Great War-related car number plates?

[Old Forge]

I was overtaken today by a Range Rover with a rather enigmatic personalised number plate - '1915 RF'. It could mean many things, but if 1915 refers to the year, RF could be ... Grandad's initials? Royal Fusiliers? Right Flank (2/Scots Gds)?

Has anyone spotted (or perhaps own) a registration number chosen with a Great War connection?

Cheers,

Richard

[depaor01]

I immediately thought of this one. Franz Ferdinand's car which can be interpreted as 11 11 18.

Photo Credit: me. Taken  at Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna.

 

[Old Forge]

Thanks @depaor01 - I didn't know it had been preserved! Having now seen it, it makes sense that it would be, I've just never thought about it before.

Cheers,

Richard

[depaor01]

1 hour ago, Old Forge said:

Thanks @depaor01 - I didn't know it had been preserved! Having now seen it, it makes sense that it would be, I've just never thought about it before.

Cheers,

Richard

Worth a trip to Vienna to visit the museum alone. Fantastic collection. They have Franz Josef's blood stained tunic on display near the car. To see the actual pieces of history that had a part in starting it all is quite a sobering experience. 

Anyway,  back to number plates...

Dave

[Chasemuseum]

A superb museum. Visited in 1972. Back then you could walk up to the car, and touch the bullet hole. There was no rope around it then.

[o j kirby]

Last week, I saw in Falkirk, a car with the number plate " MM 18 WFA ". Could this be an Armistice centenary reference for a WFA member?

Cheers,

 

Owain.

[Old Forge]

On 21/01/2024 at 11:39, o j kirby said:

Last week, I saw in Falkirk, a car with the number plate " MM 18 WFA ". Could this be an Armistice centenary reference for a WFA member?

Cheers,

 

Owain.

Could be! It’s certainly an intriguing thought.

Cheers,

Richard

[Old Forge]

On 07/01/2024 at 16:14, depaor01 said:

Worth a trip to Vienna to visit the museum alone. Fantastic collection. They have Franz Josef's blood stained tunic on display near the car. To see the actual pieces of history that had a part in starting it all is quite a sobering experience. 

Anyway,  back to number plates...

Dave

Thanks Dave, I’ll certainly visit one day when the chance arises. Not sure what my wife would say if she finally gets her long-promised trip to Vienna and we go straight off to see Frank Ferdinand’s car… Mine might be the next bloodstained clothing on display!

Cheers,

Richard

[Mark Hone]

I was lucky enough to see Franz Ferdinand's car and bloodstained uniform at the Vienna Military Museum in the late 1990s. I remember that the whole museum was excellent. Haven't they now got what they believe is Princip's actual Browning automatic pistol on display there, too? The bullet hole in the car (which is, interestingly, right-hand drive) has always puzzled me. I was under the impression that Princip only fired two shots: one hitting the Duchess and the other the Archduke. 

Edited 23 January by Mark Hone

[depaor01]

3 hours ago, Old Forge said:

Thanks Dave, I’ll certainly visit one day when the chance arises. Not sure what my wife would say if she finally gets her long-promised trip to Vienna and we go straight off to see Frank Ferdinand’s car… Mine might be the next bloodstained clothing on display!

Cheers,

Richard

A promise made is a debt unpaid, as my dear dad used to say.

Go for it!

[Don Regiano]

On some occasions when visiting our place on the Somme I have seen a UK registered car with (IIRC) the number plate S10MME or something similar.  I've seen it a couple of times in the car park at Carrefour in Bapaume and once outside the estaminet at Longueval.  Very clever I thought.  I think they may be resident there, unless their trips over coincide with ours.  Maybe someone on the Forum?

[DavidOwen]

25 minutes ago, Don Regiano said:

On some occasions when visiting our place on the Somme I have seen a UK registered car with (IIRC) the number plate S10MME or something similar.  I've seen it a couple of times in the car park at Carrefour in Bapaume and once outside the estaminet at Longueval.  Very clever I thought.  I think they may be resident there, unless their trips over coincide with ours.  Maybe someone on the Forum?

Interesting...

 

[Image courtesy isitnicked.com]

[Don Regiano]

2 minutes ago, DavidOwen said:

Interesting...

 

[Image courtesy isitnicked.com]

Yes David, very.  I think I quoted the correct number but I might be wrong.  I also thought it was a white car but, again, I could be wrong.  Old age is really messing with my memory these days.  Maybe someone is just sticking the plates on when over there.   I don't suppose the French authorities would notice anything suspicious.  I will watch out for it again when over there.

Reg

[Old Forge]

1 hour ago, Don Regiano said:

On some occasions when visiting our place on the Somme I have seen a UK registered car with (IIRC) the number plate S10MME or something similar.  I've seen it a couple of times in the car park at Carrefour in Bapaume and once outside the estaminet at Longueval.  Very clever I thought.  I think they may be resident there, unless their trips over coincide with ours.  Maybe someone on the Forum?

Nice one 😊👍 (let’s hope it doesn’t get stuck in mud!)

Richard

[DavidOwen]

35 minutes ago, Don Regiano said:

Yes David, very.  I think I quoted the correct number but I might be wrong.  I also thought it was a white car but, again, I could be wrong.  Old age is really messing with my memory these days.  Maybe someone is just sticking the plates on when over there.   I don't suppose the French authorities would notice anything suspicious.  I will watch out for it again when over there.

Reg

I also checked for 510MME, 501MME & S01MME in case but none were valid. It is of course possible the plates have been switched to another vehicle abroad and the UK registration office is unaware of this.