Another very rare find
 

Another very rare find has come to light
1942 No 1 Recovery trailer

A few more
Owner does not want to be named

I remember seeing a brake test of these trailers and a blitz but cant seem to find it . Has anyone got a copy of it ? :salute:

Andrew,
I could do with that. Does he want to sell? (After you of course).
Rick.

He is contemplating if the offer is good enough
Blitz parts would also be considered as part offers
And yes he does know how rare ,what it is and what the market value is !

They are a big trailer measuring in at a shade over 9 foot wide 2800mm and almost 18 foot 5400mm long tip to tip
Built extremely well :salute:

Trailer now has a temporary new owner :doh: :D :devil:
And is awaiting the next new owner :confused

A few more pics

Another batch

Actual bed size is 7 foot wide by 13 foot long

Rare find
 

Knowing the area it was in would have made the recovery interesting. Still has a lot of the original bits, don,t think the blitz will tow it. Well done.

Had a bit more of a poke around today
They said it was an early one .They werent kidding
Plate number says 10

last one
 

They only made 10 of them Andrew :salute:

Really ?
well thats unique in itself
Do you have any pictures of the original fitment ?

recovery trailer
 

An interesting find, it closely resembles the "Taskers" recovery trailer.

I have seen two wheeled recovery trailers, but not a four wheeled as here.

I note too the date is 1942, I am not sure when Taskers supplied or ended manufacture of their trailers, but I have one photo, and have evidence of one used by the BEF in France. There is a photo in S Zalogas book "Blitzkreig".


Can anyone throw any light on the Taskers trailer, I have contacted them in the UK, but they have nothing, and no archives.

George.

is it a Scammell to the right in the middle photo?

Scammel
 

Correct,
A very early type.

The photo was from a belgium source, stating BEF equipment being loaded.

Where and when is not known, but on the photo, near the top, a light car is visible with white edges to the mud-guards.

Rumour has it that early Scammels went to France with the BEF, none returned.

This era is fascinating, as so much obsolete. outdated equipment was used to supplement the BEF.

George.

Correction
 

Just re-read the post.

The middle vehicle is the AEC 850 (FWD R6T) recovery version.
Again a very rare beast.

I know of a couple of photographs of these in service with the BEF.
1. A shot of one towing a trailer loaded with a light tank, and towing a bren carrier
2. In Steve Zalogas book "Blitzkreig", hitched to a taskers trailer, loading a light tank
3. A very poor shot of a vehicle dump in France, with one way back in the background.

I can email these if you wish.

Sorry about the first response, late night and old age not reacting too well.

George.

Is anyone aware of a single axle variant of the recovery trailer used by or in Canada? Last weekend I spent some time 4X4ing in the bush and in additional to several 6X6s I found several different military trailers and lots of land rovers. Pictures coming soon!

Australian single axle
 

This was from an earlier thread on MLU.

Any use ??

George.

The trailer I located in the bush is more similar to the four wheel trailer, in that the tongue does not hinge, and is level with the trailer deck, not rising as the two wheel trailer hitch does.

I'll have to post pictures when I remember to bring my camera in.

Thats very intersting. The carrier in the first picture is 3166 and the experimental carrier with front steering that I have is 3168. I would asume that mine was around there when that shot was done. :)
Colin.

Colin
 

on the numbers game, I wouldnt be surprised if you'd owned 3167 as well :).
On a more serious note, the two pictures show two different carriers and two different trailers. Are the two pictures together as a result of research, or were they taken at the same time as part of trailer trialing?

numbers
 

Hi Lynn, it would be a bit like joining the dots would'nt it :). Perhaps I should try and collect a 6 pack :yappy:. I reckon it's time you visited as we've plenty of room here. You don't even need to bring your own tool kit :D Now here's another interesting point. Look at the second picture of the carrier getting loaded number 3160 and look closely at the idler wheel. No rubber. My experimental one has no rubber either, but mine is a different style. Now THATS very interesting
Colin.

Now looking more closely, it looks like the same diameter as one with a rubber. :confused

Trailers
 

Some interesting observations, however, I guess no one has any more information on Taskers 4 wheeled trailers used by the Brits pre and early WWII ??

George.

George,

Have you tried contacting the Hampshire county museum? They hold the Taskers archives, see this link;
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/museum/tasker-collection.htm

Taskers
 

Tried that before without too much luck.
They gave me the contact of a chap who looks aftere the archives on a voluntary basis, got no reply, and the curators were typical of the new breed.

However, I will give it another shot.

I have a feeling you emailed these derails some while back !!

Thanks for reminding me.

George.

Sorry George, I cannot recollect, but may have done.

Colin
 

I have read somewhere that you (Aussies) did that, but just for the idler. It is listed in the pictorial parts list (famous for the missing page) on page 2 at the bottom. The part no. is U72A as opposed to the one with rubber which is part no. U72.
Does any one know the significance of the part numbers starting with the "U". Most of the carrier part numbers dont have a prefix letter.
I see also that 3160 has a five spoke wheel on the rear.

George,

The middle photograph at post #14 appeared in the London paper Motor Transport for 21 August 1937, and probably other periodicals around the same time. It shows vehicles touring the Eastern Counties. The story says:

A column composed of mechanical vehicles of all arms left Aldershot on August 13 for a tour of nearly 500 miles through the Eastern Counties in order to give the public an opportunity of realising the extent to which mechanisation has been applied in the Army.

There have been one or two similar Army tours on a small scale in different parts of the country, but the latest, which returns to Aldershot on September 4, is much bigger than any that has so far been organised. The route chosen includes Shoeburyness, Colchester, Clacton, Felixstowe, Lowestoft, Norwich, Cromer, King's Lynn, Peterborough, Bedford, Watford and Slough. Demonstrations are being given at many towns visited.

The column includes the following: Mechanised Cavalry: Light tanks and personnel carrier. Royal Engineers: Equipment of a section of a Field Company. Royal Corps of Signals: Wireless and telephone equipment and mechanical cable-layer. Infantry: Rifle platoon, mortar detachment and machine-gun section, with all mechanised transport, machine-gun carrier and anti-tank guns with towing vehicles. Royal Tank Corps: Medium and close-support tanks.

There is also a searchlight with crew, the latest types of water truck and office truck, and a compressor truck for excavation work by the Royal Engineers.

The photograph... illustrates on the extreme left a heavy transporter used for the conveyance of tanks and for heavy recovery work. It has a detachable rear bogie and is fitted with a winch for hauling tanks on to the platform. In the background is shown a personnel-carrying truck, and immediately in front a breakdown lorry, with jib and winch and four-wheeled trailer used for recovery work. On the right are seen an Austin 7 two-seater car, a compressor truck used for operating pneumatic tools and a water-tank truck.

I hope that's of interest.