CMP 15-cwt truck at Poste Weygand

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Attched goes a nice pic of a CMP 15-cwt truck at Poste Weygand. From a quick websearch I learned this is a fort in Algeria, no doubt of the French.

Can anyone enlighten me what a CMP truck is doing in the middle of Algeria? Did the French use these?

H.

[Richard Farrant]

Hanno,

I may be wrong, but on the front bumper is a census number with WO below it, to the right is another number, reminiscent layout to British vehicles in Egypt in the early war. Now this number is 25111 and according to the Chilwell "B" vehicle list of census numbers, it is part of a group (25001 to 25249) allocated to Canadian Forces.

Is that of any help?


Richard

[cliff]

and the rifle the soldier is holding is a british Lee Enfield MK3 with bayonet attached

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I am not sure that is a Canadian Census Number...I am probably totally wrong but note the 'WO' under the number and other digits to the right...possibly Arabic? It reminds me of War Office numbers allocated to British vehicles in Egypt.

The truck is of course a 4 x 2 Ford, # 12 Cab...F15? If so it looks as though it is one of 3,000 F15s delivered to Alexandria under contract S/M 2002 in 1941.

Would this have been taken post-Torch?

[Nick Balmer]

Hello Hanno,

Are you sure that Fort Weygrand is in Algeria?

I think this photo was taken in Syria, and that it probably shows one of the very earliest CMP trucks delivered into the Middle East.

It has the ME Command number plate with the Arabic numerals.

I also have the same photograph in a book called "Britain at War, The Army" printed in 1942, which on page 243 which has a caption saying "A Fort is Free Again".

"A British sentry guarding the entrance to Fort Weygrand, captured in the allied advance into Syria. The Fort is named after the French general, who was recalled from Syria to take command in France when the Germans broke though."

I think it is far more likely that the photo was taken in 1941 when Pith helmets were still widely used in the Middle East rather than in Algeria which was not reached until 1942-43, and then by British 1st Army personnel who by and large wore European style uniforms with Battle Dress topped by berets, side caps or tin helmets, and not with pre-war solar topees.

Regards

Nick Balmer

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I think this photo was taken in Syria, and that it probably shows one of the very earliest CMP trucks delivered into the Middle East.

I agree except that it is not strictly one of the very earliest deliveries, as the first Alpha-packed F15s assembled in Alexandria in January 1941 were 1941 Models, but # 11 Cabs. The tyres looked to me to be hardly worn, so I suggest that this was one of the earliest # 12 Cabs to S/M 2002, which was the very first, numerically, British contract placed for Canadian military vehicles in late June 1940.

Apart from the unusual WO number allocated to this truck we know that S/M 2002 deliveries to Egypt were issued with ME Theatre Census Numbers possibly in the Z 452XXXX series, including Z 4520080 which was allocated to the AIF and possibly ended up in Australia. There was also 500 delivered to Mombasa.


PS I have changed my opinion!
Poste Weygand was indeed in Palmyra, Syria and the photo may have been taken in November or more likely December 1941. It was originally a barracks of the French Foreign Legion, and was apparently shelled before capture. . I would suggest that the F15 was assembled in Alexandria, and was one of those that benefited from the running change from # 11 to # 12 Cab. Below is a photo of Major-General J. Northcott, later General Sir J, on an official inspection in December 1941 when GOC 1st Australian Armoured Division. I have speculated whether this is yet another F15 issued to the AIF and then 'sold', which meant that if it survived it was shipped to Australia.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Thanks all for the tremendous input!

No, I wasn't sure Poste Weygand (note: not Weygrand) was in Algeria, it simply was the only map reference I could find (possibly the Foreign Legion gives the name to any base they are operating from?).

H.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Hanno, a very good find...do you have a hi-res version please as this would be ideal for my books?

[Kuno]

I know, that I am a little bit late. However; POSTE WEYGAND can be found in ALGERIA as well ---- but the location is that far in the SOUTH-WEST that I am sure no british soldier was there even during TORCH!!!


Cheers, Kuno

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by David_Hayward

Hanno, a very good find...do you have a hi-res version please as this would be ideal for my books?

David,

This is the best I can do:


Here's hoping your books hit the market sometime soon. . . .

Hanno

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Thanks for that!

[Lang]

David,

The photo seems a fully posed deal (sentry and truck stopped with door open)

The driver is wearing a c*** cap. The only Australian military to use this type of headgear were RAAF. I suppose RAAF vehicles may have been issued from AIF stocks but it is more than likely a British army driver.

Lang

[Hanno Spoelstra]

See http://www.eightharmy.co.uk/middlesex.htm for more CMP F15 Cab 11 4x2 15-cwt trucks in North Africa.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Great stuff! Do I assume correctly that after victory in Tunisia that surviving BRITISH ex-N African F15s would have been sent to Sicily and the Italian mainland?