RAF vehicles

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Captured RAF crane of unkown type working on a He-111.

Hanno,

That is a Coles EMA Utility crane, built from 1938 for the Air Ministry.

[Barry Churcher]

Thanks Hanno, for the photo of the Coles Crane. One like that would be just the right size for Castleton. It seems the UK and Australia had all the neat looking cranes.
Barry

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Thanks for the ID, Richard!

Barry, yes it looks like a good sized crane for CMP restorations, it does however seem to be of the trailered type? I think one of the best tools to have nowadays is a forklift.

Hanno

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Another, post-war [prior to rebuild] Fordson W0T1 6 x 4 Monitor for airfield crash duties. It is believed that this was a ‘Crash Tender’ in Ford, Dagenham parlance, supplied initially to the Ministry of Supply and RAF*. The chassis has the 6-wheeled Sussex long bogie with 7¾ inch articulation and special PTO, 10.50 x 16 tyres and powered by the 30 hp V-8.

*Explanation: Government, WD/Army and RAF vehicles were all purchased by the Ministry of Supply by 1941 taking over from the War Department and Air Ministry. Royal Navy and Marines vehicles continued to be purchased by the Admiralty.

[Phil Waterman]

Below are a couple of pictures of ground equipment from an old book RAF In Action printed in 1940. Book is interesting because of having been written and published so early in the War. Lots of early aircraft photos as well.

[George McKenzie]

I will send Larry a picture of my 1943 RAF Fordson tractor that hauled fuel to the Halifaxes and Lancasters .Hope he can post it for me as I have a problem posting .pictures .This tracter was brought to Canada after the war from UK and when I got it I have been looking for another one like it but no luck .I have a picture of one with the fuel wagon .It has a very hi speed gear in it so as to get off the runway fast when the planes were comming in .

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by George McKenzie

I will send Larry a picture of my 1943 RAF Fordson tractor that hauled fuel to the Halifaxes and Lancasters .Hope he can post it for me as I have a problem posting .pictures .This tracter was brought to Canada after the war from UK and when I got it I have been looking for another one like it but no luck .I have a picture of one with the fuel wagon .It has a very hi speed gear in it so as to get off the runway fast when the planes were comming in .

Hi George,

Your RAF Fordson would have been the industrial version that did have high gear ratios for road work.

Looking forward to seeing a pic of it.

[George McKenzie]

Picture sent George PS I have an original maintanance manual for a Bedford QL 3 ton 4x4

[Larry Hayward]

These are the photos George sent to me - one from WW2 and the other of his Fordson

[Les Freathy]

I have this little mixture down as being at Amsbury i think its a IWM photo?
cheers
Les

[Les Freathy]

Post war Bedford S type and Queen mary trailer in Aden photo from Frank Waller

[Larry Hayward]

Les the WW2 photo shows an interesting version of diruptive camo on the right hand vehicle, possibly a Bedford QL. I have seen that style on army trucks but not RAF. I wonder if this MT section was for 2nd TAF or for vehicles used on RAF Stations?

[A CORBIN]

It was great to find the RAF No On the TRUCTOR that was the same working in LIVERPOOL in 1943 T CORBIN

[ted angus]

Originally Posted by Larry Hayward

Les the WW2 photo shows an interesting version of diruptive camo on the right hand vehicle, possibly a Bedford QL. I have seen that style on army trucks but not RAF. I wonder if this MT section was for 2nd TAF or for vehicles used on RAF Stations?

Larry this was a Mobile Servicing Section and others preparing for embarkation around D Day. They are undergoing prep and waterproofing prior to going to the embarkation port. The camo on the QL is correct . It is in accordance with the camo instructions for the Army and RAF contained in MTP 46. The commonly seen Mickey Mouse was never an official pattern , but was a Quick Fix version, Mostly done using masking templates and mostly applied in factories. Both the RAF and Army put out memos saying to break up the MM finish as it was actually hopeless out in the field.

TED

[Keith Webb]

Originally posted by Alex van de Wetering
I have got two RAF-vehicles on top of my wish-list for scale models. One being the Commer Q2 with Queen Mary trailer and the second being the Fordson WOT1 Balloon truck.

Alex

Here's one in action:

http://www.oldcmp.net/Images/Aircraf...queen_mary.jpg

From one of my Western Desert pages.

[Les Freathy]

Nice photo Keith the desert salvage squad at there best


heres a pre war RAF Ransome mounted crane, still some discussion over here if it is a Leyland or Albion my thoughts go with Leyland

[Alex van de Wetering]

Phil,

Great shot of a balloon truck in action! This is a scene which I would love to replicate as a scale model.


Keith,

Thanks for the great shot of the Commer Q2. I also found these shots in the Australian War Memorial Database:



Source: www.awm.gov.au

Alex

[Allan Hillman]

I quite agree about the site - I actually found a photo of my father lining up for an injection at RAF Ford - taken at the end of May 1944.

As well as RAF squadrons, 125 Wing had an Australian Squadron (453) and the Doc. was an Oz hence the Oz press interest. Amazing finding such a photo from the other side of the world!!

cheers

Allan

[Les Freathy]

One more to help you with the model project Alex, is it 1/35 or 1/76 scale there is a Commer Q2 available i think in both scales probably resin or white metal
Les

[Alex van de Wetering]

Hi Les,

I keep on saying the same thing...."thanks for the great shot"! It is nice to see the markings on this one, which might be interesting for my model.

Yes, I intended to scratchbuild the Commer and Queen Mary, but last year I was able to buy a Resin Commer Q2 from the Belgian firm, Eleni Models (which is actually from Wespe models). The kit is great, but it contains a flatbed trailer and not the Queen Mary. So I am going to scratchbuild the trailer. I do have some basic drawings of the trailer but still lack details on the suspension, coupling, front end and rear panel for an accurate model. A fellow modeler offered me to take some detail shots of a preserved Queen Mary in the upcoming weeks. I hope these pictures will show enough detail for me to start the construction.

Oh.....1/35 will be the scale.

And the trailer will carry......a scratchbuild Lancaster cockpit!

Thanks,

Alex

[Larry Hayward]

Photographic evidence suggests that the Fordson tractor was more common on all RAF airfields, except the Heavy Bomber Stations that used the David Brown tractors that had a bit more pulling power.

Can anyone guess the colour scheme for this Fordson? It looks too dark for RAF blue.

[Larry Hayward]

A David Brown tractor, of which there were several variants, with & without torque convertor. Presumably this one is painted a disruptive paint scheme of green and earth brown?

[Les Freathy]

Well done Larry, the David Brown tractors survived long after the war i came across countless numbers of them during my 37 years in plant being used and parked up in all sorts of places. Its amazing how few are in presevation but i suppose they hold no glamour status. Well into the 1970s two were still held at ferryfield airport at Lydd in Kent i can remember during the 1950/60 period when planes not rumours flew from the airport at least four of them towing the old Bristol freighters around. To compliment your photo heres one bombing up a Hurricane

2 some bomb trailers


3 Fordson tractor towing a runway control van and a surviver at a gliding school near Dover in Kent

[Les Freathy]

A couple more photos of RAF vehicles before the new year
Fordson Sussex in the not so well known GS mode

[Les Freathy]

and afurther shot of the Ford WOT 1 fire /crash tender

[Les Freathy]

An interesting pic of RAF vehicles in France 1940, Albion AM463 tender and a eagle based photographic trailer plus 15 kva generater. What is that French van at the rear

[Les Freathy]

Acouple more RAF photos to keep this one alive
1 2nd TAF coloumn moving inland from the Normandy beaches
2 Crossley Q and Queen mary trailer plus Thorneycroft Amazon

[Keith Webb]

Here are some more, belonging to 3 Sqn RAAF in the Western Desert:







More here.

[Nick Balmer]

Hello,

What sort of truck is this, caught up in the retreat in Greece?

From the IWM
Lorries carrying RAF personnel during the retreat from Greece, 3 May 1941.

Regards

Nick Balmer

[Bill Murray]

Hi Nick:
1939 Ford. Not sure where it came from, cannot tell if it is RHD or LHD. In any case, it is the American style vehicle.
Bill