LRDG Pattern condensers

[Charlie Down]

David, all the photos show the pipe passing through the cap into the condenser, presumably they could rotate in the tube in the cap to allow the cap to be screwed and unscrewed.

Lynn, thank you for the background on condensers. The anectdotes (which I am always open minded about) about water/steam venting from the condenser/radiator are interesting, and at odds with your comment about the damage that would do to the alcohol thermostat. I don't know if they 'upgraded' the thermostat in any way in the field or with the initial order for the trucks. but it looks like they upgraded as many features on the truck as possible to make it more robust and reliable when they placed the original order in 1941. The General Motors agent in Alexandria was consulted about the original order and most likely suggested various upgrades based on his experince of Chevrolet trucks in use in the Middle East and with the Egyptian army. I don't know if there was an option for the thermostat in the GM catalogue at this time, but the likelyhood of overheating was considerable on operations. They ordered the uprated radiator with shroud, and also had the 18" 6 bladed fan to help with cooling.

I'm also trying to work out the different sizes of these cans, and the correct details of all the mounts and how they were fitted to the 15332 truck. Photographs mostly show only a vertical metal strip bolted to the top of the bonnet/hood, and bolted below the can. Some show a horizontal strip in front of the can, presumably to prevent the heavy can swaying on the bracket.

The first photo shows S11 SIPOLILO of S2 Patrol. This truck has the base of a CMP seat bolted to the top of the stowage chest access hatch behind the front passenger, a more comfortable method of seating on the long patrols for the rear passenger, and not seen on any other truck in the LRDG. The worried looking bloke is an Italian POW. The boots do look like they are in an awful state.

Tony, the suede Desert boots, or 'Brothel Creepers' as they were also known as, were popular with mostly officers and NCO's. They were based on South African Bush boots and were produced after the War by Clarkes Shoes in the UK. You can still get them in the UK, and I frequently wear them in the summer. Still popular with current British soldiers as part of their off-duty 'uniform' of desert boots, jeans, unit T-shirt or hoody, usually adorned with appropriate in-appropriate message, topped off with a black North Face padded jacket.

[Tony Smith]

Clark's advert from the 70's:

[Charlie Down]

The future CO of the LRDG, Jake Easonsmith, wearing desert boots. Jake's family live a couple of miles away from me near Bristol, UK, and played at our local Rugby Club pre-war.

[Jordan Baker]

Seeing this picture made me wonder if the condenser can on the Jeep is the same as on the trucks?

[Charlie Down]

Hi Jordan,
To be honest I know little about the Jeep fittings. The condenser looks similar, but seems to be made of thinner gauge metal, especially the lid which is much thinner than the 1533X2 version. The dents also suggest a thin gauge metal for the sides, although the condenser location on the trucks would protect it from most knocks I suppose. I haven't checked the dimensions, but I suspect the jeep condenser would be smaller as it wouldn't need the same capacity as a truck, but the hose connection looks the same, although the vent tube is much shorter. I presume they would have been made in the same workshops, so similarities would be expected and to be honest the design would need to be the similar because of the avaliable materials and tooling.

[rupert condick]

Hi there
there isa firm that does repro. expansion tanks.
IMG_8099.jpg
Austin K2Y in Malta,
these tanks appear to be fitted later in the war.

lrdgcondensor.jpg

the origanal trial were with a 2 gallon tank (POW),
so I suspect the round tank to be 2 gallons as well.

regs
Rupert

[Charlie Down]

I think the difference in vent tube length was due to the location of the condenser. On the Truck anything venting could go over the driver, hence the long tube to divert it downwards, but the Jeep's condenser location at the front was too far away from the crew to cause any problems, and the short tube would allow the driver to see any venting steam over the bonnet/hood to warn him of any over heating. Seems reasonable but will now be proved wrong!