Attached is a (very poor) pic of Dad taken near el-Adem, near Tobruk in No. 1942. He was with a REME LAD attached to 22 Armoured Brigade, anyone know what that is on the door of the vehicle? I'm not even sure if it is a British vehicle or a captured German/Italian one.
May not help but the 22nd Armoured Brigade's formation sign was a stags head......regret your image isn't that clear.....
May not help but the 22nd Armoured Brigade's formation sign was a stags head......regret your image isn't that clear..... Yeah, that was my first thought, but it doesn't seem to match.
Lee / Reme The photo is a bit confusing inasmuch as the date of Nov '42 at El Adam is after El Alamein - and while the Father is of the 22nd Ar'md LAD - i.e REME - this truck could be a "foundling" after the passage of the XXX corps on their way to Tripoli - which the LAD would "restore" - and hang onto for their own use.,and cover up the original owners insignia.....crafty lot they were.... The 22nd Ar'md of 1st and 5th RTR and the 3/4th CLY were with 7th Ar'md div at that time. Cheers
Lee / Reme The photo is a bit confusing inasmuch as the date of Nov '42 at El Adam is after El Alamein - and while the Father is of the 22nd Ar'md LAD - i.e REME - this truck could be a "foundling" after the passage of the XXX corps on their way to Tripoli - which the LAD would "restore" - and hang onto for their own use.,and cover up the original owners insignia.....crafty lot they were.... The 22nd Ar'md of 1st and 5th RTR and the 3/4th CLY were with 7th Ar'md div at that time. Cheers Oooops! missed out he was 4th Field Rtg. R.A. L.A.D. - still with 22 Armoured though. Have trawled the 'net for this and couldn;t find anything that matches, the stags head, flying pig and rhino are similar, but then again maybe it was a rush paint job and the painter was not very good at painting.
If I have to choose one, I'll say 31st Indian Armoured Division. It looks similar but somehow not exactly the same.
can't help on the formation sign but that does look like one of the light weight german trucks(oops) lorrys
SOl when was the 31st Indian Armoured Div - in the Desert ? Cheers Mmmm. Bit tenuous, but -according to Wiki they were or at least the motor brigade was.
If I had to guess, I'd say a slightly open-mouthed version of the 6th Indian Division's tiger's head. My knowledge of MEF doesn't tell me if they'd have been in the right place. The 6th Indian Div's 26th Brigade did stay in the Middle East until July 1944. I don't think that it's a captured vehicle. It looks like a Dodge door. It's RHD so probably Canadian-built.
SOl when was the 31st Indian Armoured Div - in the Desert ? Cheers Well while it was based in Iraq. But I guess you probably under the Desert you mean the North Africa. Answer is never. But elements of the division were there, like 3rd Indian Motor Brigade. And its possible that some vehicles of the division were transferred to some frontline unit. But than again I didn't say it is a sign of 31st Indian Armoured Brigade, just that it looks similar but not the same.
Reme - would agree that the motor bde did serve in the desert and Italy as we bumped into the Gardner's Horse now and again - but - as such an independent unit they would NOT have the Div sign of the 31st Armed....? Cheers
- but - as such an independent unit they would NOT have the Div sign of the 31st Armed....? Cheers Ah! I see, oh well thanks everybody for looking and giving input, I will put this in the unsolved folder
Sol/ Rich can well understand your confusion about the term Desert - as what is meant is that area to the west of Cairo -through what was called Cyreniaca - Lybia and Tripolitania all the way to Tunisia - this the British Army called the MEF - or Middle East Force- after Tunisia this then became 1st Army territory and was named BNAF or British North African Force which landed at operation "Torch " in November - 1942 at Algeria and Morocco However the force in Iraq -Iran - Palestine was named PAIFORCE - or Palestine/Iraq force which contained the 10th and the ficticious 9th armies the 31st Indian served in the 10th army until disbanded owing to the corruption of the Div Commander and two of his brigadiers - the 26th went on as an Independent bde... Paiforce was set up to disturb the German should they come down from Southern Russia to join Rommel in taking over the oilfields of Iraq and Iran and was staffed by mainly Indian divs - both 4th and 5th Indian Divs as well served there after the East African campaign. Cheers
............. after Tunisia this then became 1st Army territory and was named BNAF or British North African Force............ Something else I didn;t know, learn something new every day.
I'm OK on Paiforce. Grandad served there with 2nd Northamptons as part of 5th Div. Although 6th Indian Div were engaged on Paiforce duties, Cole states that 26th Indian Infantry Brigade was detached and sent to Egypt and served for a while with 50th Division. What I'm not sure on without looking further is where exactly they went after that prior to returning to India in July 1944.
Truck looks like an Austin K2/K3 to me, but I cannot identify the emblem. Formation signs were generally on front and back of vehicles, not on the door. This may be a unit badge. Chris