How many Bastards were there?

[fv1609]

I was replying to a Malaya thread on ARRSE & thought I might ask on here as well.

Here is the only picture and reference I have of The Bastard that appeared in Soldier magazine November 1950. Was there only this one or were there other Bastards?

[paul connor]

How unusual. I was going to suggest it looks like a Ford Canadian Military Pattern truck, just from the wheel spacing and the radiator placement, but that is a wild guess. It does look as if the name would indeed reflect the driving experience.

[fv1609]

Paul I think its name reflects its operational role. But clearly uncomfortable for the crew if you read the alternative name in the commentary on this set piece demo of convoy procedures.

Somewhere I am sure I read that The Bastard was based on a Chevy in support of two Ford 3-Tons that were armoured on a the sides & drove ahead of the Bastard.

[Richard Farrant]

Hi Clive,

They were later replaced by a similar version on a Bedford RL chassis, think they were built in REME workshops in Singapore if my memory serves me. Not heard that name for them before though, I thought there was another nickname, Pig comes to mind.

[fv1609]

Richard yes I can see the hereditary origins that fed to the Bedford Pig. It would be lovely to see the one that was at SEME restored, it was quite a massive thing, but I think they were looking for a donor chassis in better condition before attempting a rebuild.

There was a Bedford Pig on here that turned up in the USA about 10 years ago in quite good condition. I think we put the owner right on its historical important but whether it got saved or "sexed up" into something silly I don't know.

Many many years ago I met a Malayan vet & was talking about Pigs, but he had no knowledge of Humber Pigs, just the Bedford Pigs. He gave me a couple of nice pictures a couple of these Pigs & of a CT15A in use by the Malayan "Home Guard" as he called it. I sent them to a club magazine & were published but sadly never returned to me.

I just wonder when the Bedford Pigs started production? I have a Soldier  March 1956 with a Malaya feature that includes the Bedford but gives no details.

In Soldier November 1956 it shows the Humber FV1609 "in service in Malaya & Cyprus".

I imagine the term Pig was a soldier's nickname that eventually transposed over from Bedford to Humber. Although the first ever published reference to Pig for an armoured Humber was the Pig Squirt modification in 1976. But originally the term Wolf was specifically forbidden to be used that slipped into common parlance that eventually got absorbed into some semi-official documentation.

[Richard Farrant]

Hi Clive,

The Bedford is shown in Bart Vanderveen's directory for 1945 onward vehicles. No build date shown though.

[attleej]

On the REME Museum's armoured Bedford RL, I did suggest buying a Green Goddess as a good donor.  It would have been an easy project because the armour would only need a shot blast and paint and we would have had all the running gear.  However, I had enough on my plate (and still do) without pushing that project.

The Armoured RL is still at Lyneham.

 

John

[B series]

Regarding the "Pigs" based on a Bedford RL chassis: A friend of mine had one of these back in the early 1980's up here in Norfolk. At the time not that much was known about them but we were told that it was the only one in the UK and it had been constructed in Singapore. We had seen the photo in Bart Vanderveen's book which I owned at the time (still have my copy signed by Bart),  I cannot remember the exact details, but I think the Bedford Pig was purchased from the early days of the Budge operation, and I seem to recall it was swopped/sold to the Mucklebrough collection in the early 1980's as part of a deal to obtain a 5.5 Gun from them to go behind a Leyland Martian gun tractor that we had purchased from Colchester area. We did a few local shows in the Bedford Pig but did not keep it very long. Although it was in good condition it was a crude noisy beast and not pleasant to ride in, and of course very limited visibility for driver and passengers. I seem to recall we brush painted the Pig in Land Rover Deep Bronze Green and replicated the formation signs shown in Bart's book.  I cannot remember the military or the DVLA registration, and I don't know where "our" Pig is now.

Regarding the Malayan "Pigs", they were Ford Canadian F60L chassis converted by unknown entity in to lightly armoured personnel carriers for use in Malaya highlands. I was not aware of the flame thrower version.  There were several of these conversions and judging by the post war registrations they were converted in small batches and re numbered possibly from excess cargo vehicles.

Examples I am aware of are: 66XD15, 40ZC60 to 62, 41ZC34 to38, 42ZC14 & 15, 42ZC83 to 87, 43ZC09 & 10, 45ZC14, 48ZC84 & 85 and 49ZC67.  I have never seen one in the UK and assume most would have been sold off in Malaya when we withdrew our forces.

 

 

[Runflat]

Another string on this subject is here: