Egypt / El-Alamein Museum, the Discovery of the CMP Ford F60L

[Kuno]

Egypt / El-Alamein Museum, the Discovery of the CMP Ford F60L

There are stories going around telling about the dicovery of the CMP Ford F60L which is displayed at the museum at el-Alamein. Here is the one which is explaining how it actually happened:

(Translated from German): “We found the truck in December 1993 but we kept the information about the location with us. Later on, it was provided to the Egyptian military by Mr. X.Y.. The Egyptin military went there then in the second half of 1996 to pick up the truck and to bring it to the museum of el-Alamein. The most important reason for the military to go there was that it was still loaded with explosives (i.e.) Dynamite. The 6 pages report which was published later on in an amry-magazine does not reflect the correct circumstances of the finding of the truck.

Once in the region, the military patrol paid a visit to the Gilf Kebir and to the Jebel Uweinat as well and “picked up” two Germans who had unfortunately decided to cross the border from Libya to Egypt without having the required permissions. After some days and following the procedures, these two men were handed back to Libya some days later at the official border crossing at Solloum.

But now back to the truck. A big part of the load consisted of originally packed Dynamite-sticks which were stapled in sealed wooden boxes. A dangerous load! The other part of the load consisted Flimsy-cans (the well known ones). All in all, they would have contained 1940 liters of fuel but they were empty. The question is, why empty Flimsy-cans were carried – normally, they were thrown away.

The truck was placed in a flat area and was easy visible from a distance of about 3 kms from all directions. Fact is further, that there was no obvious damage found on the vehicle so it seems that it simply run out of fuel and had to be abandoned then. The two cables to the battery were disconnected. One can guess that they had the idea to get the vehicle later on – but did not do so for unknown reasons.

The question, if the dead driver was still on his seat or not shall be answered as well: He was not. There were no remnants of human beings at all and a single sock was the only piece of cloth which could be found.

The finder of the truck confirms that the spare wheel was still inflated and he was told by the military that the other tires, which were flat, were pumped up again. Further he was told that after re-fuelling, they were able to start the engine again. However; the vintage-truck was not driven up to el-Alamein but loaded one of the military’s big PEGASO trucks.”(End of Translation)


The finder is a well renowned person in desert travelling in Egypt and in Libya. Please pay a visit to his website under http://www.dabuka.de/

I hope that above information is helpful. And if anybody would find something more about that truck are give a hint about who could have been its owner – please feel free to post it here or to drop me a message.

[Ganmain Tony]

Great report Kuno.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

The condition of the truck - amazing!!! But then again it is a Ford so I suppose we shouldnt be too suprised.

I'll have to wait for the english version of your mates website. Very keen to have a look.

[zemsi]

Originally Posted by Ganmain Tony

I'll have to wait for the english version of your mates website. Very keen to have a look.

... no Tony, you won't have to wait that long. Just let google do the translation and paste the website address into http://translate.google.com/

greetings
Chris

[jaap de wit]

interesting story kuno.
I have a simelair story about the other truck next to this one (the green chevrolet) I was in the museum in 2008 and the museum commander told me that they found the green chevrolet truck in 1999 in the desert and it is in a great state after all this time in the desert. he told me that they puttin new oil a new battery and some wires and it started then they loaded it on a truck to transport it to the museum were it was painted and was placed on a footpeace for display. I think the paint job was not done very nicely but it looked still very nice though. there are more nice vehicles in this museum and very rare ones to like this german half track.
want to let you know
cheers jaap

[Kuno]

Many thanks for this contribution, Jaap!

[Kuno]

Jaap; your green Chevrolet is actually "my" Ford from above - it is the same truck just before the recent overpainting.

[jaap de wit]

Youré right Kuno I am talking about the other truck and putt the pictures of your truck with the story my misstake
cheers jaap. to much

[Dave Page]

Hi,
I was under the impression that empty flimsey tins, as well as many other containers/boxes were to be returned to stores. An early form of recycling if you like. So it is likely that would be the reason for the empty flimseys being on board. Though one has to think about the potential explosive mix of Dynamite and fuel vapours, perhaps that is why the truck was abandoned.
Dave

[Alex van de Wetering]

Very interesting Kuno and Jaap!

I think it would be interesting to know if the Ford indeed carried Flimsies or if they may have been POW cans.....as they are often mis-identified as flimsies.
While the 2 gallon POW cans were re-used, the 4 gallon Flimsies were intended for one-time use only.

Alex

[Kuno]

I have only one photo of the truck when it was still in the desert. It was taken from the front and against the sun. Actually it is only black :-(. The finder promised me to search for better photos...

[Kuno]

I have never got the photo - unfortunately.

[Ganmain Tony]

there's that plate underneath the radiator!!

Hey Keefy! Is that the one you mentioned you'd seen on 13 Cab Fords that may attach to the apron on a 12 Cab???

Kuno's pictures at the top of this thread..

[Keith Webb]

Yes thats it. Why, do you need one?

Originally Posted by Ganmain Tony

there's that plate underneath the radiator!!

Hey Keefy! Is that the one you mentioned you'd seen on 13 Cab Fords that may attach to the apron on a 12 Cab???

Kuno's pictures at the top of this thread..

[Ganmain Tony]

I dont have one if thats what you mean...

I doubt the people of El - Alamein are going to let me have this one..

So I guess my post was one of curiosity, observation and a topic open to discussion.