1964 Alvis Stalwart

[Monty Python]

...and do you plan to expand your collection?

[ivantate]

FiF said:

Fantastic, who else grew up with the London Motor Club vs Army Autopoints on Saturday Grandstand BBC tv. Stolly just going straight line routes cross country.

Nice one OP, envious, used to drive past one in a field near Chaddesley Corbett (Worcestershire) everyday on the way to the UK office. Just like you, one day it had disappeared.

I was thinking of this one. It wasn't daily but I could still find the spot where it used to be.

[ellroy]

I can't believe that this has got to 7 pages and no ex-Sapper has yet turned up to regale you with the tale of the AWOL Sapper, 80s?, that 'borrowed' one from Germany and got partially into the Channel, allegedly more than half way, and then bottled it and turned back! Nicked by the Gendarmes en return.

As an aside, a pal of mine from RMAS is an ex-REME CO, if you get horribly stuck with anything he may well be able to ask the old boys network for some tips. Let me know.

[Gretchen]

ellroy said:

I can't believe that this has got to 7 pages and no ex-Sapper has yet turned up to regale you with the tale of the AWOL Sapper, 80s?, that 'borrowed' one from Germany and got partially into the Channel, allegedly more than half way, and then bottled it and turned back! Nicked by the Gendarmes en return.

As an aside, a pal of mine from RMAS is an ex-REME CO, if you get horribly stuck with anything he may well be able to ask the old boys network for some tips. Let me know.

It was mentioned in the Ferret thread here, when first discussions of the Stolly purchase occurred.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Just to rub it in a bit more at War and Peace I got a personal invite in to this, the only 'operational' Pontiac Otter in the world



Making front page news again Lew! Anyone would think it's your birthday;)

[LewG]

Thankyou very much PH, I never thought I'd see another week of fame!
Funnily enough shortly after we dismissed the squaddie escape story as bks I actually heard confirmation that it was true, and they'd included a newspaper report that detailed the culprit getting court martialled for the act.

Edited by LewG on Friday 11th August 23:56

[LewG]

Found!

Edited by LewG on Saturday 12th August 08:33

[AlecT]

Blimey, our Robin Wilfred Painter would be about 72 now, I wonder if he is still about, what stories he could tell!

[yellowjack]

AlecT said:

Blimey, our Robin Wilfred Painter would be about 72 now, I wonder if he is still about, what stories he could tell!

In 1985 a '23936142 Staff Sergeant Robin Wilfred PAINTER', of The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own), was awarded the British Empire Medal (Military Division).

Link to The London Gazette supplement for 15th June 1985 for the entry... https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/50154/su...

...if it's the same chap, his constant AWOL-ery didn't do his career too much harm, it would seem. Although the BEM is his only entry that came back in a search of The Gazette archive so it looks like his early career misdemeanours meant he forfeited his entitlement to a Long Service & Good Conduct medal.

Edited by yellowjack on Saturday 12th August 16:03

[yellowjack]

The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was formed by the amalgamation of the 10th Royal Hussars and the 11th Hussars in 1969, so the unit (in 1985 at least) is correct.

They were based at Lumsden Barracks at Bad Fallingbostel from March 1981 and became the first unit to be equipped with the Challenger 1 main battle tank in 1983.

At age 20 in 1965, he'd have been 40 in 1985 and quite possibly coming up to retirement after a full 22 year (non-commissioned) career, presuming he followed the "standard" career path of joining at 18. So he quite possibly saw the introduction of the Stalwart into service at the start of his career, and the Challenger tank toward the end.

[yellowjack]

LewG said:

Thankyou very much PH, I never thought I'd see another week of fame!
Funnily enough shortly after we dismissed the squaddie escape story as bks I actually heard confirmation that it was true, and they'd included a newspaper report that detailed the culprit getting court martialled for the act.

...and I think it was me that poo-pood that story on the Ferret thread, having thought through the logistics of it. I heard it told and retold numerous times during my career, and it always referred to a Sapper too. I think the fact that it was so massively embellished with every retelling was a big part of why I never believed a word of it.

I only joined in 1987, and it would have been early 1989 before I first heard it told at my first 'proper' unit. So it was a story that had been passed down the ranks for 20 years already at that point. No wonder no-one ever seemed to tell it with any detail. I stand corrected though. Turns out there was a good deal of truth to the basic story.

[Tonymg]

that's the yanks

[Tonymg]

Think we got some Ammo Delivred once? by a stolly cant fined any old photos of the stolly we was buisy at the time running around lol I'm the third from the right 1982?

[Tonymg]

8inch Shells soon to be on there way...

[yellowjack]

Last time I saw an M110 was a year or so after the 1991 Gulf War.

They were sat out in the open at the AVSD (armoured vehicle sub-depot) in Ludgershall with their final drives removed and the tracks shortened around the road wheels. All in Gulf camo paint, and labelled as "awaiting disposal". Sad sight, along with hundreds of other surplus and end-of-life vehicles.

Stalwarts were long since replaced in the ammo delivery role by HMLC (high mobility load carrier) Foden DROPS (demountable rack offload and pickup system) trucks by the time of the Gulf War, if I recall correctly.

Edited by yellowjack on Saturday 12th August 18:17

[Tonymg]

Jack the photos of me put up was from the 80s Germany BAOR...

oh Happy Days

[techguyone]

I see some have different windows, is that some of the difference with the mk1 & 2 variants?

[RichardM5]

Halmyre said:

Matchbox did a toy Stalwart in white with BP EXPLORATION logos, but I don't know if this was based on a real-life example or not. Can't find any pictures on Google to back it up.

Yes, they did, I had one too, may still be in a cupboard at my mums.



No idea if it was based on anything real.

[InitialDave]

Interestingly, according to someone old enough to remember (I'm not!), the old TV show The Troubleshooters featured a Stolly at one point, and the show itself was about a company that totally isn't BP in any way.

[yellowjack]

RichardM5 said:

Halmyre said:

Matchbox did a toy Stalwart in white with BP EXPLORATION logos, but I don't know if this was based on a real-life example or not. Can't find any pictures on Google to back it up.

Yes, they did, I had one too, may still be in a cupboard at my mums.



No idea if it was based on anything real.

Tales on Die Cast Model collector sites suggest that the Stalwart started as a private venture by the Alvis company, and that an early Stalwart was displayed by the company at a commercial vehicle show in the BP livery, and that Matchbox went ahead and created the model based on that one vehicle. They kept it in production even when they failed to sell to the civilian market. They did later produce a military green version of the model too.

[LewG]

That's right, the episode featured some new wonderful off road vehicle being tested somewhere. Most of the original episodes have been lost now so I'd say no chance of finding it.
There are quite a few differences between Mk1 and Mk2, the windows being one major improvement. The braking system was changed (more complex), and for some reason they added a hydraulic throttle too. A lot of others too no doubt.