Tomo.T

Pm sent John.

John, Nice card confirming the 610 Coy. You are correct as to the employment of this unit, basically the Divisional Supply Columns were responsible for transport and supply of rations and stores from railheads to forward dumps in the Divisional area. Ammunition was dealt with separately by Ammunition Parks at first, but later, combined MT Coys. were formed to deal with all supply requirements. I have further details of the exploits of 610 Coy if you would like them. Tomo.

John's Grandfather was with the British ASC 610 Coy.(MT). which served on the Western Front as 1st New Zealand Divisional Supply Column. Apparently the NZEF relied on British support for most of their Mechanical Transport requirements. The Goslings Dennis is also depicted in the livery of this unit. Information from British & Dominion Vehicle Signage 14-18 by Ron Dux & Mike Hibberd.

More progress in detail. Painting has been a bit sporadic due to the varied weather conditions. Some parts are waiting on Stan for some more welding. Changes are happening and I have been to see the most incredible workshop, where the project will be moving, hopefully next month.

Lovely shot of a McLaughlin ambulance and VAD driver. This Canadian firm was a subsidiary of General Motors apparently. Thankyou Google !

Another possibility is the RLC Horse Drawn Heritage section at Deepcut. Web page here: https://www.facebook.com/rlc.heritage

You may also try here http://www.royallogisticcorps.co.uk/heritage/museum/

Very satisfying to get some Service Colour on the job. This colour was matched to the inside of an original storage box dated 1917. The colour spec has been recorded and is available from Craftmaster. The second picture also shows the short dumb iron as originally supplied by Thornycrofts. This one is a rare survivor !

I recently discovered the remains of an 'A' series chassis with a very similar fitting. the question is, was the tow bar on 2393 original or a later addition. Any Thornycroft experts care to comment on this ?

Filling and priming the chassis continues, also the front springs have been temporarily replaced in order to get the job mobile in preparation for a potential move to better premises. As far as I can discover, the Military J type was not normally fitted with a rear towing hitch, but 2393 has a solid tow bar with central hole, presumably intended for towing something ?

Yes they do. More worrying is the inability to drain water collected within the wheel. This is a bit of a design fault and can lead to serious corrosion in some cases. Despite this, most of these wheels have survived well beyond their expected life.

My preferred weapon for this purpose is U-POL Top Stop Gold, now part of the Easy 3 range of 2k fillers. The problem with single pack stoppers is that they are air drying and thus not suitable for anything other than minor blemishes. I much prefer the positive chemical cure of 2 pack. It does not shrink or fall out and will dry in depth.

Although I'm not looking for a pristine finish, I am out to remove rust pitting from visible areas by strategic use of 2k body filler. The plan is to loose the pits but keep any dinks and dents which are part of the lorrys history. I am on home ground with this, having been involved with traction engine restoration for many years. Here's a pic of progress so far, also a good view of the modified dumb iron previously mentioned.

I agree, its all guesswork I'm afraid. Perhaps we could see some of your examples for comparison? I had a very close inspection of the kingpins today and there are definitely no other marks.

The only other stamp I could see was a capital M which also appears on the axle and I assume to mean Military ? I did wonder if the numbers could be a jumbled up date 19.1.15 which would fit ?

Pudding sweet Mixed Fruit, Used to go well with a bit of Cheese Possessed. Yum.

Here you go Doug. These marks are on the outside top of the axle arms. First is the KF logo for Kirkstal Forge (with the K reversed.) on the right LEEDS. The number reads 15191 and this is not the Thornycroft part No. On the nearside is the same stamp but two of the No's 1, I think have been stamped upside down, giving a misleading impression of an' L' and a 'T' ! Perhaps they may have had the apprentice on this job ! I have taken pics so you can make your own mind up. Tomo

From British & Dominion Vehicle Signage 14/18, the above unit is identified as 346 Coy (MT) ASC. Which operated in Salonika as 28 Div. Supply Column and later 92nd Auxiliary (MT) Coy. Unit was formed in 1915, served on the Western Front with 34 Div. before being posted to Salonika and was disbanded 1919.

Nice clips Dunc, Bedford has always been our favourite rally. It may be a good moment to mention that Old Warden is cancelled this year and the rally will be moving to a new site in 2020. Incidentally, I was cooking breakfast while Christine cleaned the chimney top !

Now back after a thorough session at A & C Soda blasters and it's time to get stuck in. First task was to remove the front axle which has been reversed since the chassis was 'trailerized'. The opportunity then presented itself to remove the front springs and strip down to clean up the leaves. The offside spring is original Thornycroft with cut down replacement leaves fitted presumably during field service repairs in France. This spring came apart readily and was cleaned up and greased between the leaves. The nearside one is a later replacement and bears a makers stamp WS & S and a date of 1926. This is interesting and would seem to indicate further road work before taking up duties as a caravan chassis. Although not blown out with rust, this spring was completely frozen and each leaf required individual attention after drilling out the centre pin in small bites. All shackle pins had suffered badly from lubricant starvation and will need replacement. Just one original grease cap has survived. The axle bears a cast mark KF for Kirkstal Forge in Leeds and is also stamped M (for military? )

Gearbox adjuster locking bolt ?

Progress being made despite the weather ! Looks like the back wheels have not been off for a while ! Kez made a nice find of a second chassis number stamped on the outer nearside chassis rail. It is the same as on the dumb iron; CHASSIS N 2393. Coming on lovely.

Chassis now with Carey at A&C Soda Blasters, near Waddesden. He will blast with glass and spray with high zinc 2 k primer.

Thanks Doug, its good to know that problems with some of the earlier models were overcome. It seems to have been common practice to rivet plates over the cracks and carry on on all makes and in all locations.

Interesting thought Sir, the tow hooks are clearly not in line as constructed. However, I have not yet seen any evidence, photographic or otherwise of the movement of these hooks in service and it could be that the longer replacement dumb irons from Thornycroft cured the problem, together with the replacement bolts and tubular supports mentioned above. These tow hooks were a universal fitting on subsidy vehicles and all makes had them in the same position, without it seems, suffering similar problems to the same degree. I wonder if some of the early chassis may have been formed too cold, setting up stresses, which later turned into cracks, with the horrendous conditions of service they had to endure ? What ever the cause, we have found the metal welds very nicely and following the recent acquisition of a (near) set of the correct style Government stamps, it will now be possible, I hope, to solve the problem. Tomo. I am reminded that there is a problem with towing these vehicles due to the worm drive diff. and that half shafts should always be removed before doing so.