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Real military vehicles dont have spark plugs


Great War truck

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This one is a Fowler road locomotive that was built for the WD during the war and in this photo has its original name "Lafayette". However, this was not to be for long, as it appeared in this guise only a couple of times before being totally repainted in its post war Pickfords livery and carried a different name. A shame.

 

Aveling and Porter made a number of steam rollers for the WD and one has just been restored in its military livery. It carries the large letters WE as opposed to WD (copied from a period photograph) which we understand is for War Engineers, or has anybody got a better explanation. I will look for a photo i took of it at Great Dorset.

 

Tim (too)

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I am pretty sure that 6nhp tractor, 'Steam Sapper No 1' was an Aveling , purchased by the War Office in about 1870. Colonel Cromptons Thomson road steamers started work in India shortly afterwards too. Sadly, none of them has survived, unless you know different!

 

Steve

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I am pretty sure that 6nhp tractor, 'Steam Sapper No 1' was an Aveling , purchased by the War Office in about 1870. Colonel Cromptons Thomson road steamers started work in India shortly afterwards too. Sadly, none of them has survived, unless you know different!

 

Steve

 

 

 

Think your right, there............Steve; followed by sappers no 2 & 3.( I believe)

Got some info on these,.................somewhere........ :roll:

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I have just googled the company and it seems to have been a paper manufacturer. However, their website has gone so perhaps they are no longer extant.

 

Aveling and Porters original works in Rochester was 'Invicta Works' and this name was continued when the Company was reformed as 'Aveling Barford' in Grantham in about 1930. As a matter of interest, the new factory was built on land where Richard Hornsby had tested the first ever caterpillar gun tractor over twenty years before. I worked there for two years and we found a pile of bits of bren gun carriers left over from the war when clearing space for extra parking. All of the tooling for manufacturing the carriers was stored in a basement beside the river and left there when the new number 8 shop was built on top of them in the 1970's. Anyone fancy a bit of potholing?

 

Steve

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I have just googled the company and it seems to have been a paper manufacturer. However, their website has gone so perhaps they are no longer extant.

 

Aveling and Porters original works in Rochester was 'Invicta Works' and this name was continued when the Company was reformed as 'Aveling Barford' in Grantham in about 1930. As a matter of interest, the new factory was built on land where Richard Hornsby had tested the first ever caterpillar gun tractor over twenty years before. I worked there for two years and we found a pile of bits of bren gun carriers left over from the war when clearing space for extra parking. All of the tooling for manufacturing the carriers was stored in a basement beside the river and left there when the new number 8 shop was built on top of them in the 1970's. Anyone fancy a bit of potholing?

 

Steve

 

Ah ha, the area is famous for paper works the Swan place at Swanley (where else) and Kickenors or something at Foots Cray shut down a couple of years ago the buliding is listed and some work just started on it. thanks for that one of those local 'Why is that there must check' thats never got done. thanks a lot.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Tim, is the Foden viewable at Kew? As i'm rapidly turning into a WWI buff (i've learnt more about WWI than anything else since starting University, and spent more of my loan on books than anything else, including alcohol!), i'd love to see it, especially as WWI softskins are so thin on the ground

 

Cheers, Rob

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Hi Rob

 

It certainly was on view there and i am not aware of it having been moved elsewhere. The website of the museum is http://www.kbsm.org/

 

You might want to drop them an e-mail to see if it is still on view. Do let me know as i would like to go and see it as well.

 

All the best

 

Tim (too)

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  • 2 weeks later...

E-mailed Kew and apparently ten years ago it was handed over to someone called Dennis Brandt at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire. Looking at the website it's more of a posh wedding/corporate event style place, sent them an e-mail off using the general enquiry form anyway so will wait and see if I get a reply

 

http://www.eastnorcastle.com

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