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Remembered Today:

WW1 Military Motors - 1916 set x 50 cards


Lancashire Fusilier

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A rare photograph of a British Observation Balloon Winch in action, although it is an old sepia photograph, we can see some excellent details of the winch unit and their vehicle, showing it having a drop-side. We can also see the position of the winch operator ( seated right ), and standing behind him, the soldier in communication with the Observer aloft via the wireless telephone.

It also, gives us the number of men in the unit operating the winch.

LF

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Rolls-Royce armoured cars of the Royal Naval Air Service ( RNAS ) parked in protective berms at Cape Helles during the Battle of Gallipoli.

Photograph published in ' War Illustrated ' 7th August, 1915.


LF


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An Observer, high above the battlefield, directs artillery fire from his Observation Balloon.

Again, note his emergency escape parachute container attached to the side of the basket.

LF

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Having previously seen the vast amount of vehicles necessary to sustain the war effort, it is sometimes forgotten that behind the scenes, men were working hard to keep those damaged, broken down vehicles repaired, refurbished and running.

Here is a series of photographs, taken close to the Front in France, showing that important motor transport work carried out by the Army Service Corps.

LF

Due to the dire shortages of vehicle parts, anything that could be salvaged was taken to a central vehicle parts store and re-used to keep vehicles running.

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Vast amounts of tyres were constantly needed to replace those damaged, and keep all important vehicles on the road.

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At a central storage area, damaged vehicles were assembled to be repaired or stripped for spare parts.

Here we see two army vehicle mechanics stripping a ' Daimler ' vehicle damaged by shell fire, for its re-usable parts.

LF

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Salvaged vehicle parts, Western Front, France. A huge mound of salvaged vehicle parts is piled up in open countryside . In the foreground, a member of the Labour Corps is looking at mudguards and other bodywork parts. In the background, men of the Labour Corps are standing on piles of salvaged radiators.


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In addition to the need to constantly repair and refurbish vehicles, there was a also a constant supply of new vehicles arriving in France, and here we see vehicles being unloaded at a French port.

LF

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Great photos of the salvage operation there. I wounder at what point did parts become unuseable?

Scalyback.

I agree, and work done by the Army Service Corps., which is not usually seen. Looking at the parts dumps, it looks as though they were used until they were completely useless.

Regards,

LF

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Yes would be ASC, no REME til the 2nd war. I had forgot that small point, opps. Are there any photographs of the recovery being done?

Scalyback,

I shall look for photographs of vehicles being recovered, here however, are some vehicles that have been recovered and are awaiting repair or stripping. This vast vehicle storage area somewhere in France, gives us an idea as to the enormous logistical work undertaken by the Army Service Corps., just to keep everything moving.

Regards,

LF

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Vehicle spare parts being delivered into store, awaiting distribution. Here we see a consignment of large truck wheels being off loaded.

LF

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In addition to the need to constantly repair and refurbish vehicles, there was a also a constant supply of new vehicles arriving in France, and here we see vehicles being unloaded at a French port.

LF

Post 486 that illustrates nicely why Peerless trucks all have bent rear mudguards.

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Possibly one of the most important motor vehicles of WW1, was the Austrian 1911 Graf and Stift Double Phaeton motor in which the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was riding at the time of his assassination, which ultimately led to the start of World War One.

The vehicle maker, Graf and Stift, began with the Gräf brothers bicycle service workshop in Vienna in 1893, which quickly branched out into bicycle manufacturing. Their bicycles sold well, and while the bicycle business in Europe was booming, the Graf brothers also saw potential in the fledgling automobile, and commissioned Josef Kainz to design one. The result was an unusual voiturette with by a one-cylinder De Dion-Buton engine fitted in front of the vehicle, powering the front axle, built sometime between 1895 and 1898, according to various sources. It was thus arguably the world's first front-wheel drive automobile, but it never saw mass production, with only one copy ever made, even though the technology was eventually patented in 1900. However, the voiturette remained in regular use until 1914.

In 1901, the brothers started cooperating with the Austrian businessman Wilhelm (Willy) Stift, an automobile importer who had already ventured into automobile manufacturing under the marque Celeritas. Celeritas automobiles were then assembled using French engines at the Gräf workshops, and in 1904 the the Graf brother and Willy Stift founded a joint company, named Gräf & Stift. Later, the company manufactured automobiles for the Spitz brand, owned by the automobile vendor Arnold Spitz. When Spitz went bankrupt in 1907, Gräf & Stift started building automobiles under their own brand.

The company concentrated on large, sophisticated and luxurious cars, which became popular with the Austrian aristocracy and even the Habsburg royal family. Apart from luxury cars, Gräf & Stift also became an important manufacturer of buses as well as tram bodies.

One of the Gräf & Stift luxury limousines, a Double Phaeton (engine no. 287), was bought by Count Franz von Harrach on 15 December 1910. Harrach's car was fitted with a four-cylinder engine delivering 32 PS. On June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife rode together with Harrach in this car, when Serbian Nationalist Gavrilo Princip attacked and killed the Archduke and his wife. The assassination provoked a series of diplomatic manoeuvres that quickly led to declarations of war and the onset of the First World War.

Attached are photographs of the vehicle on display, and others taken on the actual day of the assassination.

There is also a strange irony and coincidence to the number plate on the vehicle, which some have interpreted as a prediction for the date of the Armistice.

LF


The vehicle on the day of the assassination.

LF

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The vehicle's number plate, and the ironic interpretation of the number plate.

LF

Now that is the most fascinating thing I've come across in a long while. No doubt many will say this is common knowledge, but I've never come across this mentioned before in over 40yrs of interest in the period. Explain that one away...

David

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Now that is the most fascinating thing I've come across in a long while. No doubt many will say this is common knowledge, but I've never come across this mentioned before in over 40yrs of interest in the period. Explain that one away...

David

David,

You are not alone, it was the first I had seen or heard of the strange coincidence with that number plate, and I suspect it is the same for many others also.

It was also interesting to note, it was not Franz Ferdinand's own car, it belonged to Count von Harrach.

Regards,

LF

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I'm amazed that this subject hasn't drawn more comment. Looking on the wider Internet, there also doesn't seem to be very much more being said - perhaps there is nothing more to be said? The car has had various tales spun about it over the years - ranging from what its original colour was supposed to have been, to it being fully restored and repainted after the assassination incident, through a series of fatal accidents, all seemingly disproved and it would appear little has happened to the car other than it ending up in the museum. I read that in fairly recent times, it was whilst it has been on display in the museum, that a visitor (British I think) made the observation about the number plate and the curator of many years standing had to admit that no one had noticed this before?

David

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