Biglorryblog's 'Good man in Africa' Jerry Burley has e-mailed me these pictures from the Withams website to say: "Latest big Withams ex-military auction only a couple of weeks away now, with all the usual suspects up for grabs, plus one or two not so usual, including some historic and rare stuff." And why not visit the Withams website at http://www.mod-sales.com/
JB adds: " I am humming and aahing as to whether to chance my arm and fly back as there a couple of items of particular interest that really shouldn't be bought 'blind'. I guess all the 8x8 DROPS units must have come from Germany as they are left hookers?" Actually JB I thought all the UK DROPS trucks were left-hookers. Can any 'military' members of the beloved anorak army help out here?
Couple of old Lone Rangers that could be well worth a punt.
Or an old MK Bedford?
Or a Scammell dumper?
I think in the last photo the Scammell is a ballast tractor, not a tipper body. AFAIK most, if not all DROPS units are LHD but I'm quite happy to be corrected!
I think the Leyland DAF DROPS wagons are 8x6 rather than 8x8. They are serving in the 'Stan, as shown in the new issue of a certain (rival?) trucking magazine.
The 'dumper' is not a dumper but is actually a 6x4 artic tractor unit with a demountable ballast box. It was formerly used by the RAF on a mobile radar convoy.
I'd go for those Long Repairs, Jerry. You would look just the part in one of those, or more likely while you were sitting in the workshop with a beer or three waiting for it to be repaired again.
I have never seen a right hand drive DROPS trick but it would not surprise me if there are some somewhere.
The Scammell S26 is one of a number used by the RAF to tow mobile radar stations. The bodywork is a removable ballast box which fits over the fifth wheel coupling.
All military DROPS are LHD. The only ones that were right were some original Scamell cab'd ones during the trial. Most of these were operated by, then, DERA later QINETIQ.
Someone also posted something on some of the Foden AWD tankers that were going out to Africa. I took part in the original trial of these and the eve earlier ones that were the AWD MTM55 Multidrives. Loved driving both variants. Little known story...the tanks on the back of the AWD ones, were meant to go to Saddam Husseins Airforce as ground tanks for his air-force. Gulf War 1 broke out and they were put onto the AWD chassis and used against him.