PW british army 3 and 4 ton trucks

[les freathy]

I am well aware that we have a number of varied threads on the forum that discuss types of P W British 3 and 4 ton trucks but felt it would be benificial to start a pictorial thread covering the many types and even more on the varient side of these military trucks that to be honest we have all grown up with since 1950 to the current Leyland DAF.

So to start why not the long serving Bedford RL 3 tonner and a prototype Austin F J rated at 41/2 tons FV 13701, this vehicle lost out to the Bedford M series but a very small number were used most likely some of the submitted prototypes

[les freathy]

A few more to get this thread on the move, first two are the revamped MK with the TL tilt cab. Most of these cabs replaced the tactical refueller with just a few as general service.

photo 3 and 4 are the bedford TK 3 ton these were used for base duties and driver training, not many of these have made it into preservation which is a surprise as it is quite a easy vehicle to rebuild and maintain

[sirhc]

Here's some MJs at Withams...

[chevpol]

heres 3 from me, 1 taken in malta.

 

can I post the leyland daf 4 tonners?

 

Mark

[Marmite!!]

RMP Display... what did that consist of :confused::shake::shake::shake:

 

[chevpol]

RMP Display... what did that consist of :confused::shake::shake::shake:

 

 

dont know, pole dancing whilst drunk maybe?:cool2:

 

Interesting colour of the RL though isnt it?

 

Mark

[Dougy FV432]

Hello All,

 

A few more pics of Bedford MJs can be found here.

 

http://www.fv432.co.uk/wwwfv432couk/supportvehiclepages/Bedfords/BedfordMJpage1.htm

 

Have some of the leylands, but thats a work in progress!

 

 

Dougy

[les freathy]

No problem with the Leyland Daf Mark i had intended to cover from the late 1940s ie Bedford 0 series to the Leyland to try and get a complete coverage, not seen the RMP display vehicles in blue colour before, Maybe a another model idea coming on

[les freathy]

A bit of Bedford M type advertising from 1973 and a couple of photos from 1990 at Martins plain camp Folkestone, interesting box mounted on the roof platform

[AlienFTM]

Oooh spooky. I was just thinking of passing comment on the most unusual 3- or 4-ton truck I came across in my time and the pic above looks like it may be it.

 

Having transferred out of the cavalry and into a shiny-arrse RAPC job, I expected a quiet life. Unfortunately my history as a RAC Control Signaller went before me. Posted to the Headquarters of 12 Armoured Workshop REME, I found myself nailed on to run the radios on exercise.

 

12 Armd Wksp were undergoing downsizing when I joined as 2 Armd Div, which it had supported, moved back to UKLF as strategic reserve, leaving one of its two brigades with a now-three-brigade 1 Armd Div. wef 1 Jan 1982, 12 Armd Wksp supported this brigade (which must have been 12 Armd Bde) instead of the whole of 2 Armd Div and thus halved in size.

 

On exercise, the workshop split into two entirely disparate entities, a Main REME Group (MRG) providing second-level REME support to the brigade and a Forward Recovery Team (FRT) providing recovery support.

 

I found myself on more exercises than I had with Command Troop of an Armoured Recce regiment, which was 1. difficult and 2. not what I'd gone in search of a quiet life with a young wife and a child born within days of arriving in my new posting.

 

The MRG radio truck had been a Bedford RL Machy (Machinery) Wagon (like the RL in the pic), but now comprised a UK/VRC321 HF Clansman set to work the Div Logistic Net, a UK/PRC351 (IIRC - might have been a 349) VHF manpack with which to talk to the four other platoons whilst deployed and a field telephone exchange with which ditto.

 

The manpack was coaxed to an antenna base on the roof. The exchange passed through a junction box in the cabin wall, to which the platoons ran their Don 10 links. The MRG would remain in place for up to a week (you didn't want to have to keep packing up Chieftains etc with packs removed and moving every six hours like I had previously with Battlegroup HQ) and on arrival in location, while the rest of the crew cammed up the RL, I set up a dipole antenna between two 12m or 8m masts (it WAS a long time ago) and established the link with Division. We ran a coax from the 321 out of a remote window to the mast.

 

I took to doing permanent night stags so that it always fell to me to adjust the dipole at the midnight frequency change and code changes and get them right. It had the advantage of letting me sleep when there were menial tasks to be performed. Instead I could sit quietly and improve my lot. For example I drew a graph of HF Frequency against 1/4 wavelength (rounded down to the nearest foot) so that at frequency change, I simply read the length off the graph and counted the notches in the dipole to set it to 1/4 wavelength for optimum transmit efficiency.

 

The REME did a good job of customising that Machy wagon into a command vehicle with home comforts. They also customised their MK TCV by adding six metal bunks so that we could sleep whilst not on stag. During the day, when everyone else was working, I had my pick.

 

The MK in the pic above (34GB41) reminds me of the sort of vehicle 'Ackers and Grinders (A&G Platoon) worked from, complete with trailer. The MRG consisted of large numbers of MKs and various trailers, be they workshops or generators (which kept their TVs running nicely in the field, thank you, but if we ran a kettle, they complained that we were sucking their BFBS TV power dry). I remember on one occasion the QM getting really uptight because the number of trailers was getting perilously close to the number of hooks to tow them and the Germans did not like us towing two trailers behind one prime.

[paul connor]

Did you write a day to day diary in the forces? I can't remember anything near such detail and its not even 15 years! 'Nice colour' or 'standard 4 tonner' would suffice.

Should add Beford Mk/MJ to the list of things you don't own

[N.O.S.]

A few more to get this thread on the move, first two are the revamped MK with the TL tilt cab. Most of these cabs replaced the tactical refueller with just a few as general service.

 

 

Actually, Les, I think most of them ended up in Leavesley's yard still in their packaging, 200 or more I believe :-D:-D:-D

 

Seemed a crazy waste of money to just dispose of them like that as not a big job to fit especially as they were rigid, not tilting They'd have been a good weekend project for the TA boys. They were probably sold for diddley squat. Mind you Leavesley were asking a lot of money for them.

 

A few years later I got the last but one out of Leavesley's - three were not sold 'cos someone had lost the keys which later came to light. Fully trimmed and fitted out, all parts for conversion including new-style 3 piece front bumper.

 

It has now been sitting in my workshop for 3 years waiting to replace the moth-eaten TL cab on my drill rig (which even has hydraulic tilt :cool2:).

[les freathy]

A photo from Marshalls of the body fitted to the mk

[les freathy]

Mine protected cab on MK

[AlienFTM]

Did you write a day to day diary in the forces? I can't remember anything near such detail and its not even 15 years!

I wish.

 

To quote Roger Waters:

 

You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.

 

Too much beer, too many young German ladies, too many miles of German road to ride the motorbike on ...

 

Sadly 30 years after the events, some things are beginning to drift. Must finish the book.

[ferretfixer]

RMP Display... what did that consist of :confused::shake::shake::shake:

 

Looks more like a Mobile Toilet!......:-D

[les freathy]

Another early Leyland Daf 4 tonner

[alan turner (RIP)]

Thought I'd dig out som from the RAWHS Collection. colour shots are coverted to B/W due to state of colour hues from negs

[Richard Farrant]

Thought I'd dig out som from the RAWHS Collection. colour shots are coverted to B/W due to state of colour hues from negs

 

 

Hi Alan,

 

Some interesting photos, keep them coming. The Bedford RL with small cabin on the back, came about with the demise of the last of Austin K9 Signals trucks. The K9 bodies were mounted on the RL platform and a special frame was fitted to the front to carry two Onan 3.5kva gen sets, which would have been in a trailer behind the K9 previously. The gen sets were mounted in a sliding frame to enable them to be drawn out for servicing. Later on these bodies were replaced with purpose built container body of similar size.

[ian2b]

Excellent pics of the RL Alan. Thats the first time I have ever seen a K9 body on an RL, looks good.

[alan turner (RIP)]

oh you mean like this taken in the vehicle park at Woolwich

[Richard Farrant]

oh you mean like this taken in the vehicle park at Woolwich

 

 

Thats it! Just as I remember.......used to have a lot to do on those gen sets.

 

As a lot of these photos are not RA related, they could have come from one of the REME branches around Woolwich, seem to think Publications Branch was next to the Rotunda before it was pulled down.

[scott9643]

 

I've still got these as seperates -- didn't even think about mixing them up!

 

I nicked the next photos from somewhere -- might have even been here! The colour one shows the ambulance bodied "Commer cab" Ford, a rare truck even in its' day amongst the more common Bedfords, and the other of the "Commer cab" Ford LAAT with an RL kicked out of the Beverley museum at the time of its demise -- out of interest does anyone know what happened to it?

[Tony B]

Still trying to find fuel lines for an Onan if anyone knows? Or where I can get the female fitting to the fuel glass, than I'll stick my own pipe on.

[schliesser92]

It's interesting to note how many different makes/types of truck were in service at the same time. I remember at 1 Div HQ & Signals regt (Verden, BFPO32) we had :

 

Bedford RL - primarily in the Radio-Relay and GS roles

Bedford MK - Gs and with 4ton containers/cabins

Commer Q4 - 1 only as a workshop vehicle (originally a radar-repair vehicle)

Fordson - 1 only as an RAOC stores vehicle.

 

A Bedford Rl with the C50 RR installation (3 bank -ie "double-anchor" or relay) , loaded out to SOP7 (+fuel,rations,water, personal baggage and weapons) tipped the scales at 13 Tons!