D.M.E. Circulars.

[79x100]

I am keen to trace some of the information contained in Wartime circulars between B.40 and B.433 - These all relate to motorcycles.

 

Despite often being referred to, for instance in the R.A.M.T. school booklet which I have,

I have not been able to locate any. The REME museum believes that they were destroyed as and when replaced by REME documents. However, they must have been quite widely distributed and I can't believe that there are none out there.

 

Does Clive have a collection ?

 

Any help in pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated.

[Richard Farrant]

I also would like to find some of these circulars.....not only for the motorcycles, though. What REME Museum says is quite true, I was in REME workshops from 1974 and the library was very interesting at the time, with a lot of wartime publications still held, but I know there were no DME Circulars for the BSA WM20, only thing of interest was the Inspection Standards for it, which gave a heap more info than was in the Workshop manual.

 

It may sound crazy now, but all these publications would have been destroyed, ie burnt, once the equipment was deemed obsolete, also, regarding modifications, etc., once a period had passed and these mods. had been embodied in the fleet, then there was no point in keeping the paperwork. They were classified as "restricted". I have to say that it is all these obscure pieces of literature are now becoming of great interest to those of us dedicated to keeping the equipment going.

 

Richard

[fv1609]

I think the REME Museum would be correct that they were destroyed as they became superceded by EMERs. I have some EMERs compilations that cover wartime equipment the oldest one I have is Feb 1944. Even the Jeep (oh yes) EMERs were not issued until 1945. To allow for the local nature of things it wasn't late 1944 when EMECs were first issued. I don't know whether the circulars were destroyed on being displaced by an EMER or whether they time lapsed like LOCAL E&MEI which had to be destroyed within a year.

 

It's quite satisfying to look at in instruction to destroy a document & then find the document underneath is still there. What gets me are the ones that require the destruction notice to be destroyed as well. I would have thought it would have been more sensible that it was there to explain the absence of the earlier document & acts an authority for it being destroyed.

 

But destruction of documents is nothing new. Document & fiche are stored (or masters are stored for copying) at the Defence Storage & Distribution Centre Lllangennach. HMG are going to close it & the staff have no idea what will be happening. But chatting one member of staff revealed that all archive material & anything not relating to equipment not currently used has now been destroyed.

 

 

[79x100]

Thanks for your views, not exactly what I wanted to hear of course. It doesn't surprise me at all that the main archives were destroyed when no longer needed but I am puzzled that none seem to have escaped. The references to them seem to imply that they were quite widely distributed. Presumably much of the more mundane information would have gone down to Section Fitters and not just been retained within RAOC / REME ?

 

Contract-stamped parts books with obsolete VAOS LV7s are not uncommon but perhaps they were sold off post-war ?

 

I wonder if Commonwealth forces received / retained these documents ?

[fv1609]

Units that returned from overseas theatres kept their own EMERs but the EMECs were retained with the theatre. Overseas DEME Technical Circulars were replaced by EMECs on 12 December 1944.

 

I doubt if former British colonial strongholds would want to retain much of their colonial past least of all REME documents. But I suppose it might be worth going on Canadian & Australian sites & asking as engineering regulations & circulars in equivalent form were produced by the Armies of those countries. On Ferret sites from time to time one sees documents from those countries, although they have sometimes adaptations unique to that country.

[Richard Farrant]

 

Contract-stamped parts books with obsolete VAOS LV7s are not uncommon but perhaps they were sold off post-war ?

 

 

It is not surprising that parts lists, etc, survived because they who survive the service life of the vehicle and if notification was not recieved, they would not be destroyed. We actually had a workshop manual for a 1920 Dennis truck in the library, until someone rescued it for posterity.

 

These DME circulars were really a temporary notice, that once they were implimented then notice would be given for them to be destroyed, much the same as Mod. Instructions and Technical Instructions in EMER's, where early ones would be destroyed once all vehicles had been actioned, or amendments had been made to EMER. If oyu did not thin out this paperwork, you would be knee deep in irrelevant material. It is only now that we realise the importance, but in those days, who would have thought people would be resurecting these old machines?

 

DME's may have survived in another form, just remembered this example;

 

EMER Power S009 Misc. Inst. No.1 dated 12th Feb. 1947

Petrol Engines

 

Note; THIS IS NOT A NEW INSTRUCTION

This instruction was originally published as War Office (DME) Technical Instruction (Heavy Engineering) Serial No, H46, dated 19th May 1945, and is now published as an EMER for record purposes only.

 

It related to the emergency use of MT80 petrol in place of MT72, in small engines, used in Charging sets, generators, outboards and similar.

 

Richard

[79x100]

Ah well, just have to keep my eyes open and my ear to the ground :-)

 

The lists of D.M.E. Circulars have just enough info to whet my appetite. For instance, B.19 of 1/10/1940 dealt with rectification when necessary of fracturing petrol tank lugs on Nortons and the factory certainly beefed-up the lug casting at some point (without issuing a new part number of course) but I would be fascinated to know what the official fix was for the early pattern, if only so I know what to do when mine breaks !

 

Rich.