Royal Navy vehicles

[Larry Hayward]

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!

[chrisgrove]

Originally Posted by Larry Hayward

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 am pretty certain that NP will stand for Naval Party. Any Naval unit (other than a ship) operating independently will get a Naval Party number which enables personnel to be posted to it.

Chris

[Noel Burgess]

Although it could stand for other things as well, CFMU stands for Coastal Forces Mobile Unit - there were two, CFMU 1 & CFMU 2, which were Flotillas of Motor Torpedo Boats( possibly Motor Gun Boats also) which, in 44/45, were based on the European coast moving up with the land forces - [Arromanches; Ostend; Copenhagen; Cuxhaven]
I presume that the photos of CFMU 2 vehicles represent the shore establishment for this unit.
I did ask Alan Brock if he had any further info on these photos but got no reply.
Noel

[Les Freathy]

That makes a bit of sense Noel my dad was on motor gun boats and his flotilla moved up the coast and finished at Hamberg before moving to Cuxhaven where they spent a few months as security for shipping

[Larry Hayward]

More photos please! I would like to see more photos of vehicles used by the RN and FAA in the UK.

An ex-FAA Petty Officer I know who was with the Naval Air Radio Installation Unit say the unit had one 10 ton and one 5 ton truck, a 10 hp ‘Tilly’ pickup truck and a motorbike and sidecar.

Any suggestions for the 10 ton and 5 ton trucks? Would these have been impressed civi types with that load weight capacity?

[Alan Brock]

I found another picture....

[Bill Murray]

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

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Alan Brock
I found another picture....

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

[Richard Farrant]

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

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

[Bill Murray]

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

[Les Freathy]

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

[Ron Pier]

Request to Larry Hayward. Is there any chance of higher resolution pictures of the two that you posted with motorcycles. I can't make out the one in the Pacific, the one in Oz looks like an Indian 741? email ronpier@talk21.com


Regards Ron

[Ron Pier]

The picture in O&M's British Forces Motorcycles that Richard Farrent refers to, is i'm convinced a 350cc C12? Again wrong caption?

Ron

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Ron Pier

The picture in O&M's British Forces Motorcycles that Richard Farrant refers to, is i'm convinced a 350cc C12? Again wrong caption?

Hi Ron,

Did O&M got their caption wrong then?

I see there were only about 16 C12 machines ordered by the Admiralty.

[Ron Pier]

Hi Richard.
When I rebuilt my own 39 KC10 I did quite a bit of research to get it fairly correct. Here is also a factory drawing of a 1940 WC10.
There are some things is the O&M picture that just point to it being a C12.
The barrel certainly looks bigger? Ron

[rupert condick]

Hi
came across AWM film F01683 FIRST AUSTRALIANS LEAVING SINGAPORE,
Has RN Austin K2y and CMPs,
and some pics I came across.


I hope these upload
regs
Rupert

[Larry Hayward]

Colour photos of RN vehicles are rarer still so I have attached a photo of an RN Fordson & bowser at RNAS Yeovilton in 1943. The Fordson looks to be earth brown while the bowser is the same shade of grey seen on the Seafire.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Larry Hayward

Colour photos of RN vehicles are rarer still so I have attached a photo of an RN Fordson & bowser at RNAS Yeovilton in 1943. The Fordson looks to be earth brown while the bowser is the same shade of grey seen on the Seafire.

Great picture! I noted a Seafire has recently taken to the skies in Canada:

http://youtu.be/TneYPcyGbbY

H.

[Larry Hayward]

Guys,

Here is another RN vehicles in the background of this shot of a Fairey Barracuda.

I'm not hot on coach identification so perhaps someone will know. No doubt an impressed one.

What I thought at first was a shaddow turns out to be a two tone grey camo?

Any thoughts on whether the coach has an added superstructure or is that on a building behind?

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Larry Hayward

Any thoughts on whether the coach has an added superstructure or is that on a building behind?

Larry,

I think this particuar coach has come up on here before, or possibly on HMVF forum, will try and find it.

[Richard Farrant]

I did not realise how time flies until I saw the date on the following thread ;

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ghlight=funnel

The bus is built to represent the superstructure of an aircraft carrier, so that practise landings can be done on dry land.

[Steve Guthrie]

Hi there

Marvelous stuff.

Thanks so much for sharing!

Lots of inspiration for models there.

Just a few questions: Who can explain the wheels on the Bedford OYs? Are they civilian pattern?

And what's the story behind the 'two-tone' jerry cans that show up in several shots?

Steve

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Steve Guthrie
Just a few questions: Who can explain the wheels on the Bedford OYs? Are they civilian pattern?
And what's the story behind the 'two-tone' jerry cans that show up in several shots?

Steve,

The Bedfords are actually OW, which were produced for essential civilian use during the war. The wheels are standard type with twins on rear carrying 7.50-20 tyres. The body is longer than a OY and would appear to be the standard factory dropside. Some of these were even used by the US Forces as I have seen one in France that was left behind after the war.

As for the two-tone jerricans, that has me puzzled, but it may be for diesel, to identify it from the more common petrol cans. The engine driving the compressor on the Bedford is a Lister 3 cyl. diesel.

Richard

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Les Freathy
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

By sheer coincidence, two colour photos of this same Scammell are in the latest issue of Classic Military Vehicle. Taken while still in Roses ownership at a fair in July, 1970, it then had square front wings and looks a lot more cared for.

Richard

[T. Metsovitis]

I'm not sure if these have a right to be in the soft skin forum, but it is a Royal Navy vehicle. These come from British Pathe.





A while ago there was quite a bit of discussion on these over at Missing Lynx, http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/thread/1068736249/

Fyll

[Les Freathy]

Heres an oldie in RN livery a pre war Leyland, its no is RN3366 i cannot read the rest of the writing on the door
Les

[Larry Hayward]

I wonder if any of these really did serve in the RN? Such vehicles must be rarer than all the rest - unless the RN looked after theirs better, thus allowing them to selected first by civi buyers in the post war auctions?

[Larry Hayward]

Without Alan's photos, not many people will know that the RN had its own version of vehicle serial with RN after then number!

[Les Freathy]

I noticed that March 07 was the last entry on this long lost thread so here is a photo of a 1932 AEC Mercury built for the Royal Navy

[Noel Burgess]

Reviving this thread to post a photo from http://omahabeach.mulberry.free.fr/
Unfortunately the site gives no credits or dates for the pictures but this must be some Navy officer visiting the Yanks at Omaha