LarryH57

I think for safety I will have to buy new tyres, so the copies of those Goodyears will have to do. As for the tyres were there Goodyear ZXLs or similar, which is the name I'm after? I'm away from my references at the moment. £100 per tyre seems to be the going rate but that's not a fitted price and without the inner tube, which hardly ever gets mentioned. Any names of suppliers, in Southern England would be of help.

I was told new Deestones were no longer available? Incidentally what wheels were fitted by the Army to take a 6.50 x 16 and where can I find the marking. My existing wheels with 7.50s could do with sand blasting and painting before they get a new tyre. I am not sure of their pedigree and if they would take a 6.50?

Who in the UK can supply (& hopefully fit) some new tyres for my Lwt with the 'Army' pattern, the name of which I forget after a few years of looking. Were they Goodyear?I think 6.50 x 16 are best for a realistic look, as I seem to remember hearing that 7.50 were never used on Lwts.

In that case the makers of 'Midway' the movie must have filmed or sourced 'UK' Jeeps for their movie!

It would also be helpful to the buyer if the vehicle type was identified and photographed and a copy posted here, so we could collectively comment.

My Dad was in Jakarta in 1946 of 31 Sqn for a short while.

Andy, what years did your dad serve in the RAF? BTW I was an early MVCG member 925 and went to Normandy in 1979 with Peter Gray.

Guys I totally get your point. Where RAF Jeeps were used in Middle East and Far East any colour to patch them up would do. My own Dad was in the RAF in Burma and later even further east as he ended up in Balikpapan, Borneo after the US/ Australian landings and was able to recover many abandoned vehicles. I have often wondered what people would say if I turned up at WPR in a Dodge Weapons Carrier in 7th Australian Div markings driven by an RAF LAC wearing a mixture of British Jungle Greens and Aussie gear and high Aussie brown jungle boots, complete with a couple of smiling 18 year old Japanese POWs in the back happy that they did not die for the emperor. Who would believe that! Yet it's true! Also in the Med and especially Italy there was quite a lot of black market activity and a trade in supplies. Often things are a little less of an issue the nearer the front line. However in the UK, bases were more orderly and not so much in danger save for a Luftwaffe night intruder. Each station had an MT officer and AMOs to follow. Life was busy as my dad will attest on an active UK station with no time to draw some out of date / unavailable RAF paint and paint up any vehicle in an out of date paint scheme for the fun of it; certainly not in wartime. For the record this is not the same as driving a vehicle in an old paint scheme that the MT section has yet to paint, that was painted RAF blue at the factory unlike a Jeep. I will pay for one years membership to the MVT (£35) or same amount for other club members for anyone who can proove / confirm with photo evidence to my satisfaction that any Jeeps in RAF service existed in RAF blue prior to 8th May 1945. I have been searching for best part 40 years. Offer open till 31 Dec 2021. Money where my mouth is! Please proove me wrong.

This is a nice looking Jeep but certainly not accurate for WW2, and if it is to be a post war Jeep then the RAF Blue needs to be gloss. Possibly the fenders needed to be gloss black too, as per the AMO for postwar. In WW2 Jeeps in the RAF were quite rare in the UK and 4 Group Bomber Command. I bet 4 Group never had any like this as the vehicle is too small to carry a bomber crew, too underpowered to pull a bomb load or a bowser and the CO was more likely to be driven around in the saloon behind the Jeep in this photo to wish his crews good luck etc. There were a few Jeeps in Bomber Command converted to Crash Rescue and others allocated to Mountain Rescue but they were still in O/D paint with additional signage.. BTW - RAF Jeeps photos I have seen from all theatres in WW2 tended to show the pioneer tools have been left off. If it was me I would not be tempted by such a scheme.

We are used to seeing Caution Left Hand Drive etc on the rear of Jeep hoods when driven on UK roads in WW2. Presumably such signage was applied in the UK and not on the production line, so if Jeeps were delivered direct to France after D-Day or for that matter any Mediterranean country, or US forces in the Pacific then nothing was written? Not many photos show the rear of the hood outside the UK or it is lowered so it is hard to tell.

Ted, I know about the seat bit my point was the medic could stand up, rather then be bent over in Dodge!

Have you ever met anyone who works in procurement for the MOD? I have! The MOD won't buy the Ibex or Grenadier, as the price is too reasonable. The basic idea in MOD seems to be buy expensive and dispose of too soon (it keeps them employed) and sell off too cheaply. I said to this girl I met what do you do in the MOD? She said she sold surplus RN ships to overseas nations. She said she just sold a working Frigate to Chilean Navy for £100,000 but they remove the radar and communications gear first, so that's OK then!!!! Until recent Brexit the MOD felt duty bound to buy from anywhere else in the EU rather than the UK for much of what they needed. Strangely the French Army seemed to favour mostly French vehicles for some reason. Most equipment was far too expensive and got cast far too soon; even those MAN 8x8 trucks did not last as long as our trusty Bedford RLs that were still going strong after 30 years!. My ex REME mates have a good laugh about those MAN Trucks, which will go to limp home mode, if the onboard computer finds a fault and also needs a laptop to plug in to find the fault. Imagine the situation where a single MAN truck is being chased by the Taliban and the vehicle refuses to go any faster or no one can find the laptop! (They never heard the song 'Three wheels on my wagon and I'm still rolling along!) When buying British, no one seemed to care that vehicles such as Land Rovers had no galvanized chassis so would rot in no time at all. Perhaps no one in the Ministry expected them to go off road! Also its not common knowledge that when the MOD finished with petrol engine LRs circa 1998 that many bases simply put the spares in the skip. My mate binned tons of LR spares and the same when Clansman Radios were replaced by Bowman. His absolute favourite was replacing engines and gearboxes, old for new, literally days before vehicles were cast! Withams were delighted Rant over

Of course the K2 was only 4x2 but it still had a four man stretcher capacity and ability for the attendant to stand up between the casualties, rather than crouch.

I was in Somerset to check my eyesight!

The Austin K2 Ambulance was offered to the USAAF as reverse Lend Lease, so very common on US airfields in company with Crossley and Fordson Fire Tenders

I would say it is quite normal not to have some of our more exotic vehicles at home!

A British 4x4 that can be bought in kit form or fully built. I'm amazed there is no military interest, as the cost is far cheaper than the LR Defenders and Wolfs that the MOD bought without galvanized chassis (especially in the Defender era) https://www.fwi.co.uk/machinery/4x4s/british-built-ibex-4x4-offers-land-rover-defender-alternative

When we acquire a vehicle whether or not it is an MV, classic car or everyday vehicle, I guess that most of us register it with the DVLA using the address of the owner and not the address of where the vehicle is kept? Which is it that the DVLA require? In current times of Covid-19 and potential for local lockdowns, it occurred to me that if and when the Police had / have the powers to turn vehicles around that appear not to be from the area, whether vehicles should be registered where they are kept, if the owner happened to be in the lockdown area and wish to use the vehicle within the limits of the lockdown? Chances are that the Police would not be bothered but on the other hand any incident might raise a query and an accusation as to why you are in Somerset or wherever when you are a Londoner. In recent years there are also local schemes relating to parking and council recycling centres that are only open to locals and locally registered vehicles. It makes sense to register where the vehicle is kept but perhaps more difficult if it is a remote barn without a proper address.

My original fuel tank has black underseal applied on the sides, and the front and rear under the fitting brackets only. It is applied in what I would describe as a stipple looking finish, so perhaps done by the Army?

ThanksClive, My Lwt is 12v GS is from circa Oct 1980 in HG range, post Nato Green I believe at the factory?

Dear Richard, My ex Reme mates says the same; black. But playing devils advocate I suggested that of course all the replacements would be black as they were replacements and that the factory would have painted them nato green! Both my tanks are green and so I'm wondering whether to keep it how it was when in service or go GLOSS black like all the fuel tanks you saw?

Interesting - as mine were both painted Nato green, and I'm certain they were like this when the vehicle was cast in 1991.

And the colour of the fuel tanks when fitted at the Factory? Nato Green I guess, with replacements being black as they came from a different source?

This is a photo of the tank that is still in the vehicle, showing the different weld and 'gully' along the top of the side panels. I guess the one I am replacing was an in service replacement, though my ex REME mates says all those he installed were painted black though both mine have been painted nato green.

Ruxy, why do you describe my tank as an auxiliary tank?