Royal Navy vehicles
 

Photos of RN vehicles seem to be quite rare, as they hardly needed many!

Here's one that needs identification and was in use by M.R.S. 9 as a Radio workshop in the Far East!

RN sigs van
 

Hi there

It's a Bedford MW..........

Well, that's a start

Steve

hello Larry
Thats an interesting photo as Steve says a Bedford MW but the body looks strange, it has the lenth of the signals e type but not the large wheel arches associated with that body. I have seen photos of an identical one on a Ford WOT 2 series , possible it has been grafted on to the MW. Dont think i would fancy that spare wheel above my head, two pieces of wood sitting on the weak screen and tilt frame
Les

Me again
Iknew i had a RN photo some where and have just found it in the wrong file.
A Bedford OY 3tonner with a 20mm cannon mounted on i presume a navel type pedestal, this unit would have formed part of a mobile installation defence. Nothing like advertising the fact they are navy.
Les

royal marines
 

didn't the Royal Marines have any fighting vehicles? I believe they had some squadrons of Centaurs in the end. What other transport and AFVs?
Nuyt

RN Flying Control
 

Nuyt,

I was thinking more about the Navy not the Marines!

Hear is another- Flying Control Vehicles for MONAB 3 in the Pacific. The flying control vehicle could be a a Ford WOT-1A?.

Its amazing to think that the RN had to ship their British made vehicles half way round the world rather than get them Lease Lend but then the RN / FAA was always low down on the pecking order.

Hi Larry,

RN vehicles, interesting topic.
Here's a pic of a restored Morris-Commercial 15-cwt in RN paint scheme. Do you know if the RN actually used these, and if so, how many?

Hanno

http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/at...=&postid=16464
Linked from: Morris-Commercial PU 8-cwt in greyish blue colour?

Hi Larry
Any more of those very interesting photos, i have something similer somewhere i must dig it out to join yours
Les

RN Vehicles
 

With regard to the Royal Navy during WW2 they had the least number of vehicles of the three Services. Mostly the RN used their vehicles around the ports from which they operated. But if you include the vehicles used by the Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Marines the number of types increase considerably.

I know that the RN used Scammell MH6 three wheeelers and AEC Matadors, Bedford OXD and OY for moving stores around harbour installations and a few Austin Tilly types and Commer Q15 vans for lighter work. No doubt the RN got a few Jeeps but mostly they were not issued with 4x4s.

The FAA in the UK had mostly the identical vehicles that you would have found on an RAF base at the time.

However Mobile Naval Air Bases (MONAB) did need suitable vehicles for active service and it would seem that they got similar equipment to the RAF's Mobile Units that went to NW Europe with the 2nd TAF.

RN vehicles
 

Hear is the RN crash crew at Schofields, Australia

RN Vehicles
 

This Bedford QL was used as a unit 'liberty bus' by the RN and is seen in Sydney in 1945. Interestingly it would seem that the letters RN are painted after the vehicle number on the door unlike the RAF and the Army with its own letters prefixes.

Re: RN Vehicles
 

Larry,

About 27 years ago I helped a friend rescue a Morris Commercial C4 Air Compressor truck from a dealers yard, where it had laid since the disposal sales in the late 40's. On rubbing the paintwork down we found the RN serial and that had the letters RN after the number. This may have been done to stop confusion with RAF MT on which the letters RAF were before the number.

Richard

Hanno,

As I have just mentioned in a previous message, many years ago we discovered one of these, a C4 Compressor and found it to carry RN serials and a unit identity, 4MLRU. Never coud find out what it stood for despite contacting the Navy transport authority.
My guess was Mobile Land Repair Unit, but could be wrong.

Not knowing the vehicle pictured, it is impossible to know whether it actually was ex-RN. The one I knew, was one of a War Office contract, but no WD census number was stamped on the plate, leading me to think it was diverted to the Navy from new. Another point re. colour, it was brown, found this when removing back of cab, where the paint was untouched.

Richard

I have attached some photos chosen from my collection of Royal Navy vehicles totalling 15. These are the most interesting ones.
They are mainly Austin, Bedford and Fordson.

picture 2, 3, 4, 5, does anyone want to see any more ?

Yes! Please!

H.

May I second that!!
Marvelous photos and incredible good detail stuff.
Thanks.
Bill

more pictures then....

picture 6, 7, 8, 9

Can anyone explain the markings on the doors ?

Those are great photos
 

The photos are great, it just amazes me the number of photos our little group has present in 40,000 posts to MapleLeaf Up. What really surprises me is that so many I’ve never seen. You read through the books about WWII and you see the same pictures over and over again and yet there doesn’t seem to be a topic that someone in this forum has not come up with a rare picture.

Hi Phil:

You bring up a very good point and I think we only see the tip of a huge iceberg. I am sure many members, like me for instance, are a bit reluctant to put up anything but CMP related photos in spite of the topic heading encouraging us to do so. Well, maybe not me since most of my photos are non-CMP but related somehow.

We probably think "no one would be interested in these oddball items". And..it seems we are dead wrong. There is an interest and there is materiel out there that is finally seeing the light of day.

May I also say that there seems to be a dynamic going on here in websites such as this all over the world. I belong to dozens of sites like this that are or were mainly oriented towards armor. In the last two years, since a small band of soft skin buffs started posting photos of non armored vehicles on these sites there has been a literal explosion of interest in the subject and a parallel explosion of images being shared. And, of course, on every site members share links to yet other sites that offer more info and images.

A great time to be involved in the hobby and I hope it continues to grow at this pace.

I found some RN and RAF photos that I have not seen elsewhere and will try to scan them in tonight.
Regards
Bill

Alan,

Austin K6 / Coles crane, interesting as a friend has recently sold one and the previous owner said it was thought to be ex-Royal Navy. The data plate on the dashboard gave it as a War Office contract with a WD census number, but that is not to say it may have been transfered to the RN. I wonder what the auxillary engines are for, the arrow pointing to the stowage behind cab?

Richard

Bill if it was not too much to ask could you either publish here or send to me by PM or email the site addresses of the other forums you belong to please. As you know I do have a minor interest in this sort of stuff and would be interested in joining other like minded sites.

Cheers
Cliff:salute:

Heres the lost photo to join Larrys, well all the other RN items

Sod it i forgot
number on the Ford is 10054 RN
""""""""""""""" trailer RN21725
strange how they the opposite way round, the Crossley Q 3 tonner and Eagle trailer are identical to the RAF types

RN vehicles
 

Alan,

Thanks for sharing your photos and increasing our knowledge of the subject! With regard to the markings I think many would suggest that the MU 2 in CFMU 2 was for Maintenance Unit 2! The C could be for Combined? The F could be for Fleet or Forces. I need to learn more about the organisation of the RN fleets get an answer!

After the CFMU 2 is a number which I would suggest is a number given to each vehicle in the unit.

As the 'Tilly' has a white star & circle sign on the bonnet, it would suggest a UK or NW European RN unit. Perhaps they had a role in the D-Day landings?

As for NP1712 its common to nearly all the vehicles you posted but I have no idea what it means!

With regard to the Bedford 15cwt W/T I note it has the same 'odd looking' oversized body as the very first photo I posted in the thread, so it must have been made that way.

Keep them coming!

I found another picture....

Here we have a Scammell. I am not sure of the model or year.
Bill

Alan,

Very good photos, some of the Bedfords, civilian OWL models, have unusual bodies. Does the source of the photos offer any lead on the Unit?

Richard

Bill,

It was built in 1939, for RN Coast Artillery use. It is also in Bart's original WW2 directory.

This has just made me realise what all these vehicles are (except Scammell).

Coastal Forces Maintenance Unit is my guess. Coastal Forces operated MTB, etc. and probaly operated from small ports around the coast moving around and therefore needed a mobile force to follow and support them. For more info on them go to www.coastal-force.co.uk

It was the location of the group shot that did it for me....

Richard

Hi Richard:

Forgot that Bart had already published the photo.
Actually, I scanned it tonight from a Scammell original that Bart sent me in 1968. I will look through his books before scanning more originals he sent me in those days so as not to duplicate already available photos.
Bill

Bill
the one and only Scammell 4x4 tractor survived for a number of years after the war, Rose,s fairground made good use of it towing trailers and living vans from show to show. This photo shows it in 1965 in Middlesex heavily modified for its purpose, i did hear some recovery firm then made use of it but have no records