Jeep Question

[Noel Burgess]

The attached picture comes from a book entitled "Britain at war - unseen archives" a collection of Daily Mail photos from the Home Front. It is amongst others concerning the first US troops to arrive in the UK.
The Jeep carries a "CD" plate and british civilian registration - could it belong to an Ammerican "mission" prior to their entry into the war?
I'm not very good at "Jeep Spotting" is it an unusual version? There seems to be some sort of bracket near the passenger side headlight?
Over to you
Noel

[lynx42]

Thats a very early Jeep. The bracket you see is actually the right mudguard/fender from a strange angle.
Rick.

[Noel Burgess]

It's quite obvious now that you mention it, thanks
Noel

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

The rego is a wartime London County Council one that started in spring 1941 from what i can gather, though that number may have been issued in summer 1943. Note the white front bumper.

The location reminds me of Hyde Park...I think Park Lane was dual carriageway then. The US Embassy and military HQ was at 1 Grosvenor Gardens which was a short distance to the east of where the Jeep was if I am correct.

The bus is I think a roofbox STL on route 25A, heading for Forest Gate Garage but may be wrong!

I can imagine that the Jeep was demobbed and used as an Embassy hack...the CD indicates that it was a diplomatic vehicle of course, and Embassy/High Commission cars were registered in London back then with usual civilian registrations. British Government vehicles however usually used Middlesex County Council regos, often in allocated blocks. I have no idea which service those guys were in but could they have been Marines on Embassy protection duties?

[ted angus]

I have seen this photo published elsewhere. The text stated that it was an Embassy vehicle being used by the military attache's staff, hence the LCC reg and CD plates. It dates the picture as pre- USA stationing operational troops in UK.
David; You say British Government vehicles were usually registered with Middlesex CC - I have the details of thousands of UK government supplied vehicles on my database - NFS CD. etc they are all LCC blocks.
However pre April 1941 Middlesex CC blocks were allocated to the RAF ; pre April 1941 all UK stationed RAF MT had to be CC registered and as most RAF MT was registered via the RAF Depot Uxbridge it was with Middlesex CC. .
Can I also mention a message I posted for you on 18th Sept on the thread Dodge Postwar with photo graphs of war debris service tippers possibly you missed the message
regards TED

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Ted, all I can add is that all the photos I have of military (Army) trucks to 1940 have Middlesex regos as well as the WO Census Numbers. All diplomatic vehicles that I know of have LCC regos. and that prevailed post-war. The Middlesex Guildhall of course was where the registration office was, and very near Whitehall BUT there was a Middlesex office in Uxbridge that did registrations post-war so it misght have existed during and before the war. The large RAOC depot that dealt with vehicles was in Feltham, which of course is also in the county of my birth.

I have it seems never been notified Ted of the posting...and now I can't find it in Forum! Sorry! Can you pont me in the right direction? The 1941 (?) Dodge tippers ordered by the London County Council would have carried LCC regos.