Lancashire Fusilier Posted 7 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 7 August , 2014 At the 2nd ASC Motor Transport Depot at Chantiers ( near Dunkirk ) in Northern France, a gantry with a pulley hoist is used to load 2 weighted ' Test Crates ' onto the ' Dennis A-Type ' lorry shown in post # 2219, for road testing prior to the lorry being re-issued. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyH Posted 7 August , 2014 Share Posted 7 August , 2014 LF re post #2218, this is a curious photo, if they are 'replacing the body', they would do better to remove the scuttle and windscreen assembly already present on the 12/16 Sunbeam chassis shown, and in situ on the replacement. Suggest that the photographer probably said 'we need an action photo' and the squad just picked up the nearest tourer body to hand and posed to illustrate the process. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 7 August , 2014 Share Posted 7 August , 2014 Good spot. I wonder about the lorries with test weights. Would it not have been as easy to fit the body and then load the weights, rather than put on a much shorter body and then hoist the weights on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 7 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 7 August , 2014 LF re post #2218, this is a curious photo, if they are 'replacing the body', they would do better to remove the scuttle and windscreen assembly already present on the 12/16 Sunbeam chassis shown, and in situ on the replacement. Suggest that the photographer probably said 'we need an action photo' and the squad just picked up the nearest tourer body to hand and posed to illustrate the process. Mike. Mike, I also wondered about that 2nd windscreen, and thought it was either the type of Staff Car body that had the 2nd windscreen behind the driver, or the intention was for the body to be modified to fit the chassis. The alternative, as you say, is that it was a posed photograph ? The problem with these almost 100 year old photographs, is they were given captions, in this case by the Imperial War Museum, which may or may not be accurate, and I typically use the original caption given to the photograph, which could need correction. Regards, LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 8 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 8 August , 2014 Good spot. I wonder about the lorries with test weights. Would it not have been as easy to fit the body and then load the weights, rather than put on a much shorter body and then hoist the weights on? johnboy, In cases where the repair to the lorry required the removal of the lorry's body, the ASC mechanics would have wanted to ensure the repair was fully completed and tested before undertaking the work of replacing the repaired lorry's body. In the attached photograph taken at the ASC's No.1 Motor Transport Depot, we see lorry bodies which have been removed and stored whilst repairs were undertaken to the lorry chassis, and when those repairs were completed and the chassis tested, then the lorry's body would be replaced. Regards, LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 8 August , 2014 Share Posted 8 August , 2014 I am not disputing the fact of what was done but the reasoning. The 'test' body needed to be lifted on and bolted down. The weights needed to be hoisted on. On a successful repair the reverse would need to be done and then the original body hoisted on and bolted down. The use of the short 'test' body would not necessarily have spread the wait on the axles accurately. In the pictures the weights were over the drive axle which would have transferred less weight to the steering axle than when in normal use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 The main function of the large Army Service Corps Motor Transport Depots ( ASC MTs ), such as those located at Rouen and Chantiers in Northern France, was the large scale repair and refurbishment of the Army's motor vehicles and motorcycles. Repairs to vehicles which could be undertaken locally, and did not require the shipping of the vehicle to the ASC MT Depot, would have been carried out by the various ASC mobile vehicle repair shops. Damaged vehicles were brought to the ASC MT Depot by rail, and parked in large vehicle storage areas, where they were inspected before being selected either to be repaired and refurbished or used for spare parts. Those vehicles selected to be repaired and refurbished, would undergo a complete overhaul before being re-issued. The facilities at the main ASC MT Depots were vast, and comprised of many different specialist workshops with trained ASC mechanics working on the vehicles' chassis, engines, gearboxes etc., with paint shops, engine assembly shops, engine testing sheds, blacksmithing, and sheds where the repaired vehicles were tested, re-assembled, and finally re-issued. Looking at the various photographs, it would appear that prior to work commencing on the vehicles, the bodies were routinely removed from the chassis, presumably to make work on the chassis that much easier, and also to allow any needed work on the vehicle's body to also be carried out. I have put together a series of photographs which show the various stages in the damaged vehicles arrival at the ASC MT Depot, their storage prior to repair and refurbishment, and some of the main stages in the repair and refurbishment process, the vehicles re-assembly and finally their re-issue for vital continuing service use. The first photograph, shows the damaged vehicles arriving at the ASC MT Depot on railway wagons. LF IWM These images are reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 The ASC MT Depot's vast damaged vehicle storage area, where vehicles were parked prior to their being inspected and selected either for repair and refurbishment or to be used for their spare parts. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 ASC Officers inspecting damaged vehicles at the ASC MT Depot at Rouen, 1918. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 Those lorries selected for repair and refurbishment, having had their bodies removed, were brought to the main ASC MT repair shop. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 ASC MT vehicle inspection pits. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 Part of the main ASC MT vehicle repair shop. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 An ASC MT lorry engine repair shop. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 An ASC MT lorry engine testing shed. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 An ASC MT gearbox repair shop. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 An ASC MT caustic soda washing tank ( note the use of German P.O.W.s ) LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 ASC MT Blacksmith's shop. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 ASC MT Paint Shop. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 ASC MT Lorry Frame Repair Shop. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 ASC MT repaired lorries in the Testing Yard. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 ASC MT Lorry Body Erecting Shop, where the repaired and refurbished lorries were reassembled prior to their being reissued. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 9 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2014 Finally, after having undergone a complete repair, overhaul and refurbishment at the ASC's MT Depot at Chantiers, a group of vehicles are ready to be reissued back into vitally needed service. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyH Posted 9 August , 2014 Share Posted 9 August , 2014 (edited) Lancashire Fusilier, Have you ever seen any images of the post war military vehicle dump at Slough? At one point there were 17,000 vehicles there, cars, vans and trucks, all recovered from European operations. These were awaiting scrapping or rebuilding and re-sale into civilian ownership. Had a book once, that covered the history of this vast area of 600 acres, now the Slough Trading Estate. Mike. Edited 9 August , 2014 by MikeyH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 9 August , 2014 Share Posted 9 August , 2014 Old Motor ran an article on this years ago if you have access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyH Posted 9 August , 2014 Share Posted 9 August , 2014 David, Yes, can recall, should be somewhere in my back-numbers! Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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