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Vintage MT

You are here: "Archive 5"


Edward Swinden sent this fine collection in by snail mail.



39MU Colerne Jan 1942	Landed with U.S. Forces Philippeville Dec 7th 1942	R.A.F. Airdrome Tunis Christmas 1943	R.A.F. F.L. Club De Pins Algiers May 1946	39MU Colerne 1942

39MU Colerne 1942	39MU Colerne 1942	39MU Colerne 1942	39MU Colerne 1942	Eden Camp 'Thinking of past days'

Tunisia 1943	Fire Crew 155MU Selif 1943	Tunisia 1944	Bouira, Algeria 1943	Setif December 1944

Bouira mountains Algeria	Road in Algeria	Near Algiers 1945	Castle Benito Tripoli 1944	Algeria

Algeria	Algeria	After Demob 1947	M.T. Section Setif 1943	Setif 1944


Cpl Smith	Some of the M.T. Section Setif	Joe & Bill

Some of the M.T. Section after landing with the Invasion force Mon 7th Dec 1942	M.T. Section 16 Rest & Leave Camp Algiers	M.T. Section 16 Rest & Leave Camp Algiers

HELP REQUIRED

Hello,

Found your site and was very pleased to find some pics of Sentinels in your Vintage MT section. I am a Trustee of the Britannia Aircraft Preservation Trust based at Kemble airfield near Swindon. We look after a collection of Bristol Britannia airliners including ex RAFTC XM496 and were donated a couple of years ago a Douglas Tugmaster to help with moving said aircraft. This vehicle turned out, on closer inspection, to have been manufactured by Sentinel of Shrewsbury. I am trying to firstly, get as much information on the vehicle as possible (including colour or B/W photos plus handbooks and manuals) and secondly, find a few helpful enthusiasts that could assist me in bringing her back to (full) life. She does run but I would like to get the winch and the winching spades working, overhaul the 112v GPU engine and give her a bit of a general overdue service and some TLC

I would be most grateful if you could put a request on the site especially in the Vintage MT section. You can contact me at Britflyer@aol.com and if you want to see what we are about our website is www.bristol-britannia.com (This is shortly to be overhauled and a page about the Tug added)

Many thanks,

Steve Lewis
Trustee BAPT

Andy Fitches sent these pics of Aden Thought these may be of interest to put on the site MK3 Shacks on Khormaksar pan & Khormaksar T/pool + myself with a tanker at a fuel depot somewhere out past Silent Valley 1967


Enclosed are some MT photos that might be of interest 1st Picture is a Coles crane doing what it did best. 2nd is a full view of the same 'weapon' 3rd is of the MT Section at Quastina (Palestine) in 1943 4th shows a couple of Mack trucks (lorries) in about 1944, in use by #1 AMWD at Bahrain. We were extending the airfield there ... but VJ day put a stop to that, Thank God! Richard Taylor Redfern

Charlie Norman sent in these pictures and notes of 51MT Squadron vehicle convoy from RAF El Hamra in the Canal Zone (Egypt) via Port Said to RAF Akrotiri (Cyprus) via Famagusta. 51 MT Convoy to Cyprus - 14th November 1955 – 23rd November 1955 Drivers: Charlie Norman, Nobby Clarke, Pete Ingham, Rex Flook, John Deacon, George Richardson, Smudge Smith, The task was to convey stores and equipment from the Canal Zone (closing down) to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus (starting up). The convoy consisted of eight Leyland Hippos 10 ton GS Bodies. The vehicles were loaded at RAF Kasfareet and left for Port Said on 13 November 1955. The convoy was secured overnight at Port Said and loaded onto the LST Snowden Smith the following day, 14 November 1955, leaving for the port of Famagusta on the East coast of Cyprus. Arriving at Famagusta (15 November 1955), the vehicles were unloaded from LST Snowden Smith and left (as a convoy) to RAF Akrotiri at the extreme West of the island. Between Famagusta and Nicosia the convoy halted at the Oasis Café for a break before continuing. Throughout the journey between Famagusta and RAF Akrotiri, most of the vehicles received punctures. As RAF Akrotiri, at that time, was not fully operational, facilities for the repair of so many punctures were not available. It was therefore decided that the return journey would be via RAF Nicosia where repairs could be effected. On this journey, further punctures occurred and it was essential that all punctures were fully repaired as no spare wheels were available on any of the convoy vehicles prior to our return to Famagusta and to Port Said and RAF El Hamra. On arriving at RAF Nicosia, we requested accommodation and arranged for the repair of the flat tyres. Unfortunately, the repairs took longer than expected and we were unable to reach Famagusta in time to board the LST Snowden Smith for the return to Port Said on 16 November 1955 – so we had to stay at RAF Nicosia until the next available ship was available (23 November 1955). So we had to take it easy for another week!!! Oh dear what a difficult life we lived in those days!!! We had no uniform (just overalls) but did have some civvies, so we kept out of the SWO's way during the day and made up for lost time in the evenings.

13/09/1955 Smudge Smith with Coles Crane 51MT Det RAF Abu Sultan	07/10/1955 Ginger Nimmo & Bill Cullen 51MT Det RAF Abu Sultan		07/10/1955 RAF Abu Sultan closing down

07/10/1955 51MT Detachment at 128 MU RAF Abu Sultan	14/11/1955 Part of 51MT Convoy at Port Said waiting to embark		14/11/1955 51MT Convoy from Famagusta to RAF Akrotiri

15/11/1955 51MT Convoy in Cyprus (Akrotiri to Nicosia)	15/11/1955 51MT Drivers & Escorts at bedding store RAF Nicosia		23/11/1955 Rex Flook, John Deacon & George Richardson crossing the Med

25/12/1954 RAF El Hamra NAAFI 51MT Beer Call		August 1956 HMT Empire Orwell from Cyprus to Southampton

Update: 06/09/11 Pictures of the Snowdon Smith (Mentioned in the article above) leaving the Canal Zone, I had a trip on her to Tobruk in April 1954 for a Queens Guard of Honour at El Adem. Dennis Bostridge (Ex 35 Sqdn. El Hamra)