Mark Ellis

Many thanks for the info, @wally dugan I'll have a chat with Dave

Many thanks for that, @wally dugan It's most kind of you. I've added them all to the list. Have a nice break. I need to get a contact to take look at this photo. I'm not sure if that's a registration number on the back left side, or something else

Well that's added some information, @wally dugan Thanks for that. Do they give a description in the book of what the trial was for? Stalwart wing numbers.xlsx

I'm guessing that Alvis had a number of trade plates. Just looked, and DU was Coventry, so they're on Alvis' own trade plates

Does "THE COACHMAN" mean a model name, as in FV622 The Coachman - as in it was fitted with a canopy from factory. It's the only in service Stalwart that had a canopy - if you ignore all the REME 624s that had been modified in the field.

Thanks for this, Wally. Hope the eye flushes out ok, one of my pet hates is grit in the eye. I thought 22AG54 might be in there as a trial vehicle. I also forgot 03EM79, which is mentioned in trial reports. Trial Report 101620 Jan-June 1964 (Mk1 Stalwart 03EM79) Many thanks

Your post seems to bring people back to the same thread

Sorry for the late reply, @wally dugan I get that if vehicles are submitted for trials under a requested Specification, then they get a trial wing number and are "Trialled to death". But what happens when a known person or company says "Take a look at this for the day, and tell us what you think?" According to Alvis's Salamander brochure, the 6x6 fire truck was a private venture, the same as the Stalwart was. I've only ever seen the one Salamander with what I think is a Miles body, and wonder if Alvis waved it under FVRDE's nose. There must have been something for it to get the FV6001 number, and go into the catalogue, I guess. I don't have any Salamander wing numbers, but I have all these Stalwart "bits", which I've put on a spreadsheet. Excel sheet and PDF of the same as this image attached. Would be really appreciated if you had the time to take a look and fill in the blanks, please. Many thanks Stalwart wing numbers.xlsx Stalwart-Chassis-Number.pdf

But then there's this - from 1962 Foamite Ltd., Victoria Road, Feltham, Middlesex, recently obtained the order to design and develop an entirely new light crash rescue truck for the Royal Air Force. The prototype passed all rough‐driving tests at Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment and operational tests and a production contract was awarded by the Ministry of Aviation. Citation (1962), "Auxiliary Equipment", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 29-29. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb033511

Thanks for that, Wally As I understand it, Alvis got Coach builders Alfred Miles to put a basic body on the new Salamander chassis, and Pyrene to put some fire fighting gear in it, and showed it to FVRDE. Willie Dunn of course had a close relationship with FVRDE, having helped them with the 6x6 punt hull concept (Magazine article by his son confirms this. His son, Mike designed the Stalwart Mark 2). FVRDE liked the concept, gave it the number FV6001 - and Alvis's Salamander chassis got the green light for fire engine manufacturers to put their bodies and fire gear on - to the RAF Mark 6 fire engine spec. Is there absolutely any evidence of Foamite submitting their version to FVRDE? Foamite appear to have made 5 or 7 for South Africa, but the bulk of the Salamanders have Pyrene bodies on them.

I think they were out of service with the RAF by 78. Interesting that they're in the 81 book

@fv1609, is there any listing in the FVRDE catalogues for FV651, as in without the A? Or even the FV653, which it's suggested is the Driver training vehicle. I'm presuming that you have a full set of catalogues from 54 to 66?

RLC Museum might be able to help https://www.rlcarchive.org/VehicleSrch2

Was there any other 22AG then?

Here's 22AG54, and in a film of it

Thanks, @wally dugan As well as being interested in everything Stalwart, I'm now interested in everything Salamander as well. Happy to receive anything that you don't mind my sharing on the webpage 😁 Many thanks

Thanks, Clive. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the RAF had 6 Driver trainer vehicles. No evidence yet though. This is 26AG62, with another one along side. And an unknown one that looks very blue, with F8 on the side.

Sorry, Clive @fv1609. I didn't think anyone would want to see the full list of what @wally dugan kindly provided earlier. My spreadsheet from Wally's details is here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SgH7UUlmaE00xkIlbzG2bzPrJ1ZFyBNu7W1feypF1OU/edit?usp=sharing If you have any more Salamander reg, or any army reg numbers - it would be appreciated . I'm wondering if the B and D models were converted Mk 6 ?

Apparently, the suggestion of 125 Salamander comes from a magazine, called Flight. I've emailed asking for a copy of the page, but do wonder how many the army or Royal Navy had. I've emailed the RN as well - but don't think I've ever seen a photo of a Navy one.

That's brilliant, @wally dugan. Thank you for that. Hope you kept all the Fv600 stuff to one side 😁

Just been reading this article, where on page 70 he advised that Canada swapped the B81 for a V8 "later changed for a V8 Ford engine and Allison transmission" http://www.lishfd.org/Information files/THE MALTESE CROSS_PDF.pdf

Brilliant, thanks, Clive So this is FV6001 then, and not Alvis' prototype crash tender

@fv1609 Thanks for this, Clive. All adds to the history/development, which is where my own interest lies. Is the basic chassis a separate entry? Alvis seeing what else it could be used for. Hadn't realise that FV651 was also a private venture, according to an Alvis brochure that I'm retyping.

Many thanks for the extract, Clive

Some RAF types have offered up various things, and I've edited some pages that I found online Does yours look anything like this https://sites.google.com/view/alvis-stalwart-hmlc-files/alvis-salamander-crash-tender?authuser=0#h.shg8vqdstfll