At a vintage car show at Prospect Heights this evening amongst the Chevy’s, Fords, Oldsmobile’s and other American iron was this wartime utility vehicle. Willy’s 1/4 ton general purpose or ‘Jeep’. In olive drab green and all accessories to see you through the European theater it looked like a fun ride.
A Swiss Army vehicle ready for anything. Indeed it is considered as the first SUV.
“A-squared P-squared”. A little more information on that GP engine. In a detuned state chugging along at 3000 rpm it originally provided rotation for the generators used to charge the batteries powering electrical equipment aboard the Lancaster bomber. The Lanc: Arthur “Bomber” Harris’ chosen tool of terror his ‘Shining Sword’. Its four Merlin engines and elegant form in flight making it one of the most successful bombers carrying Dambusting bouncing bombs, U-Boat pen penetrating Tallboys (also used on the Tirpitz) and many thousands of tons of munitions.
Watch Richard Todd as Guy Gibson in the classic Dambusters movie and you’ll get the picture!
Back to our subject at hand- the generator… Here’s a marvelous and ‘restricted’ cutaway drawing of the unit. Showing fuel tank, oil tank, cylinders, head, crank, generator … The working Gubbins.
…. I can hear ‘The Dambusters March’ playing in my head whilst typing this… Duuum dum DA dum dum DA dum dum…
As hostilities came to a conclusion in ’45 the world was looking for any semblance of normality and fast motorcycles was one such distraction. As all manufacturing had gone into wartime efforts there had to be somewhat of a reuse of surplus items. Triumph had created a lightweight twin engine for use in generators. This seemed like a good start.
The lightweight square barreled vertical layout could be rehomed in a frame ready for circuit, road; TT or race. Of course the engine geometry had been developed by Edward Turner in ’38 just prior to the outbreak and I’m sure the time spent during wartime tweaking this motor into a reliable power source would stand it in stead post war on the track and the road, eventually becoming the Bonneville.
The GP engine seen here shows its origins proudly with mounting bosses cast mid fin where the generator components were bolted on.
But it’s the moto we’re interested in… It has a tight geometry for quick steering, 19 inch rear wheel and 20 inch front, low seating stance for a good clip and an intended fast look.
Twist the throttle with intention and hold on. They were tough guys who rode these at speed for sure!
Thanks to regular comment contributor Bill in Cumbria who noticed Beck’s sitting atop a GP a couple of days ago; I thought we’d better look into it. They are getting rarer than hens teeth, having been raced hard and blown up. People are now turning to the square barrels used on the early fifties TR5’s (like the Fonz’s ride in Happy Days)
But what a cracker of a bike it is. I bet it belts out a heart thumping sound. And with an open primary the working mechanations are there for all to see.
There’s more of a human story to this bike which I will cover later… .. But as an important part of Triumph history this is a key model. I think Hinckley Triumph should come out with a smaller, but fast, 500 twin now, combine it with: commuter, racer off road motorcycle models. Get the young uns onto bikes!
Warbirds of the past growled down on their enemies with snarling teeth. As well as the smilin’ gals back home giving leggy support to the airmen on their lengthy missions.
Bombs Away!
On 9th December 2010 Lance Corporal Murray Hambro of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment was going about his duties patrolling Afghanistan on a second tour of duty. Then a case of wrong place, wrong time arose; VERY wrong time. A sizeable roadside bomb went off under their vehicle. Sitting in the turret he was shot up like a cannonball and crumpled to a landing in the distance. Shattered feet, broken neck vertebrae, smashed body. End of story? Not likely for this doughty tankie! During rehab when the docs asked him what his hobbies were and he responded ‘motorcyclin’, they rebutted ‘find another one son’. He’d lost both legs below the knee.
Like some latter day Douglas Bader he’s is back on the saddle, not only riding but racing! And Triumphs at that!
What we have here sir, is a man with an unquenchable spirit. Ride safe son, ride fast, but ride on!
Warhawk! The premier fighter aircraft of WW2; typically adorned with tiger teeth for a roaring attack. The Curtis P-40 was the third most manufactured US plane after the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang. But that visual growl.
Could this be a tank paint treatment on a motorcycle? Hmm a wee growl on a Triumph Cub… It works on this street fighter!
Real life action for boys: a Royal Signal Corps rider bursts through the cover amidst a ring of fire. We’ve covered them before in this blog but I love the period appearance of this magazine. It was the end of old money 1s6d is the new 7 1/2pence.
Keeping on the bicycle vein here is a magazine graphic from nigh-on a hundred years ago showing an army use of this two-wheeled transport. Nice fluffy clouds behind the pyramid tented camp.
Wartime Wonder – here’s the Norton in military guise: drab green, a stenciled registration, blackout headlight hood, and blackened chrome parts. Pure function to get through traffic for some messenger carrying “For Your Eyes” documents to some secret bunker war-room.
Period photograph of some uniformed bod atop the Norton. Per previous posts this is the moto grandpa George rode in North Africa as a Military Policeman. Good workhorse. Here’s a good link to a 16H owner with plenty of information on this model.
If anyone out there knows of a 16H in need of TLC; I’m interested!
The Empire was built on a strong Navy with a long reach, part of that reach was the construction of a fleet of swift warships. The Northeast of England, centered on Newcastle-upon-Tyne, wor Geordieland, has a Great shipbuilding history. Built up by Whitworth Armstrong, works that built the engines and armament of the dreadnoughts of the seas.
HMS Triumph was the second of the two Swiftsure-class pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy. Purchased from Chile before completion, she was initially assigned to the Home Fleet andChannel Fleets before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1909. The ship briefly rejoined Home Fleet in 1912 before she was transferred abroad to the China Station in 1913. Triumphparticipated in the hunt for the German East Asia Squadron of Maximilian Graf von Spee and in the campaign against the German colony at Tsingtao, China early in World War I. The ship was transferred to the Mediterranean in early 1915 to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign against theOttoman Empire. She was torpedoed and sunk off Gaba Tepe by the German submarine U-21 on 25 May 1915. (from Wikipedia)
Steam engines for HMS Triumph at Armstrong’s Elswick works, 1901. Twin 6250-HP engines propelled the 475-foot battleship at a reliable speed of 19 kts from her commissioning in 1902 until her fiery demise off Turkey in May 1915. When installed in the ship, the shape of the engine would become less apparent as a grating would be installed at the cylinder head level, just above the top row of gauges, to provide access to valves and controls for other equipment in the engine room. The range of the ship with full load of coal (2000 tons) was 6000 nautical miles at 10 knots. Long Reach indeed! Guy Martin would love this one!
She was lost during the Dardanelles campaign at Gallipoli but the rusted, but still monumental, remains of the Triumph’s twin engines may be glimpsed to this day on dives to the wreck off the coast of Turkey.
After yesterday’s dabble in militaria here’s a modern interpretation using an up to the minute Bonneville, plenty of green paint, knobbly boots, and blacked-out shiny bits.
Now that would be a good scoot to retrace George’s wartime escapades across Monty’s African campaign.
Sixty Eight years ago to the day was the launch of Allied Expeditionary forces into Europe to deal with Hitlers domination of the mainland. The D-Day landings: Normandy beaches of Omaha, Sword, Juno, Gold and Utah; served as the stepping-off point to stymie Nazi domination. There were the waves of paratroopers and landing craft troopers that showed their bravery on this day of days but it was the tenfold support behind them that supported their grueling efforts. Here a couple of courier riders disembark from a LCT (Landing Craft Tank) down special ramps to head into the fray running important messages and papers. These motorcycles are Matchless G3 350cc.
HRH is indeed a Motolady of the past: more than sixty years ago during the Blitz she was giving hands-on support to the ladies in the ATS Auxiliary Training Service. As part of her training, along with engine servicing, tire changing, she also learned to weave adroitly on a wartime spec BSA C10 250cc. Look at the lass go!
I spyed this on a posting over the weekend on the local Craigslist motorcycle listing. A 1944 wartime Beeza in near ‘original’ patina condition – a wipe down with wd40, oil change, new sparkplugs and tires; I’d bet she’d kick over and thump along the road with nary a beat missed from decades holed up under a dusty canvas tarp in the back of some Midwestern shed. That strong half litre single lunged engine pulling like an old mule. $3,750 and she’s yours! Now where did I put that penny jar?
geordiebiker.com 