Unknown Type of Truck in the Libyan Desert

[Kuno]

Found the bed of this truck on our recent desert trip. Have no clue to which truck it may has belonged but it seems that due to the careful work, it could even be a pre-war fabrication. Maybe an Italian truck? or one of the early Fords employed with the British?

Note: I am not sure if the remants of the hood belong to the same truck - although they were found only a few metres away...

Who can help?

[Kuno]

Two more pictures:

[Nick Balmer]

Hello Kuno,

I think the truck body that you have found looks very much like the ones made in about 1938 to 1940 for the Sudan Defence Force trucks.

These were often Fords pickups. There is a photo of one on page 105 in David Fletcher's book Mechanised Force.

These steel trays had that distintive curved angle at the join between the tray and the walls.

I have seen photos of larger trucks as well, but at present I cannot remember where it was I found them.

Does the cab firewall look like a 1938, 39 or 40 Ford?

I think the SDF supported the LRDG in some of their operations at Kufra or Siwa.

Regards

Nick Balmer

[Kuno]

Thanks for the hint. SDF was not at SIWA but for sure at KUFRA. Will see if I can find a respective foto of such a truck.

[Kuno]

Yes! I think that you were right:

The occupation of Merga and Oweinat
by the Sudan Defence Force, 1934

Unpublished SDF Operations Diary &
photographs by F.G.B. Arkwright

Source: http://www.fjexpeditions.com/frameset/plans.htm

----

Can somebody tell me the precise type of the truck?

(Copied photos removed since I recognized that the owner of the said site wishes not to copy them. Please jump to his site to see them. Thanks)

[Kuno]

Refer to this older thread:

http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/sh...highlight=ford

Les Freathy has posted this picture - could it be the same type of truck? What is the exact type then?

[Kuno]

I am quite sure that it was the same type of truck as in above picture. Could anybody tell me the type or any other further information about it?

[Bill Murray]

Hi Kuno:

The vehicle in Les' photo and the one you found are, I believe, one and the same type.

A later model Ford BB, I believe, could have had a V-8 or the 4 cylinder engine, probably the former. I think the wheelbase was 134" if I remember correctly.

Both photos show the distinctive "bathtub" type structure with the sides being in the shape of a "U".

I believe the vehicles came from Egypt and there would not have been very many of them.

Bill

[Kuno]

Thanks, Bill. Very interesting information. Now it would be good to know the origin of Les' picture and if any of the allied units had still used this type of truck at least in the early stages of the desert war.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I am not sure if there was an official Ford subsidiary (possibly of Ford Motor Co Ltd, London & Dagenham) or of Ford Motor Co of Canada Ltd, or whether it was a importer-assembler. However, as with the Singapore operation, which was the latter, Fords from the UK, USA, and ahem, Germany were assembled in Alexandria and sent out to all over the Near East and Palestine, Trans-Jordan. The reason I believe it was an i-a operation is because the pre-war British government files refer to Eifel cars being sold there, in a market dominated by British Ford imports, and Ford of Britain said that they had no control over the operation. The presence of subsidised German cars caused consternation amongst the local British car importers. As is known, the prospect of the Volks-Wagen was also treated with concern in the UK and other countries,,,'flivver exports', using the Model T's pet name, was widely used.

[Kuno]

I see; we are plunging again into the confusing history of FORDs model designation etc. ...