Pre-heater Van at Melsbroek, Belgium
 

“Ground crew of No. 3208 Servicing Commando, insert collapsible tubes from a pre-heating van into the air intake and radiator of a Hawker Typhoon Mark IB in the snow at B58/Melsbroek, Belgium. The tubes fed hot air into the Napier Sabre engines, which were notoriously difficult to start in wintry conditions, and required this treatment at regular intervals to maintain serviceability.”

Attachment 135035

Commer Q2 pickup somewhere in the Western Desert...

That's a new one to me, thanks!

Colour photo of a Q2 Van
 

As posted over on HMVF: https://hmvf.co.uk/topic/45701-somet...t-follow-amos/

There do seem to be quite a few period images of RAF Q2's. You never know, there maybe survivors hidden away somewhere. We have a wartime airfield near to us still with in situ pillboxes etc, would be nice to take a truck like this there.

RAF MT Vehicle data publication
 

Some scans of Commer vehicles in the RAF AP2782/ AP2782A publication:

"The recording and publication of RAF MT Vehicle data in a dedicated document does not appear to have been undertaken until the middle of WW2 when AP2782 was issued" - read more here https://www.rafweb.org/Vehicles/AP27...1P_General.htm

Attachment 135469 Attachment 135470

Attachment 135471 Attachment 135472

RAF Q2's
 

Hi Kevin, I started this thread to collect photos of the Commer Q2 15-cwt Van. If you have any more, please share them here.

There is a certain quirkiness about the Q2 Van which I fancy. As far as I have been able to ascertain to date - see https://hmvf.co.uk/topic/15212-joe-h...ard-molesworth for example - there are no survivors.
I have a long term plan to restore/ reconstruct one from a chassis/cab as I think it would be a great tribute to the many aircrews which it carried to aircraft to undertake their dangerous missions. And also because I find that RAF vehicles are a little underexposed.

Attachment 135490

Another coach built Q2 body.

Poor Commer....

source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcusnYFHdPE

Ar-63-24
 

Another photo of 1 of only 2(?) surviving Commer Q15 GS trucks.

It currently lives in the Netherlands.

Attachment 139319
Photo source: https://www.luckyseventh.nl/2022-hel...els-zutendaal/

Found on Facebook, a colourised photo of a Commer Q2 15-cwt Van.

Caption: “Pilots of 249 Squadron at North Weald, late 1940. Richard Wynn, Tom Neil, Robert Barton, Patrick Wells, James Crossey, Jack Mills, Albert Lewis, George Barclay, George Palliser, S "Woolly" Woolmer and Anthony Thompson.”

In one of the comments to this photo Kit Wells wrote: "Pat Wells was my cousin. Knew him in his later years. He was shot down shortly after this photo and badly burnt. He became one of the famous guinea pigs for plastic surgery. Years later in South Africa he was introduced to Adolf Garland. After a lengthy conversation they both produced their log books for the day he was shot down. They gradually realised that it was in fact Galland who shot him down. Galland’s log records ‘Shot down in flames - pilot killed’ to which Pat’s comment was ‘Sorry mate, I am still here’. A lovely man and a pleasure to know so many years after these events"

Another comment: "This isn't September 1940, it's late November onwards and possibly December or even early 1941 due to the fact the Hurricane in the background has a 'Sky' coloured Spinner and fuselage recognition band added, which wasn't introduced until Air Ministry Orders in November 1940."

Attachment 139747

Source

That same colorised facebook picture found it's way to multiple forums, which led to more pictures being posted in reply.

Javier de Luelmo posted this picture on the missing-lynx forum of a Q2 van in the desert, but in German hands.
No idea of the original source, but picture posted here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/miss...57077#p1757077

Attachment 139762

Thanks Alex, good to see another Q2 Van in North Africa.

I traced back this photo via https://www.heritage-print.com/fligh...-14995346.html as being a photo from Air of Glory: A Wartime Scrapbook, by Cecil Beaton and published by His Majesty's Stationary Office, 1941

Attachment 139763