Old trucks still on the road

ERF, Wind & Fire:
When I got to my first working unit in the army we had the selection of Bedford MJs - old design but late production - and AEC Militant Mk 1s. Built in the early 50s, 6 wheel drive, 6 crash gears, no power anything and a top speed of 32 mph. This was in 1988. The AECs were replaced by 6 wheel drive Bedford TMs which were a revelation. Both types of Bedford are still in service and it always amuses me to see civilian models restored as classics.

Some of the Bedfords were replaced in the early 90s by Leyland DAFs , which were much easier to drive but nowhere near as tough. Funnily enough, the DAFs are now being sold off and the Bedfords they were meant to replace are still in service. Some units still had a few Bedford RLs, even as the DAFs were coming in.

My first working unit was 7 Field Force HQ and Sigs, (I was a scaley) Colly, in Nov 79. We had a couple of RL’s but mainly MK’s and J’s. The RCT Squadron had AEC Militants. They were all still there two years later when my second posting came through…
I had a very rough time for two and a half years, in Cyprus. It was murder working half days, spending my afternoons on the beach. Sometimes I even had to spend my working half day on the beach as well. I got the RYA Windsurfing Instructors qual’. I was ecstatic when my next posting came through, as you can imagine :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
I was quite surprised that they still had RL’s going strong, when I got to Germany. There where still a few RL’s around, in the Sigs anyway, when I jacked it in at the beginning of 91. :open_mouth:

Those petrol RL’s couldn’t half shift, especially considering their age.
They did a great job of heating up your NAAFI growlers on the exhaust manifold too. You had to be careful not to catch your funnybone on the clips on the back of the cab, when going into 4th :unamused: :smiley: