Owned and restored by Simon Brook form Somersham, Cambs.
Originally one of the first vehicles of its type supplied for the war effort by the Ministry of Supply. The brief was for a vehicle which could carry an Escape ladder. It was deemed there were enough vehicles with pumps but not enough equipment to rescue individuals. This was one of 90 of the first order and was supplied in early 1940 to Coventry and as such served in Coventry during the Coventry Blitz. It remained in Coventry until its disposal in 1956. During its time at Coventry, it was converted initially with a front mounted “Barton” pump to provide water pumping ability and then at some other stage was adapted to carry CO2 equipment as well. The history from 1956 to now is non-existent but at some stage it was part of the collection at Weedon, Northants. Although very typical of the time (with this type of bodywork being built on some other manufacturers chassis, mainly Austin and Bedford) only a handful of all types have survived,
The vehicle was fundamentally solid when purchased so looked like a task free from too many difficult challenges. However, although complete and sound this has not diminished the task and if anything has meant attention to detail has become paramount! Being of mainly wooden construction, the body has survived well although there are still areas requiring quite a bit of intricate woodwork. The vehicle has turned out to be remarkably sound mechanically and has obviously not done much in its life. The speedo shows less than 7000 miles (if it is to be believed) but recommissioning has been the main task, fuel supply, electrics etc. This biggest challenge to face it replacing the waterproof covering (now rotten away) from the very flat upper surface of the body and obviously the intricacies of the complex wheeled escape ladder.
Only one other “Coventry blitz” machine is known to have survived.