BATUS use of Canadian Deuce trucks
 

Does anyone have any clue about the use of Deuce and half trucks by the Brits at BATUS in the early years.

Here is a link showing one registered as 22 FL 30 which is a Brit registration.

http://fearnaught3.proboards.com/ind...int&thread=739

It is part way down the page.

R

Interesting, thanks for the link.

Note the deuce in the last photo still has the early round mirrors, as opposed to the later West Coast mirrors shown on the other deuces in the series of photos.

I also note the exhaust stacks are not the normal ones from the Cdn deuce. Love the paint jobs though.

here is another nice shot Rob, comments please.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/doyle39...n/photostream/

R

My first comment is that these photos must have been taken before the invention of the lawn chair, since guys seemed to climb a long way up to all sit on the roof. Little wonder it's hard to find a straight roof anywhere.

Then again, if you have ever been to Suffield, you would realize that you have to sit very high in order to try to see something that you don't already see: barren rolling scrub land.

But about the truck, it's a Canadian M135, as evidenced by the hi/low tarp setup. It also is still wearing it's early style round mirrors.

Rob,

How would Canada have sold or loaned these trucks to the Brits?

Would there be a record of that somewhere against any kind of serial numbers?

Do you think they were done that way or would they have been purchased from the factory?

What springs to mind?

R

I doubt they were bought from the factory, since the factory quit making them in either late 56 or early 57.

There were provisions to rent out our vehicles under the right conditions.... I suspect the visiting Brits may have worked out a deal. The British plates almost make it look more like a purchase, although just as likely the plates may have been attached to either as a control number for logistical or maintenance purposes, or as in indication of insurance for use on Canadian roads.

There were a lot of trucks held at various bases back then for war stock. We bought trucks to the level needed for the 1950s cold war, and as the military shrunk in the 70s, some fleets were partially reduced in size and at the same time portions of the fleets were put into logistics stock. So it was very possible that if the British government requested trucks (purchase or rent) then something could have been arranged.

Below I will talk about the GATES, which I am more familiar about, and who were in a similar situation as the British in Alberta.

I do know that the Germans were running a small fleet (4 I believe) of Canadian pattern MLVWs here in Shilo as range fire trucks. But it turned out they were not from the Canadian run of trucks, but rather were ordered from Bombardier in 1984 for that purpose. They were surplussed out in the early 90s when the MLVW was found to be too light for firefighting duties, both by the Germans and by the Canadians. And I mentioned in another thread that the Germans ran some North American vehicles here. Much easier to get spare parts for a MCI bus than to be having to special order all your parts for a Mercedes model. We often do the same thing when we are in other countries. Canada was using Bedfords in Cypress, and I remember seeing two Land Rovers with Canadian license plates in Bosnia. And the list of foreign commercial pattern vehicles we used in (and certain elements occasionally out of) Kandahar Airfield was quite lengthy.

We used to have the Germans into our shop here in Shilo all the time scrounging parts for their M109s or M113s, because the time to order them from Germany, or to go through the proper chains to get them from Canada, were ridiculously time consuming.

According to post from one of our fellow members here I think that I have found one . . . . . in 2007

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8401

Look down the thread at the "desert colour" one. Looks a likely candidate as an ex Batus truck doesn't it?

Oh yes, at the risk of getting this thread off topic and on a red herring, it is also in this thread that a certain Mr Rob Love says he wont be owning another deuce and offers some parts for sale!

Rob does say, when reminded of this fact, in his defence (by email tonight) that his howitzer will be better behind a deuce than a 3/4 ton so I guess that is good reason.;)

I have emailed Super Dave and am awaiting and answer as to whether his mate still has the truck.

R

M135CDN at BATUS
 

I was a safety officer at BATUS for the very first two battle groups. The M135s we were using then indeed had UK type number plates (hand sprayed if I remember rightly) and they were still in OD or whatever the Canadians were using at the time. We understood that they had come from the Canadian Armed Forces.

We happily drove right hand drive Landrovers around the local (and not so local) roads which caused children idly looking out of the back windows of cars to do a double take when they realised the steering wheel was on the wrong side, but later we were ticked off when it was explained that those vehicles were only supposed to be used on the ranges.

The other excitement occurred at the end of, I think, the second battle run, when virtually all of the armoured squadron managed to bog their Chieftains in a slough near the final objective. One of the only two British Centurion ARVs in the western hemisphere went to the rescue, and got bogged too. The one remaining ARV kept well back out of the mud and managed to rescue its mate, whereupon they eventually managed to drag the tanks out too.

Chris

It looks as if one may be for sale now, suspiciously similar camo schemes

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/e...ationFlag=true

will anyone buy it for me and give me financing say over 60 months?

R

Apparently, this one even has the legendary "gravity defiance" mod installed!

Had to rotate my screen to get a better look. :)

Don't forget to get the CarProof! haha..