Malta Military Vehicles

Here’s some holiday photos with a difference !
Taken on the Island of Malta, some Land Rovers with a difference.
A paler green to the normal British Army Defenders, and who’s ever seen
a camouflaged Landie like the 90 we see here !

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NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2011

Hello once again and welcome to British Army modern heavyweight week here on Miliblog. We’ve recently bought a batch of photos from Colin Martin, a well known photographer of all sorts of heavyweight transport on the Britsh roads. So we thought we’d celebrate these massive vehicles, which probably at first glance on the photos look quite tame.Look further into the photos and compare them against things around them and you’ll see they are pretty big ! Look at our first photo for example, with a Foden heavy recovery towing a broken down Duro and then look at the car following !

Foden 6x6 Heavy Recovery (33 KE 88)(Copyright of Colin Martin)

Foden

Colin took this shot of a whole load of Leyland Daf DROPS lorries parked up with loads of bottled water on board. Could this be a scene from the War and Peace Show in 2020 perhaps ?

Leyland Daf 8x8 Drops (76 KH 86 + 88 KH 22)(Copyright of Colin Martin)

Leyland Daf 8x8 Drops (76 KH 86 + 88 KH 22)(Copyright of Colin Martin)

Next we have a Seddon Atkinson unit complete with a King trailer in RAF markings. Note the logo on the cab door of an elephant carrying a load. Not sure what unit this belongs to though. Judging from the excavator being at the front of the trailer, this suggests there would have been another vehicle behind that has already been dropped off.

Seddon Atkinson 1738tc Strato Tractor (17 KL 18)(Copyright of Colin Martin)

Seddon Atkinson 1738tc

This next photo was taken at Cheltenham Racecourse, with the massive Oshkosh tanker dispensing fresh drinking water to campers. Can’t wait to see the neighbour’s faces if I bought one of these in an MoD disposal sale in a few years and it arrived in our front garden !

Oshkosh Close Support Tanker (DG 13 AB)(Copyright of Colin Martin)

Oshkosh Close Support Tanker (DG 13 AB)(Copyright of Colin Martin)

Lastly, another Oshkosh product, the gigantic HET (Heavy Equipment Transporter).  At 23 metres – that’s 75 feet – long, that’s a big beast to handle.

Oshkosh 1070F 8x8 HET + King GTS100 Trailer (18 KM 37)(Copyright of Colin Martin)

Oshkosh

So enjoy having a look around Miliblog. With all the different areas we have, I hope you find something you enjoy looking at.

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 31 JANUARY 2011

Hello and welcome to this week’s selection from what’s new on Miliblog. We start with a nice photo of a Foden 10 Ton cargo lorry used by the British Army in the 1970′s for transporting supplies and ammunition close to the front line. Not as agile as the later 8 wheel DROPS lorries from Foden or Leyland used later on.

Foden 16 Ton 8x4 Low Mobility Truck (17 GB 16)

Foden 16 Ton 8x4 Low Mobility Truck (17 GB 16)

Now we have the famous Thornycroft Antar tank transporter but on this occasion transporting a bulldozer rather than the usual Centurion Tank ! The markings show a Robin Hood type archer, which is for the North Midland District and 19 Coy T, which I think is the 19th Transport Company. Perhaps it’s on it’s journey to Ruddington Camp just South of Nottingham taking the load for disposal ? Still a lovely period shot of the late 1950′s/early 1960′s.

Thornycroft Antar 60Ton Tractor (02 BD 17)

Thornycroft Antar 60Ton Tractor (02 BD 17)

Another tank transporter with another bulldozer ! This time a WW2 American Diamond T M20, probably with an upgraded Rolls Royce engine. Similar to the Antar above, it’s towing a Dyson 8 wheeled trailer.

Diamond T980 M20 Prime Mover (03 ZC 75)

Diamond T980 M20 Prime Mover (03 ZC 75)

Another of our favourites is this AEC Matador, parked up in the company yard just waiting for the call to attend the breakdown of one of the fleet. It has the markings GBH on the door. Anyone know what company this is ? We’ve also got a photo of the same Matador in our WW2 British Gun Tractors gallery but painted red. Possibly a later owner.

AEC 0853 Matador (JSV 900)

AEC 0853 Matador (JSV 900)

Finally one for the fire engine fans. A recent Unipower Alvis 4×4 in Royal Air Force markings.

Unipower Alvis RW 4x4 Fire Tender (RH 01 AA)

Unipower Alvis RW 4x4 Fire Tender (RH 01 AA)

So back to the old scanner to add some more photos onto Miliblog and we’ll soon be back with another what’s new.

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 24 JANUARY 2011

Hi there and welcome to this week’s samples from what’s new on Miliblog, and we start with a photo of a superbly preserved AEC Matador in the colours of Harris’s Fun Fair. Very popular with fun fairs and circuses after WW2, if you visit our WW2 British Gun Tractors gallery, you’ll find another Harris Matador along with many other Matador photos.

 

AEC 0853 Matador (WVS 488)

AEC 0853 Matador (WVS 488)

 

Next from the Home Front is a preserved Ford 10 NAAFI van parked up for an event and now doubt very popular selling it’s teas and cakes. These vans run by the Navy, Army and Air Force Institute – NAAFI – were the mobile catering vans of their day, taking food and drink to remote locations to feed the troops.

Ford 10 NAAFI Van (JNO 665)

Ford 10 NAAFI Van (JNO 665)

An unusual one next, with a Thornycroft Nubian chassis often used for either a Fire Tender or a Trench Digger, but this time with a Coles crane attached, creating a go anywhere 4×4 crane unit.

 

Thornycroft Nubian 4x4 Crane (00 EX 21)

Thornycroft Nubian 4x4 Crane (00 EX 21)

Looks like a nice summer’s day for a drive down the motorway in this RAF Seddon Atkinson with another tractor unit piggybacking on the back, returning to the depot.

Seddon Atkinson 401 4x2 Tractor (65 KD 02)

Seddon Atkinson 401 4x2 Tractor (65 KD 02)

And finally, one for the fans of Eastern Block vehicles in the form of a Soviet Zil in Czech army markings.

Zil 151 2.5ton 6x6 Shop Van (139-42-69)(Czech)

Zil 151 2.5ton 6x6 Shop Van (139-42-69)(Czech)

So have a great week as we get closer to the Spring and the first outings of vehicles preserved during the Winter months.

Cheerio !

Simon

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