Military vehicles Part 1

. Welcome to the Motor Transport area of Hangar 42. Here - the restoration and care of our WW2 vehicles is undertaken by our Volunteers. We are fortunate to have within our possession, a number of vehicles dating back to, and used - during the war - as well as a number of vehicles which although privately owned, are at the disposal of the Visitor centre for exhibiting purposes.

Towards the beginning of the War, the War Office decided that a 3-ton 4-wheel drive general service truck was required to support the war effort. Bedford, a manufacturer of both light and heavy goods vehicles, decided to produce the Bedford QL, the first vehicle Bedford produced for the British Military which went on to see service in a number of campaigns across the world.

The prototype was produced in February 1940, with production starting in 1941 - until 1945. During this period, 52,247 were produced and used in various configurations with the third letter denoting the type.

These include (QLB) Bofors Gun tractor, (QLT) Troop carrier, (QLD) Cargo vehicle, (QLC) Fuel Tanker and Fire Tender, (QLR) Communications and Signals vehicle and (QLW) a Tipper truck.

Powered by a 3518 c c engine, known as the “Bedford 28”, it produced 78 Brake Horse-power. Utilising a “Crash” 4 speed gearbox, linked through a transfer box - and floating forward and rear axles, it managed a top speed of 38 miles per hour.

Here we have our Bedford QLD,.

Originally being produced in 1942 as a QLC, it has at some-time been converted to a QLD, of which around 900 were built - and confirms the versatility of the chassis. The truck was produced in 1942 and registered to the RAF as RAF 4 7 1 7. Records of the war period are scarce, but It would appear it spent most of the wartime in Scotland, likely used for the transportation of generators and other airfield equipment, and - due to its four-wheel drive capability, would have also been used for crash recovery. After the war - in 1946, it was re-registered as O M F 1 8 7, but ownership then becomes difficult to trace until 1968, where it came under the ownership of the ministry of agriculture - and was used as a snowplough at Wick Aerodrome, where it received its current registration - H U C 7 4 0.

Ownership changed again in 1978 - to a private unknown owner in Perth - Scotland. Here - little was done to preserve the truck - and it decayed - until purchased in 2004 by Mr Mike Waggott - where considerable restoration was undertaken - between the years of 2004 and 2010. After the death of Mr Waggott - the truck was donated - by his family - to the visitor centre in 2018. We greatly appreciate the efforts of Mr Waggott - and his family for choosing us to home the vehicle.

Once with us – the vehicle undertook a full mechanical review and refurbishment - as well as a body and paintwork restoration – led by John Puttock – our resident mechanic - and closely supported by his wife Ginette. Originally all RAF QL's were painted in RAF Blue-Grey livery - however, it was decided to restore this truck to a 1939 serving vehicle - so it was painted in the wartime camouflage colours - Khaki Green Number 3 and Tarmac Green Number 4 - along with the markings of 6-1-1 squadron of Fighter Group 11. A new canopy was also purchased and fitted - to finish the look.

 

Onto our Bedford QLC, the fuel tanker variant.

Due to its limited capacity it was mainly used to refuel smaller fighter and bomber aircraft and fell into one of two general categories, 950 and 1000-gallon capacities. The bodies were built by Butterfields of Shipley in Yorkshire, with Zwicky pumping equipment - located in the lockers to the side of the rear tank, with the fuel hoses stored in a compartment at the rear of the tank. Walkways - either side of the tank - provided access for the crew when filling the tanker.

The three-boom variant with the 950 gallon tank would have also carried oil, the tank being divided into two sections. At the front end - one with 100 gallons of oil - and the other with 850 gallons of fuel. The main types of fuel dispensed from the Q-L tankers were – initially - Aviation Gasoline for piston engine aircraft, and – later - Aviation Turbine Fuel. When converted to dispense Aviation Turbine Fuel - the oil tank became redundant - and the third boom was often removed.

This Fuel Tanker was produced in 1944 – but is painted in pre-wartime RAF blue-grey. It is owned by one of our volunteers - Mr Paul Lomax – who purchased it in 2013 - from another private owner. Research has revealed that - after the War - this vehicle was owned by Poole and District Council, as part of a fleet of five QL tankers - used for Emergency Water supplies. At the end of their useful life they were sent for scrap – but this one was rescued from the scrapman by Mr John Ward. At this time, some of the original equipment was still in place - the booms and some of the metering equipment. Sadly though - some of the pumping equipment - and a small petrol engine used to drive the pumps, had been removed before it came into preservation. The fact that some of this equipment was manufactured from solid phosphor-bronze would suggest they were probably removed by the scrap-man!

The Q-L-C would have been used in conjunction with the towable Bowser – which is also exhibited here.

Please move to the next tour stop - to hear more about our Military vehicles.