all types of vehicles in all theatres of war. In August 1942 HQ Armoured Forces (US) order No. AR-850-5 formalised the use of the White Star as a form of national insignia . BUT, in January 1942 HQ Armoured Forces (US) had issued orders that all armoured vehicles would have the national insignia painted in Air Corps. Yellow No.4. Lustreless. As a result, some armoured units continued with their Yellow Star right through-out the remainder if the war. (General Patton was one who always had yellow stars on his vehicles. There are plenty of photos of his vehicles with the Yellow Star.) The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, 10th July 1943 was the first major usage of the WhiteStar. Because of reports that the White Star could be mistaken for a German insignia and there was a threat of friendly fire, orders were issued for a circle to be painted around the White Star. Initially that circle was to be painted in the aforementioned Air Corps Yellow No.4 lustreless. Later this was changed to a white circle. This White Star within the white circle continued until the end of WW2 and beyond. I hope this helps to clear the waters, or does it maybe muddy them a bit more? Regards Rick.

This is currently on Ebay. No.330751692753. Plenty of good photos af all the chassis parts. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Other-Makes-Nelson-Lemoon-Fire-Truck-1916-NELSON-LEMOON-FRAME-W-ENGINE-WHEELS-RARE-ANTIQUE-HARTUNG-/330751692753?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item4d02564fd1 Regards Rick

I think that this one is Buick car chassis from the early twentys. The chassis is too light to be a truck and the suspension is right and the size of the hub where the hubcap goes looks about the right size to me as well. What size tyre is on the front axle? Regards Rick.

That photo is of an Australia Jungle Handcart. These were very necessary in New Guinea and the islands. I have one and there are only a few in private hands. I'll look out some photos when I get back home. regards Rick.

Wow, that was quick,Richard.P and Richard.F. I had no idea who A-L were and now I have photos of the company vehicles and will search the internet for more info. Thanks for your quick response. Rick.

I have been looking for a set of lights for the 1916 Albion ever since I first got the old girl 40 years ago.I picked up these self generating Acetylene lights the other day. I rekon they will do just fine. Does anyone know anything about the company who produced them, A-L in a 6 pointed star? Now I have to make the light holders to suit. Regards Rick

Montie, here is a recent photo of my poor old girl. I don't know if I said or not, but this is the actual one I drove from 1969 to 1971. (It still has my name scratched in the right forward outside locker.) With only 28 in Australia, I had a one in twenty eight chance of getting the right one. During 1971 I was on exercise in the Little Desert south of Nhill, Victoria, with the 4th/19th Prince of Wales's Light Horse and the gearbox was playing up and it was taken away for repair. I didn't know what happened to her but later found out that she nextt appeared around 1973 in Victory Park in Shepparton Victoria with the left back door removed and all the hatches welded up for the kids to climb on and in. The engine and radiator was removed by the local shire for later use as a pump engine or such. After a multi death shooting episode at Port Arthur in Tasmania in 1998, quite a few Shires removed any thing connected with guns etc. from their parks including this Saracen. Colin Anderson from Shepparton obtained it and onsold it to me. The Army delivered it to my home on the back of an M113 transport trailer along with a Unimog with the engine and radiator on board. (I had dropped a hint to the WO. of a Army recovery unit that it might be a good training exercise to recover a dead Saracen and deliver it to my place. The best 2 slabs of beer I have ever bought.) I had it for about 6 months before I was able to confirm that it was my Saracen. (The locker was sealed up and I had not opened it.) My old RSM had photos of her including one of me driving it and showing the ARN 115378. I am in need of a left rear door and the fan covers if someone has some out there. The vehicle needs quite a bit of work to bring it back to use. There are no electrics and the steering pump and accumultator pump are also missing plus a host of smaller items. Oh well! One day we'll get into her and get her back on the road. (We are currently building a new shed for her and then a sandblast will clean her up and we will see some progress.) Hope this helps your records. Regards Rick

Sold.. don't know who to but it wasn't me. Final figure $3,115-00 AUD (or $3,366.07 USD) I pulled out once it got to 4 figures. Regards Rick.

Looking very good. It is nice to see that you are using square nuts. Too many restorations today are being ruined by the use of the wrong bolts, nuts and screws. Regards Rick.

Found the photo. Look on the agents website for more info. Regards Rick

Keep up the good work. I know just how hard it is to restore something from the ground up. Boy, are you ever lucky to have such good tyres on your wheels. My 1916 Albion A10 had all tyres rotted off and having found 2 for the rear and only one for the front, I am now searching for another to replace the remains of the other front tyre. My Albion has 720mm. dia. wheels and most tyres I have located are unsuitable in many ways. Regards Rick.

I think you will find that there were only two 4 gallon tins to a crate, not four.( A total of 8 gallons all up.) They were known as 'Flimsys'. Has anyone heard of BIG TREE MOTOR SPIRIT? This was a New Zealand company which started up in 1914. I have 3 of their 2 gallon tins now having purchased one on Ebay a couple of weeks ago. regards Rick.

Certainly is a Model T Ford. I think it is a 1917 model as the radiator is not a brass one but has a steel surround. The brass radiator was used up until 1917 when the change to steel took place. (Maybe they needed the brass for shell cases.)