RAF Fuel Bowser needs saving (WW2?)

[w896andy]

Re new tyres: I've also got one of these to restore, its a Borckhouse flat bed Mk 2 not a tanker and my tyres are also shot. Tyres will be a problem, try Totec Tyres they import I think 9.00 x 13's from India other than that you will be stuck as I've not found anybody who makes big 13 inch tyres these days. The other option is to get a set of modern 16 inch or 17.5 inch lorry wheels from a Ford Cargo 7.5 ton or similar and have the centres of the wheels cut out and remade to the stud pattern by an engineering firm. This will mean modern tyres which you can get in the future again and no problems with modern road speeds and loads.

 

These lorry wheels are normally offset centres so they can be run in pairs on the rear, they need to be middle set centres for the trailer but it can fairly easily be done. I found a set which I was going to have done and then stumbled upon a set which somebody had made up for a Brockhouse Mk 1, the stud pattern is slightly smaller than a Mk 2 but the centres have plenty of space to have a Mk 2 pattern drilled into them as well, I really was in the right place at the right time and very lucky to find them from a scrapped trailer.

 

Andy

[chindit]

looks like two more of these on ebay number 301079040491 not mine .chindit

[Adrian Barrell]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301079040491?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D0%26_from%3DR40%26_nkw%3D301079040491%26_rdc%3D1

 

To make it easier!

[BOBC1940]

Sorry for the lack of updates on the bowser at Manby I have been very busy. It is still there at the moment, as to its condition its may not be complete but it is far better than the one on milweb!...

 

Hi, there is nothing more in this thread on this important save, NWCB was also fretting and wanting more info , so whats happened ?

 

Did it have pump for example, I cant see anything much about it, no pics, nothing.

 

very worried, :cry: and might have ideas of a home for it myself.

 

BOBC1940

[BOBC1940]

Any further news at all on this Bowser ? I hope it didnt get scrapped.

 

Where is it, details of seller etc ?

 

I desperately seek any owners restorers of these bowsers, or the Bellamy (eliptical tank with Zwicky pump and Lister Diesel engine in box compartment at rear end.) ESPECIALLY WITH THE ZWICKY PUMP.

 

Please PM me.

 

Howard here on HMVF in this thread had a nice looking pump in a Brockhouse twin doored refueller, pics page 1, but sold it and doesnt know who to.:cry:

 

BOBC

[russell sprout]

If anyone needs any bits for these bowsers then please get in touch as I'm scrapping a couple. No pumps unfortunately but I do have a spare original Lister A engine available.

[NWCB.]

If anyone needs any bits for these bowsers then please get in touch as I'm scrapping a couple. No pumps unfortunately but I do have a spare original Lister A engine available.

 

I am interested in the Lister A bowser original engine, as i rescued the bowser featuring at the beginning of this thread but unfortunately it had lost it's engine (And pump) many years previously. I understand it's original engine was a Lister A.

[Its me]

Hi all,

 

 has anyone come across anymore of these trailers lately?

as quite like the idea of one behind my fordson standard.

[merlinpower]

One for Nick, I think! Congratulations on rescuing the Brockhouse Fuel Bowser from Plantation Farm. I grew up on the farm as my father was Farm Manager for the May family from 1947-1988. He came up to Hampshire from Sussex having managed farms for the W.A.E.C. after leaving Plumpton Ag. college. My Mum was in the Land Army trained (?) by my Dad! Anyway, much of the farm equipment used at K.E.L. in the late forties and fifties was ex-military. As it fell out of service much of it ended up in the woods on the farm, like some elephants graveyard. As kids it was great finding the remains of Bren gun carriers, Queen Mary trailers etc. Needless to say, that when scrap prices rose and woodland clearance occurred much was carted away and lost forever. However, the bowser, which was used for refueling the combines during harvest and tractors during Autumn cultivation, was regular used and I have happy memories of towing it up the A339 as a student in the 80's. Among the other trailed items used at that time were up to 4 Ex-RAF 4 wheeler flat bed Brockhouse trailers which had hay/straw ladders added so bales could be carted from field to barn on them. These are still around on the farm somewhere and would be worthy of rescue too! One of the fun vehicles they had working on the farm in the early fifties was a stripped down Bren Gun carrier with, I believe, the Ford V8 diesel engine. This was used for pulling trailed discs and rollers and when going at full power with its straight through exhaust made the driver look like a character from a Mad Max movie! I have attached some images of some historic vehicles at K.E.L. and some of my Mum and Dad in Sussex with various equipment including earthmovers used to clear large areas of uncultivated land for food production. Note your fuel bowser in the picture of Jack Edwards, the Shepherd, taken in 1968. Harder to see are two flat bed Brockhouse trailers! At the time the latter were trailed behind a Nuffield tractor fitted with a bale collector. We used these trailers well into the 1990s for straw/hay/fertilizer hauling but by 2000 all livestock on the farm had gone and farm equipment had got bigger so they were no longer needed on a daily basis. Nonetheless, some 50 years of service is not bad really! Hope you find these of interest. I have pals who are members of various military living history and reenactment groups so get to see quite a bit of ex-military kit at times. There was a good turnout at the GDSF this year for the 50th Anniversary.

[Maverick]

On ‎10‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 1:24 PM, merlinpower said:

Thanks for sharing this information, very interesting. Funny enough I started this post regarding the Fuel Bowser at Plantation FM but I actually live only 15 miles from Plumpton in Sussex, funny how things like this come about

 

 

One for Nick, I think! Congratulations on rescuing the Brockhouse Fuel Bowser from Plantation Farm. I grew up on the farm as my father was Farm Manager for the May family from 1947-1988. He came up to Hampshire from Sussex having managed farms for the W.A.E.C. after leaving Plumpton Ag. college. My Mum was in the Land Army trained (?) by my Dad! Anyway, much of the farm equipment used at K.E.L. in the late forties and fifties was ex-military. As it fell out of service much of it ended up in the woods on the farm, like some elephants graveyard. As kids it was great finding the remains of Bren gun carriers, Queen Mary trailers etc. Needless to say, that when scrap prices rose and woodland clearance occurred much was carted away and lost forever. However, the bowser, which was used for refueling the combines during harvest and tractors during Autumn cultivation, was regular used and I have happy memories of towing it up the A339 as a student in the 80's. Among the other trailed items used at that time were up to 4 Ex-RAF 4 wheeler flat bed Brockhouse trailers which had hay/straw ladders added so bales could be carted from field to barn on them. These are still around on the farm somewhere and would be worthy of rescue too! One of the fun vehicles they had working on the farm in the early fifties was a stripped down Bren Gun carrier with, I believe, the Ford V8 diesel engine. This was used for pulling trailed discs and rollers and when going at full power with its straight through exhaust made the driver look like a character from a Mad Max movie! I have attached some images of some historic vehicles at K.E.L. and some of my Mum and Dad in Sussex with various equipment including earthmovers used to clear large areas of uncultivated land for food production. Note your fuel bowser in the picture of Jack Edwards, the Shepherd, taken in 1968. Harder to see are two flat bed Brockhouse trailers! At the time the latter were trailed behind a Nuffield tractor fitted with a bale collector. We used these trailers well into the 1990s for straw/hay/fertilizer hauling but by 2000 all livestock on the farm had gone and farm equipment had got bigger so they were no longer needed on a daily basis. Nonetheless, some 50 years of service is not bad really! Hope you find these of interest. I have pals who are members of various military living history and reenactment groups so get to see quite a bit of ex-military kit at times. There was a good turnout at the GDSF this year for the 50th Anniversary.

 

[merlinpower]

On 10/13/2011 at 8:31 AM, NWCB. said:

 

There is another padlock and chain on the other end aswell, for good measure (And they cost a total of more than the bowser itself) !

 

Nick

 

[merlinpower]

That's interesting Maverick. My father's family moved to Sussex (nearer his Mum's family) from Worcestershire after the agricultural depression in 1928 having lost the farm and milk business. His father never really recovered. They lived near Rottingdean/Saltdean. Mum was born in Brighton and her Dad had three gents outfitters in Brighton, Seaford and Newhaven. Dad's older sister married a Canadian infantryman in 1944 whose camp was based in Lewes. Dad's father died in 1944 and in 1946 his older sister, mother and younger sister all moved to Canada. Dad married Mum in 1947 and moved up to Hampshire. The farms he managed during WW2 were along that stretch of coast and back up to the Downs and to Lewes. He had many a tale to tell of German bombers as they headed towards London. Brighton and the surrounding area did get hit quite heavily with some bombers dropping their cargo early and others on their way back before crossing the channel again. One came down near where he was working and despite their best efforts the crew perished in the flames. The oldest on board was the pilot at 26. All very sobering. 

[Chris Hall]

I was driving down a road the other day which I’ve driven down hundreds of times when I saw one of the bowser tanks at a farm. It was only because of this thread that I recognised it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the trailer is somewhere on the farm to.

picture from google maps.

 

 

[LarryH57]

Old post I realise, but were these Brockhouse Fuel Bowser trailers used  just for fuel or sometimes for oil?

I guess many photos of them with 100 in a circle confirms the subject was for 100 Octain fuel, but I am sure I have seen another photo somewhere with Oil written on the side?

[merlinpower]

Hi Chaps,
I know the fuel bowser was rescued, thankfully.
Having grown up on the farm and hauled it about during harvest filled with diesel for the combine it would have been sad to see it scrapped.
There were also at least three 4-wheel Brockhouse flat bed trailers of a similar era used on the farm.
These were used as straw/hay bale and fertiliser trailers for much of the 50s/60s/70s and 80s.
One of them now lies redundant by the the entrance to Pitt Hall farm on the A339.
It was supporting a sign!
I'm not sure how long it will be there for before it goes to scrap heaven but it would compliment any other WW2 kit if restored appropriately.

All the best,

Paul

 

[LarryH57]

The bowser looks to be camouflaged with grass! What is left of it?

[merlinpower]

Hi Larry, this is not a fuel bowser. Under the camo. is an ex-RAF 4 wheel Brockhouse trailer which had a similar chassis to the fuel bowser. Cheers, Paul