Bit self indulgent of me but I like my vehicles and think the impressed BEF buses and coaches in France maybe deserve a thread of their own. Some got from the West coast disembarkation ports to the end of the 'lorry piers' on Dunkirk beach. Trucks are more my thing but for fastidious recording the Bus Men cannot be beat ! I doubt there is any single bus since 1945 that has not been photographed and logged. I have lifted all these photos from the Dunkirk Operation Dynamo Evacuation Beaches thread. Some Keiths and some 'mine' . Craig
The last bus picture was identified by Billh35- Identified now as FW 8632 a 1937 AEC Regal with Willowbrook 32 seat body which had been new to Enterprise & Silver Dawn. Only a couple years old! Where was this location? and Pathe film at Cherbourg BMW400- BWW 400 was a Leyland TS7 (chassis no. 12248) with 32-seat coach body (manufacturer unrecorded) new in March 1937 to F Oade, Heckmondwyke, Yorkshire. There are no further records of it so I think it's right to assume it was abandoned in France. and the bus on the beach - These two vehicles are believed to be Leyland TS7 with Harrington bodies of a batch of vehicles 1160-1179 (DUF 160-179) of Southdown which were new in 1936-37. 17 of the batch of 20 were impressed but 8 of them never returned. These featured half canvas roof so were ideal for military use. Craig
Billh35 again- Whilst making enquiries in a different direction I have been told that one of the jetties made up of vehicles comprised "Barton" buses (an operator from Chilwell) and this has come from the Barton family who may have been told this after the war when some of their "Impressed" vehicles didn't return. I can't find any evidence to suggest it is true but then it seems more and more evidence of British buses in the BEF is coming out now. Later pic posting by Keith proved the above-
I have now identified this bus as a Metcalfe bodied AEC Regal JD 8472. The second image shows the same vehicle in Keith's video after it had been abandoned by UK forces but before the Luftwaffe took it.
