ted angus

Thanks Wally

Ted

Can anyone please  tell me which formation the sign identifies- its very similar to the WW2 guards arm div- but its cold war BAOR   thanks in anticipation 

TED

01 RN 89 passed through Withams a few years ago   Ted.

12 hours ago, LarryH57 said:

Another RAF vehicle to identify, presuming it is RAF rather than Army?

I don't think the Army cleaned up after the RAF shot a Ju88 down.

Is it an impressed type?

Apart from the sentry they all appear to be civvies in the picture.  I am not totally convinced that the dark patches on the body side are camo-  There are lots of pictures of civvy contractors removing wrecks- so my vote is civvy truck .

TED

Yes possibly mask not removed in a timely manner, but for me BOWSER1107's post on 28 oct  is enough for me to be content that these were follow me vehicles to aid safe movement on the aerodrome, just as we did in the early 1950s. Ted

On 12/9/2018 at 1:18 AM, ruxy said:

If ever a example is needed how basic history can be lost after 75 years , then this topic is proof.  I can't comment more - can any more be gleaned from this Tilly photograph , location date , wing markings   ?      Again it may be just highway control , no follow me on the rear.   I do know public highways were used for access to / from  aircraft dispersal sites ,  so would expect the full role..  If it was not 'follow me'  , then this is another uncertain role.  BUMP.

Single masked headlight so def WW2 era, C/18 coastal command 18 group,  yellow tops indicates aerodrome duties  TED

23 hours ago, Bowser1107 said:

I get the impression from the photo that the bonnet the young Waaf is sat on is Yellow and possibly the front (if not all) of the canvas tilt is yellow.

I can only ASSUME that ONE vehicle carried out the role of 'Follow Me' (FM) and traffic control but I am aware that there were barriers along the A16 at Grimsby (in what form can not longer be determined), and I have no doubt even the humble 'Erk' could have indicated that the road was going to be closed to on-coming traffic and then dragged/placed a barrier of sorts across the road.  I would also presume you would STOP the traffic in both directions so more than just one man needed and the fact that the STOP sign is visible from the front indicated to ME, that it faced on-coming aircraft and not traffic ? Seemingly both the RAF and USAAF had the F-M vehicle to guide diverted aircraft around airfield sites but I have never heard mention of 'traffic Control ' but perhaps that role was included by the Flying Control Section ??

Would that be 3 or 4 vehicle now with photographic evidence to support the role of FM??

Yep looks yellow tops and its WW2 - see headlight mask.   Stop follow me is a flying control (ATC ) task;  road control could be a duty undertaken by a range of personnel, eg ground gunners,  they were partly mobile, service police, special constab  etc etc.

A Standard Tilly of Coastal Command 

Well I did say back in the day the 1086 was full of errors,    regarding use of NATO NSN, I remember in the early 1970s in Cyprus I was working mainly on Section 4GA and other weapon handling Sections of the vocab  , I think I am right in saying all demands for spares were still  under RAF Sec Ref only. 

Ted

Google searches show 5A 2334 to be the most common RAF version in WW2  thru to early 1950s, most pictures show the lense having a different number to the lamp  I think this is because there were clear, red and green. 

Back in the day the AP 1086 was a night mare most volumes were at least 6 inches thick in loose leaf binders held together with screw fixing. Always riddled with mistakes and omissions. Most of us spanner wielding people would carry a little black book, gradually we would list all the common spares & pt numbers of the items we commonly used. If we found a solution to a bad entry we would leave a paper note in the relevant page before submitting an official suggestion for amendment.  when the microfiche readers were introduced it all turned into a pot luck nightmare !  Amendments were so frequent in the 1086 I doubt anyone has an original copy plus all the hundreds of amendments. TED

I hate to be a bubble buster, but this lamp has a NATO NSN  therefore it is definitely post WW2    and I would say post 1956 which is when the first transition to NATO format stock numbers began.  The RAF supply Section & Reference of this lamp is 5A 1991239. As marked on the lamp & case-  In the RAF vocab 5A is ground lighting and misc equip.  6230 is the NATO Supply Classification ie the NATO equivalent of 5A - 62 is a group which relates to Light Fixtures And Lamps, 30 will be a more specific class within the group.  99 is the identifier for UK,  1991239 is the individual item reference number.   So you need to be looking for  5A 1991239 in the RAF AP 1086; re the plug you posted I don't think that is original, as supplied the plug should be the same colour as the lamp and none of those numbers relate to RAF stores references. 

  Regards TED

Yes  the AMO catching up with earlier instructions was something I used to tell those that believed the RAF was blue grey until mid 1941 !   Anyway here is a shot from St Mawgan which appears on the Control Tower website. Its dated 1946, the station was a Ferry Command unit throughout the war and into 1946 So reading an outline history, I would say a constant stream of aircraft arriving both from overseas and even more arriving for onward departure to overseas units. So lots of unfamiliar crews.. Would this Stop/follow me have been in service pre VE day  I would say yes but maybe not in this colour scheme ?? 

Ted

.Re-reading AMO  A731 of 1940  the all over orange is covered in para 1 & para 2 works and contractors tractors and machinery. para 3 covers prime movers operating on the landing ground and these require the double disc.  Attached are the earliest shots I have of the double disc, preceding the subject AMO by in the 56 sqn shot 15 months.     regarding the yellow v orange conundrum; AMO A 897 of 1944 is about vehicle painting - para 12 draws attention to AMO A 486 0f 44 as amended by AMO A518 of 44 in that upper surfaces of certain vehicles is to be yellow- when in fact the actual AMOs state 33A 125 Orange  ??  Ted   ps I bet it was all written by Officers !!  

The picture is no longer visible ???? Ted

 I believe this was RAF Jever  june 1953 Station Coronation  Celebration parade : if my guess is correct The Humber LRCs are No3 Armoured Car Sqn Raf Regt, The Bofors are Nos 30 & 33 lt AA Sqn RAF Regt. In addition 3, 4 98 & 112 sqns, plus Station personnel were on the parade . Ted.

That's the one I mention in my post 6 october. Ted.

by 060009102018 Z.       

TED   

The Flight Safety poster from ebay is just a cheap copy someone is bashing out ! an original would normally have a  AD  No ( top right corner)  and possibly a printers name and a date code in a bottom corner, I reckon post 45 but pre 1950 as the red lorry has an RAF 1234 type number plate. turning to the Defford shot , I saw it first on a local history site its 1949/50, the guys will be Ministry of Supply firemen,  The Hillman van  appears to have a very light roof  which I expect is yellow;  its possible aircraft from numerous other research stations and RAF Signal command would need guiding on arrival;   I think follow me vehicles on RAF airfields were an exception rather than a rule- Lyneham had a red/white /RAF blue grey series 1 swb Landie.   Ted

Agree with Bryan its our "standard issue" Fordson 15 cwt    Ted.

Simon, the Fordson van were a "standard RAF type"  its not requisitioned.  that said AMOs state impressed vehicles were to be cam painted, re no need to repaint in new cam scheme; this was only applicable to changes in cam colour or pattern AMO aug 41 requires all vehicles other than certain grades of staff car to be cam painted. Ted

My money is 1944 or early 45,  the headlights still appear to have  the blackout mod in place.  

regards Ted

Now that is a mystery ?/  The only thing I can add is that it is not a D?F van- if it was it would be in the type range 1-999; type 1500 is a 15cwt van  - no doubt the station van .  No difficulty with the paint, give the gloss surface a good rub with a medium then finer sandpaper  wash down then when nice and dry apply the matt coat- I nearly said wet & dry abrasive paper but not sure of its existence/use during WW2 .   I have reread the AMOs  no exceptions to vans for gloss paint. 

Bryan I was typing as your post arrived- I would add - at the beginning of war the RAF used a different method to achieve a"blackout" head light, the headlight was opened and the reflector painted black  then a white card disc inserted behind the lense, the card had a 3/4 inch high slot cut into it. Often the offside light was disconnected.  examples of this can be seen in the film about a balloon sqn deploying to the Firth of Forth. attached are a couple of stills , its much clearer on the film as some of it is filmed at dusk/dawn . Ted.

re the Morris- no external visible Mods. I am thinking the AEC TCHD were a glossy green- they predate our mattgreen era  so maybe BS 241 - same as the ac colour;  we was the glossy colour we used post BS 285 on GSE and some MT.  there were other van tenders before we got 3 Bedford HCB tenders from the RN, then there was the Bedford HCB with crew safety cab thenVolvos

Dave those journals provide lots of good info. The guy who wrote the article in Journal 35 has a similar article on a BARNHAM website, on the site he mentions the Scammells but I don't see mention in the Journal 35 article. The time line would be Hippo load carries, then Pantech trailers towed by Scammell Explorers and Hippos, then Hippos with the Pantech, then when WE177 came into being the AEC TCHD in 1968  pic taken from another journal.  We had trailers of the same design as the Geilen Beast , they were lying derelict  when I arrived at Bruggen in early 79  possibly the best equipped machine shops I have ever seen.  plus there was a battery charging one  dug into the woods which acted as our secondary charging facility- I don't recall if it was original or the lads had created it . As for MilMods   too dear, wrong scale Mnn  not for me I am afraid. Ted

Firstly Thanks RadioMike for the list.   Still don't know what to make of it unlessit was a Nuke transport proto ??

 Dave,  BW was Barry Wright; yes his research was pretty well spot one as he was in partnership with the late Mick Bell in much of his research and with Mick also producing an outstanding range of 1/76th drawings. You might know Dave that Mick was at one time an RAF Engineering officer. Sadly he was taken before his time to cancer. Sorry I digress.  The 35 AL reg block area contains mostly ACB  and subsequent tippers,   I have the vast majority of BW's decal sets; 3 of the 4 AEC tippers 35 AL 56,7 & 9  are in one set- my guess somewhere in the gulf area or nuclear tests. However there is no 35  AL 55 in either his RAF set or his army sets that cover the militants. I will be bold here and say that MilMod have taken certain ex BW kits and stretched the various versions and accompanying decals  into Fantasy land !   So I am very suspicious.   I agree with your conclusion Dave other than I think the 4 tippers may well have been transferred to the RAF from the Army ?     Turning to Nuke transport, I have seen several Barnham articles and mention of the Explorers but never saw one in such use; The Hippos on the other hand with their huge box like trailers were frequent visitors to Scampton  as we were still the deterrent when I arrived there plus convoys often called into Scampton en route back to Faldingworth which was on our doorstep.  The Hippos carried 2 rectangular 500 gal water tanks  as ballast and as a supply for the Morris LD convoy tenders.  

 That said  I too hope someone comes up with photographs !! Ted