Hi. I'm after any information that anyone can give me about some pictures that my grandfather (Bampi) took during his time in Burma/India, if anyone can shed any light on these, please? Bamps in Burma 12 - What models of vehicle are on the road? Bamps in Burma 17 - Are those boiler suits/overalls? What RA roles would wear them? Bamps in Burma 18 - Is that a Bren gun they're manning? How were they distributed in an RA field regiment? Bamps in Burma 19 - Is that a famous buddha statue? Tin Pics 2 - What sort of bike is that? What does the 31 serial refer to? Tin Pics 16 - What rifles are those? Lee Enfields or could they be the old Canadian Ross rifles that the Regiment had early on? Tin Pics 18 - What is that sergeant's rank (cannon above the stripes again??) and what the hell has he got on his head?! But any additional information that anyone can glean from these would be greatly appreciated. Bampi was in the 315th Battery, 130th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, if that helps. Many thanks in anticipation.
Bamps in Burma 16 only shows a flag - cant see any rifles Bamps in Burma 18 - you have 2 images the same Maybe if you post his name and other details members could help you more - do you have his service records? - if so can you post them to help answer some of your questions TD
The boiler suits are probably like these, they are an Indian made pattern but also used by British troops, I'm not sure which men would have been issued them though
Hi Rachael, The truck looks like a CMP (Canadian Military Pattern). The tactical sign on the front right of the vehicle - '42' indicates the vehicle belongs to a divisional field artillery regiment, assuming that at the time the photo was taken the signs used in India/Burma conformed to those laid down by the War Office and being used in NW Europe. Steve
Cheers for sharing the pictures, Rachael. Always nice to see such. Agreeing with Rothy that the truck is a CMP variant, specifically I think a C8AX, which were supplied in completely knocked down form to be built using local facilities. In this case with a GS/General Service body. (Hard to say as so many CMP machines look alike... and I'm very rusty as to specifics.) Edit, after looking at some specifics: could also be called an 'Indian Pattern' CMP, purely as most of those seem to have been built with that rag roof (From knocked down C8s). (Also edited your thread title slightly to improve visibility to more specialist eyes. Hope that's OK.)
Apologies, I got a bit muddled, didn't I. I've now attached a pdf of 16 and 18 as the originals were too large to upload Bamps was in 315 Battery, 130 Field Regiment, RA. I've managed to acquire lots of information (thanks to PackRat) but just after a few more details.