Canadian Trials of Land Rovers

[Robin Craig]

I have been asked by a friend if there were any trials by the Canadian Forces in any way shape or form that anyone knows about and if so could you share any information please?

We know about the trials of the Land Rover 1 tonne vehicles in the 5 1/4 ton project, we have photos and some information of that testing but welcome more information if anyone has any. I attach a picture from those trials.

Thanks in advance

[rob love]

Not trials, but I did see two military landrovers with DND plates on them in Camp Maple Leaf while in Bosnia. I was only passing thru, so did not get details. Noted they had very low CFRs which was unusual back then.

[Robert Bergeron]

There is a 1 Tonne Land Rover for sale on Kijjiji right now ..

[Robin Craig]

Well,

thank you to both Rob and Robert for their comments which I am happy to comment on and expand.

First of all, Rob, the vehicles you saw were two of the alleged 3 that the CF purchased as documented here and a picture is the bottom one below.

http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product1147.html

What happened to them is unclear but I am on the trail, I have better photos somewhere downstairs, now winter is finally here I will do more scanning like I did last winter, eventually.

Robert, the 1 Tonne for sale on Kijiji is mine!

Neither of you mentioned, maybe because unless you are a Land Rover anorak like myself, about the LUVW competition vehicle that was produced and resided at DEW In Ottawa until being returned to Land Rover in the UK and now lives at the Dunsfold Collection. I was given the opportunity to see this Land Rover in the flesh and record it on film when it was in Ottawa. Again, once scanned I will share them.

Now, anyone know of anything else Land Rover related to the Canadian Forces over the years?

[Lynn Eades]

Well I think you should hang em all, without a trial!

[Robin Craig]

Lynn, thank you for your injection of humour, it is appreciated

I know Land Rovers are a very dry topic for most so it does help

[Lynn Eades]

Robin, I actually meant to direct it at you. Happy new year!

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by rob love

Not trials, but I did see two military landrovers with DND plates on them in Camp Maple Leaf while in Bosnia. I was only passing thru, so did not get details. Noted they had very low CFRs which was unusual back then.

I think those were special purchases for the no-nametag crowd.

[rob love]

They are shown on one site as being for the leadership to ride in, as the Iltis was not armoured.

I saw some of the "no nametag" group out there. They were very odd and out of place.

[Little Jo]

Hi All

Most guys in Australia refer to the Landrover as "Land Fill" and I got the brunt of this when I purchased my ex Army Landrover Perentie. It was always referred to as "Landfill". They even had T shirts with that logo on it. I ended up selling my Landrover so I was no longer the butt of everyone's jokes. Boy I still wish I had it.

Tony

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by rob love

They are shown on one sight as being for the leadership to ride in, as the Iltis was not armoured.

I saw some of the "no nametag" group out there. They were very odd and out of place.

Maybe. The Battle Group commander in Zgon had a European diesel Jeep Cherokee 4x4 in '02 '03 '04 period.

[Lynn Eades]

Tony and Greg, You have to have the "Courage of your own conviction" or people will always slap you around, with what ever you do in life.
My personal experience was to do an army apprenticeship on early Landrovers, and they were not easy to work on (thinking clutch jobs)
On Landrovers, people seem to either love them or hate them. I tell people that I don't like them, but one of the greatest off road excursions I have ever done was in an early 88" "F" head Landy. In the hands of a skilled driver, they are hard to beat. (I wasn't driving. That was a chap called Chris Parkinson )
I just chose not to get into owning one. Most people are full of .... bias.
Decide what you want, and ignore the.....bias

[Ed Storey]

Canada employed the Courtaulds CAV100D in Bosnia; I took this image while passing through Velika Kladusa in March 2001.

[rob love]

I can't help thinking I saw some CFRs on 2 Landrovers in Bosnia that were much lower......starting wither with a 0 or two zeros, which was unusual back then. Cfrs back then did not seem to revert back to 00001 when they went around the clock of numbers.

[Robin Craig]

Great picture Ed, thank you

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Robin Craig

Great picture Ed, thank you

And Robin there is you cue. Spend $5 on an Access to Information request for, "all records related to CFR #####, a British-made Land Rover used by Canadian Forces in the Former Yugoslavia. Subject vehicle is known to have been used by ..... and was photographed in ...... in ..... ." With the ECC number, spend another $5 and request all the records related to all the other Land Rovers in the same buy. You will get the definitive answers.

(I'd trawl through the EDR, but that would be a misuse of Her Majesty's resources.)

[Robin Craig]

Thanks Terry,

yes a fiver is cheap to get that kind of info.

I think the subject of the CAV100 Land Rover in Canadian service should really get split out into it's own thread if a moderator is watching.

Somehow this forum is almost better at starting tangents at times than answering the original question, but it is what makes it a friendly forum that gets results in the end.

Cheers all

[45jim]

We had 4 armoured land rovers in Visoko Bosnia. CO had one, 2i/c had one, the engineers had one and one spare. They were constantly breaking down and suffered from serious suspension failures due to the weight of the armour kit. Doctors without borders had lots and we were stealing parts off their junkers which they left in our compound.

The general impression of land rovers is pretty poor in many users eyes, they just don't have a good reputation. They aren't a bad vehicle and no more problematic or capable than a jeep of similar vintage, the real problem comes in the overloading. Land rovers were used for everything and the extra kit just added to the reliability problems.

[Robin Craig]

regarding the 4 CF CAV100 vehicles it is interesting that so few pictures exist of them.

45 Jim what unit were you with?

Thanks

[45jim]

Robin,

I was with the Strathconas, our tour was in 1994, based in Visoko, Bosnia.The vehicles were pre-positioned and we just took them over. When we first arrived we had a problem in that the service jack for the rovers was just the stock one and couldn't lift the vehicle to change a tire. We used the one from our Cougar to help out the CO. I remember the driver told me they just picked up the vehicle that morning, brand new.

We were the last UN position around encircled Sarajevo and escorted convoys in and out daily. We often provided security for UN agencies and NGO's (non-governmental organizations, such as save the children, doctors without borders etc.) We saw every type of vehicle you could imagine and I regret not taking enough photos.

I had heard that non-standard vehicles were not brought back from theater but donated to the UN, who at that time held their vehicle fleet in France.

[Ed Storey]

I never passes a unique armoured vehicle that I didn't photograph. I captured this France Channel 2 News vehicle at Sarajevo Airport in early 1994. My only regret is not having digital back then.

[Robin Craig]

That is quite a different beast, that is a Shorts built vehicle, again a Land Rover platform

R