Vehicle identification

[Jan Mostek]

Hi guys,
I am not able to identify the vehicle on the picture below. It is funeral of Czech pilot shotly after war. The plane is Arado 396, remainder od the Luftwaffe, but the vehicle is with questionmark, at least for me. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for your time, Jan.

[welbike]

Looking at the size of the wheels, and the rounded top of the cab, I would say AEC Matador, without the canvas.

Cheers,

Lex Schmidt

[Jan Mostek]

yes, the Matador was my first guess as well, but....There is always some But...As far as it is known Czechs never used or had a Matador....

[welbike]

Well, there's nothing else with that type of roof!!

Do you have anything on Norton Big 4's used by the Czech units in the UK?? have some pictures, but not much, will be there coming monday, where the pictures were taken, see if I can make some comparison shots!

Cheers,

Lex

[Hanno Spoelstra]

I agree, it must be a Matador.

Never seen an aircraft in this use before. I know gunners are brought to their last resting place on a gun carriage. Good to see a pilot making his last flight in an aircraft frame - very fitting.

H.

[Ed Storey]

Since the Arado 396 is ex-Luftwaffe, perhaps the Matador is as well. Some of these large vehicles were captured from the British during the fall of France in 1940 and were impressed into service by the Germans. Perhaps it, like the Arado, survived the war and was now being used by the Czechs.

[Jan Mostek]

The arado is different story. Arados were made in aircraft factories over Bohemia, which was annected by Germans as a Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren and all Czech industry worked for Germans, so Arado in particular was in Czechoslovakia in relatively large numbers. Concerning the vehicle, what about Crossley? I remember in some list of truck eqiment transfered from British were mentioned small number of "X-leys" of uncertain type.

[welbike]

Ed, very plausible, think I've seen pictures of Matadors under new management, and would also explain the lack of the rear cargo canvas, must have fallen apart after 6 years of hard use!

Cheers,

Lex

[Ed Storey]

This is pure speculation, but if it were impressed by the Luftwaffe for airfield use, it may not have been as hard used as a Wehrmacht vehicle.

[welbike]

Chaps, just googled Crossley, and the FWD model is also possible!! and used by the RAF, so who knows.

Jan, were Crossley used by the Czechs?

Cheers,

Lex

[PaKlo]

This is Crossley truck ex-RAF from Czech squadrons. Photo from front is also known. If I remember right, Czechoslovak RAF staff bring two or three Crossleys, list of vehicles is mentioned in Mr. Pajer book.