BEF Vehicle Arm of Service Markings (GHQ and others)

Good spot Idler. AoS '86' fits in nicely with the preliminary RASC group of numbers as well.

Put it on the list Andrew !

It's wonderful how these little snippets are coming together to form a whole.

 

Rich

I certainly will. I am doing a bit of work on the list at the moment.

Andrew

 

Just when you thought there were no more GHQ markings ...

I recently bought a book called France mai-juin 1940 by Thibault Richard. It has lots of pictures and postcards of French towns before and after the 1940 fighting. Hardly any BEF stuff in there, but this was:

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=48700&stc=1&d=1302379195

Another GHQ marking on an Austin K2 ambulance at Malo les Bains.

Andrew

 

That's good Andrew. Does it have a movement code on the offside wing ? It looks like '1659' to me.

Is the book worthwhile for recognising towns or does it mostly have the well-known stuff ?

 

That's good Andrew. Does it have a movement code on the offside wing ? It looks like '1659' to me.

Is the book worthwhile for recognising towns or does it mostly have the well-known stuff ?

Rich

I think it does have a movement code. It is probably a 5 digit code like '1659x'. I found some codes while I was at Kew and the 5 digit ones started 15 or 16. See attached.

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=48725&stc=1&d=1302462865

The book is aimed at the French reader. The pictures are almost all new to me. The emphasis is on damaged market squares, churches, stations and other prominent buildings with postcards of the place before it was damaged. Some pictures of French tanks and vehicles. I am not sure if you would pay around Euro 35 for it. You would really have to see it to decide. I got it in the Histoire et Collections shop in Paris.

Andrew

 

Leyland Hippo with the pre war civilian cab-impressed ? and 178 over white bar.
Lots of captured BEF vehicles on this German website, some old favourites but most new to me, Link -
Great Britain

 

Leyland Hippo with the pre war civilian cab-impressed ? and 178 over white bar.
Lots of captured BEF vehicles on this website, some old favourites but most new to me -
Great Britain

I just had a trawl through this site and there are some great pics of civilian impressed vehicles, no doubt from the BEF, now with German owners.

Thanks

Andrew

 

More photos came in the post today. Morris with 3rd Div sign & number 2. 2nd truck with A3 and 25 with a white line under it. The 2 trucks were in the same photo. Morris commercial did a workshop time book with service and impressed vehicles, so there must have been a large amount of impressed trucks.

 

More photos came in the post today. Morris with 3rd Div sign & number 2. 2nd truck with A3 and 25 with a white line under it. The 2 trucks were in the same photo. Morris comercial did a workshop time book with service and impressed vehicles, so there must have been a large amount of impressed trucks.

Keith

For the first truck - the '2' (on black) would represent the divisional cavalry for 3rd Division. This was 15/19 King's Royal Hussars. There were a number of 30 cwt 4 wheel trucks listed in the establishment of a divisional cavalry regiment.

The '25' on the second truck indicates 2nd Royal Horse Artillery and the 'A3' would be a tactical marking. As far as I can tell it represents Regimental HQ and would be expected to be found on a 15 cwt truck. This looks more like a 30cwt to me - do you know what type of truck it is?

Andrew

 

Rewdco has turned up another interesting eBay image, listed by the seller as Russia but rather clearly not. It looks to me to be a knocked about Q2 Commer 30cwt.



Tha markings are odd. Clearly 1st Armoured Div but then why is it carrying the AoS marking from a Corps level 'spare' sequence for Royal Engineers ? I can't imagine that the 1st Armoured formation sign would have been applied in France, suggesting that they brought the lorry with them.

Did a Corps RE unit liberate the lorry and put their own AoS up ?

These things are sent to confuse us...Well, me anyway.

 

Rewdco has turned up another interesting eBay image, listed by the seller as Russia but rather clearly not. It looks to me to be a knocked about Q2 Commer 30cwt.


The markings are odd. Clearly 1st Armoured Div but then why is it carrying the AoS marking from a Corps level 'spare' sequence for Royal Engineers ? I can't imagine that the 1st Armoured formation sign would have been applied in France, suggesting that they brought the lorry with them.

Did a Corps RE unit liberate the lorry and put their own AoS up ?

These things are sent to confuse us...Well, me anyway.

I am confused too. I only recall one other example of 1st Armoured softskin markings. This is '22' with no bar plus the 1st Armoured formation sign. These markings appear on Bedford trucks in an IWM picture - see small version attached. The caption is 'Bedford OY 3-ton trucks of 1st Armoured Division parked under trees at Pacy-sur-Eure, 23 May 1940'.

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=49025&stc=1&d=1303254176

Andrew

 

I am confused too. I only recall one other example ...

Andrew

... and one further example, which is another IWM picture, captioned: F_004578 Officers consult maps during 'operations in the Somme area', May 1940. In this close-up from a magazine it looks like the vehicle in the picture has the 1st Armoured formation sign plus an AoS with no bar and the number '24' or '34'

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=49026&stc=1&d=1303255361

Andrew

 

I am confused too. I only recall one other example of 1st Armoured softskin markings. Andrew

Do motorcycles count as softskins, Andrew ?

Have a look at the surviving fuel tank on the armour thread :-

1st Armoured Division Formation Sign

It looks as if those 'softskins' with the fighting units carried similar tactical markings to the hard stuff.

 

Do motorcycles count as softskins, Andrew ?

Have a look at the surviving fuel tank on the armour thread :-

1st Armoured Division Formation Sign

It looks as if those 'softskins' with the fighting units carried similar tactical markings to the hard stuff.

I guess because they are not armoured they must qualify as soft-skinned and despite their rather small surface area they clearly manage to carry a few markings. I will visit that thread.

Andrew

 

Still puzzled about make of the truck on its side in Morris c8's post 51 pic 2 - first glance thought Morris but is it ?
Craig

 

Its not in any of my books

 

The truck on its side has beaten me too. It should be so recognisable with the windscreen line and curved bumper.

Here's another GHQ Arty AA AoS currently on eBay - it looks like '32' to me on the back of the Morris-Commercial

 

Another eBay picture with some very clear markings:



Jan

 

Rich / Jan

Good to see new GHQ pictures are still turning up. The first is clearly a GHQ LAA regiment (I agree with 32) but the second is less obvious. Those hollow geometric markings are completely new to me.

Andrew

 

Still puzzled about make of the truck on its side in Morris c8's post 51 pic 2 - first glance thought Morris but is it ?
Craig

If Les Freathy is around I am sure he would be able to help with this one.

Andrew