ted angus

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

Hi Mike, I don't know what to think; HD cargo was the named used to describe nuclear warhead/weapons transporters, the AEC models in service for many years were I think we have now established 6x4 Mammoth Majors. If there was a Militant then it may have been a prototype ??  I found on the net an FoI question re FV numbers HMG replythey do not have a list of FV numbers for vehicles only spare parts. I wonder if Bovingdon have a list- does anyone have contact there . regards Ted.

Hi Richard there were at least 2 possibly 3 batches of the AEC/ Leyland HD Cargo, the attached is indeed AEC  Mammoth major  with just a small LBL badge, there was an 81AE** batch which appears in press reports  but the up -armoured front end has obliterated the makers badge.   Is it possible to get access to a correct FV numerical list ?

Dave re Explorers- when I joined (1964) the RAF still had the responsibility for recovery of its vehicles, selected stations /units had an Explorer on call 24/7 to cover a predetermined area, I think requests were routed via the ops room at the big cop shop at Rudloe Manor.  in addition 71 MU crash and smash had 06AH78.  known units : Chivenor had 07 AH 49 which was painted yellow as it also had an airfield crash role, Stafford had 07 AH 39 operated by 2 MT,  Coltishall had one    in Holland  RAF Eindoven had 08 AH 19, in Germany Laarbruch had one but no reg known but I have a pic. 

Finally re the Militant  I wonder if the owner/ restorer is trying to play the part of the Matador used at Gielen'k  by the MTSS LAD ?

regards TED

Hi Dave,  Let's address the perpetual rumour- I saw 2 Mk 3 Militant Rcy in RAF service 71 AN 57 was with Deployment Flight ( harrier force) Gutesloh, the second one was with 431 MU to cover the clutch area. I saw both during the period Jan 79 to jan 82. There may have been more as they were replaced by Crusaders with EKA gear - there were 4 of these, one for definite with the Nuke convoy which I saw many times  and def one at 431 MU the latter I saw on my later germany tour- I don't know who had the other 2.

Turning to the AEC Militant-in Pat Ware's book covering FV vehicles , FV11*** covers Militants and Mandators, FV 11022 is I believe the AEC Mandator HD cargo 6x4   I think 6x6 is a mis- recording of info- lots of errors in the book  HD cargo was the description used to describe the warhead transporters,   . 

As regards the preserved Gut example I am scratching my head  you say served from end WW2  that is far too early for a Militant   regards Ted.

p s 

 picture courtesy the MT drivers site taken at Gut families day 1983 ish.

That's a blow I thought I had the one you were looking for !    Ted

Ok I got lucky found the cutting it was published in the feb 2005 edition of FLYPAST  part of a story about an LAC in a sqn. The picture was credited to the Bruce Robertson Collection. Ted.

I think this is the picture you are after. It was published many years ago from which I took this scan, I cut out the page to scan it so it might still be amongst thousands of such items in dozens of boxes. I think it was a RAFA magazine   I will look in the most likely boxes if I get lucky it may reveal the IWM number Ted,

I agree with Richard  Thornycroft Nubian and a Fordson tractor.   definately a Fordson WOT1 Ambo    standard heavy ambo, there were at least 2 body styles this one appears to have the less austere body and cab roof signage Ted

 I would say the tanker is water- even though it appears to be multi compartment. I cannot see any refueling equipment or pump, just a single delivery hose, it is parked beside the first mystery trailer. The trailers were of a standard basic pattern, size and shape; however this one has a full length raised centre portion which incorporates a ventilator which indicates it is a "cooking tender trailer" in other words a mobile kitchen. The water tanker is parked beside it and its the focus for the lads, most sitting on 2 long wooden forms to have a cuppa and what ever goodies came out of that box. There is a crudely made duckboard resting against the trailer possibly for use when a hot meal is served via a lift up hatch with the canvas side raised to become an awning.  So I would say this is the "Messing Area". Second trailer- solid sides , no windows, 2 vents in the roof, I would say this is a Stores Tender Trailer- i.e. binned and loose stores  which would be a typical for an Air Stores Park. Hope this helps. ted

WE got rid of the last MK5 trolley acc in the mid 1990s at Leuchars.  I think they were circa 1945-7 . TED

38 minutes ago, john_g_kearney said:

An interesting line of thought, Smithy. Given that the war was over, could the deceased even have been flown home if of high enough rank?

John.

 

Doubtful   they didn't bring Col H home from the Falklands ,  I think Iraq was the first full blown action where we repatriated. TED

17 hours ago, Ex-boy said:

Hi Ted, I was a bit before you, as my MRS memories are from Arborfield, 1965/1967. I guess my memory was a bit hazy though, as Receiving instead of Reception appears to be the concensus.

Hi Ex Boy,  your recollection is correct ; RAF " mobile receiving stations" were renamed "Mobile field hospitals"  in May 1943.   searching the tinternet post WW2  the British Army always used the word reception. 

 I was coming to the end of my RAF life sentence when I chose to get specialist help at Redford barracks rather than the NHS- It was the best decision I ever made !!   The RAF called our post war equivalent of the MRS,  station sick quarters, then regional medical centres then station medical centres god knows what they are called now LOL   

 sorry to deviate from the thread subject   TED.

My vote is number 3,  

 returning to the original picture with the Whitley do we have an approx date  TED.

Re 22 MRS     OK under command of Air HQ Western Desert 22 Medical Receiving Station, in July 1942 located at Gambut,  I next track it down to jun 44 part of Desert Air Force HQ Vasto  at Foggia but it appears that all the RAF MRSs have been retitled Mobile Field Hospitals.   

 Ex Boy - I was a patiant at the Medical Reception Station Redford Barracks early 2003  under Col McDonald ortho surgeon  cracking chap!! TED

 Hi Richard  yes sounds good, but piggy back like that whilst protecting certain items caused other damage.; Unless the tank was drained fuel used to slop out of the fuel filler and in hot climates would attack the insulation on HT leads etc, and unless the nose of the tow arm was raised and secured on to a bulk of timber the shank of the tow eyes would bend and that meant towing would be out of the question.   This  has been a most interesting thread.  regards TED

17 hours ago, LarryH57 said:

Ted, what country was your photo above taken in?  It looks a bit like Tunisia.

Greece 1941  211 sqn, carrying those single axle generators seems to be common practise for some reason, incompatible towing eyes  weak towing eyes  ???  don't really know 

TED

Both the Dodge and Chev in RAF service had Hyd brakes , the Chev was servo assist. re the white RAF  its because the vehicle is finished in a dark colour-  The 6x4s seemed to cope with the difficult corners OK  TED

According to the RAF Data book Yes the Dennis was piped for trailer Vac brake operations. They appear in several overseas pics, my late friend Bart was normally spot on but I think he had picked up on some misleading info.    The Dennis also had a 2 speed aux gearbox which leads me to the conclusion it was designed with trailer towing in mind.  Its in- service companion the Albion- only had vac brake connection fitted to the units built as tractors for semi( artic) trailers and were not fitted with an aux gearbox. 

 returning to the origins of the thread I cannot find my pics of the Albion wireless tender but here is a shot from Les Freathy's book - I have cropped the aerial array and stowage box shown in Les's pics , to show it as it MAY have been used in a slightly different comms unit role.   John G thanks for sharing these photo unit pics.   You may be aware these shots appear to be of "the Photo Section " of HQ 285 wing in N Africa. No 3 MFPS reached N Africa and they took over the task of  the 285 photo section but don't seem to has become operational unto landing on Italian soil ?? regards TED

Afraid not, I have hundreds of WW2 and post war locations for these ATVs   but not yours. . TED

Towards the end of the war Austin ATVs were lent to various gov depts,  the AG committees were under min of food control, a number also went to the GPO and a number overseas to help countries get on their feet. The Nederlands had them in use as soon as we liberated,  with their post office and fire services.  I believe yours would have been in its original form with the AG comm  then after return to the Home Office  it was stored for a period until converted to a canteen van late 53 or early 54 . For the AG Comm I would think it was just used as a delivery/collection van. TED

Larry, firstly your Hillman JMV 936. I have a list of MT on charge to 59 sqn when they made their 20 may 1940 escape to the french coast amongst them was Hillman Van ( Tilly) JMV 732. Turning to our mystery vehicle , I have just remembered  pre WW2 the RAF had a wireless tender on the Albion chassis, I will search for a pic

regards TED

Can you share the odd Albion shot please TED

The description Hillman Tender is a headscratcher,  Tender was over a certain weight below that the RAF used the term VAN- Hillman supplied  vans ( in the commercial meaning of the word) and Tillies   neither are big enough to be your mystery vehicle, there were some large Dennis uniform Vans and some Commer Vans - some of which were converted to recruiting vans,   Everything else on your list is a "standard" RAF type and does not fit the picture . TED