Ford blitz ambo project

[Keith Webb]

Tony has covered it pretty well... my recollection was there was no washer behind the split pin which caused it to wear through, in any case I remember it as one of those defining moments where time expands and you just have to wait for whatever is about to befall you.
I do remember once we stopped the engine was happily idling away to itself. We were too stunned to speak for a moment or two.
The next task was to somehow extricate the vehicle which was spinning one front and two back wheels. As I recall the solution was for me to push the back around as it spun just enough so there was a spot where we had traction with the help of branches under the wheels to back away from the tree and continue back to the track, bush bashing through a pre-surveyed route after jury rigging the brakes back together. From memory the clevis pin hadn't disappeared and we had some wire to use instead of the split pin, but I can't be sure.
The other thing I remembered, either from this trip or another was arriving at the bottom of the hill after coasting down in a low gear to find choke was needed as the engine had cooled to that point, not having been fitted with thermostats.