Hi all, I think I’ve posted these pics on another Middle East thread before but thought I’d put them on again as this is now the right thread. I know I took these in about 1981-82, memory a bit vague but I was driving for British Leyland, Cowley at the time, could I have possibly been delivering something for you to take for Export to the M/E? as Leyland were still exporting a fair amount at that time. Just a guess, hope the pics interest you anyway!
Regards Chris
Most of these pics are after my time at OHS.
When I left they had not taken over PIE or created United.
That picture of the three light blue trucks is quite interesting. They are not Macks. They are Brockways I think and whether they were ever on the OHS/Contex fleet I don’t know.
Anyway great pics Ash and adr. Thanks for posting them.
Jazzandy:
Most of these pics are after my time at OHS.When I left they had not taken over PIE or created United.
That picture of the three light blue trucks is quite interesting. They are not Macks. They are Brockways I think and whether they were ever on the OHS/Contex fleet I don’t know.
Anyway great pics Ash and adr. Thanks for posting them.
I saw them and instantly thought that they were Brockway’s, the shape of the logo is identical, Brockway were usually dump trucks and like Mack based on the East Coast, I’m quite sure that they were absorbed into the Mack Empire in the early 70s 
Jazzandy:
Still think the GMC Astro was the sexiest truck on the fleet. Nobody has disputed that yet!
Nicely posed shot of it here Andy; One of your pics.
Jazzandy will be along shortly to explain what happened here. In the meantime; answers on a postacard please…
The first GMC photo was taken in Turkey somewhere between Ankara and Istanbul on the old road (way before they built the dual carriageway!)
The story of the jacknifing has one or two intriguing twists but I swear it is genuine. As one of the two original OHS drivers it fell to me, as the fleet mushroomed, to take new drivers out on their first trips. On this particular occasion I was running in my GMC with Tony Baker in a Mack F786 and a new driver called Eric, whose surname I can’t remember but he came from the Leicester area, in the company’s only other GMC Astro.
We were routed Eastern bloc and had caught the Prins Oberon from Harwich to Hamburg then travelled down through East Germany via Dresden to the Czech border. We were all together, me then Tony and Eric bringing up the rear as we entered the northern suburbs of Prague and I was keeping a weather eye on the mirrors to ensure that Eric didn’t get lost. Prague especially was a difficult city to transit, no ring road, loads of 3.6m high bridges and the added hazard of overhead tram wires. The weather was appalling with rain spattering the road in sheets so keeping your foot off the brakes was essential. Then I noticed that Eric was nowhere to be seen so I pulled over, jumped out of the cab and walked back to Tony. “We’d better wait for ten minutes and if he doesn’t show I’ll go back and look for him” I said.
Just then a nondescript Skoda skidded to a halt in front of us and there lying across the back seat was a blood covered unconscious Eric with his head cradled in someone’s lap. “Big Accident” the driver shouted out of his window, “We take him hospital”
Tony and I looked at each other in disbelief as the car sped away. We turned our trucks round and headed back the way we had come. Turning a corner onto a thoroughfare through a suburb of high rise flats the scene pictured above came into view. Eric had somehow jacknifed his truck through steel railings and into the gardens of the high rises. Tony and I decided to see if we could pull the rig back out of the jacknife and I was under the tractor winding off the air brakes when an old man approached me and said in impeccable English, “Can I help you?” . I explained the situation and that we were trying to drag the truck back onto the highway . He bustled off into the flats and was back after fifteen minutes. “No problem” he smiled. “We have a truck on the way to help you”. We wound off all the brakes and by the time we were about to drop one of the trailers in order to haul the rig straight a large fire engine had arrived and attached itself to the rig. Our new friend re-appeared and told us that Eric was OK but suffering from severe concussion and was in a local hospital. Once the fire engine had pulled the rig onto the road, I jumped up into the cab and fired up the Detroit V8 . However it soon became evident that she was undriveable and our friend arranged for a tow truck to take the rig to a local safe compound. Tbc.
Great story Andy; Reminds me of watching Destination Doha part 1 then having to wait a WHOLE WEEK for part 2…
Sad to see it jack knifed, great pictures though. the road looks as greasy as ■■■■ though…
Hi Jazzandy, a story about OHS which I have mentioned somewhere else on Trucknet happened at Kapic around 81/82 as myself and another brit OD were walking back towards our trucks after doing empty transit on the turkish/bulgarian side when one of OHS’s Macks and a fridge pulled in and parked along the back fence next to the border. Out jumped the little Turk driver complete with briefcase in hand and duly trotted off towards the customs house only to hear a loud sound as the truck tipped over on its side and hitting the fence, the poor driver could’nt believe what had happened but he had parked along one of the ridges which for some reason the turks had made in the truckpark and it seems the wheels had sunk in on that side until the forces of gravity took over, presumably the load must have been fairly high because it was literally 3 or 4 minutes from parking that it toppled over so the driver was lucky that he had vacated the cab. Were you there at that time, maybe you remember the incident…
Tony Baker,
One more of lifes great characters that is sadly no longer with us.
Known by many as Bunny, or sometimes The Poison Dwarf, or even Hunchfront as he was called by a few of the chaps at M+C Tpt.
One of the very very best characters on Middle East and will always be remembered by most who came across him on there travels.Many tales which could not be put on here ! Heres to you Bunny R.I.P. Never Forgotten. Usher
m & c ntc:
One of the very very best characters on Middle East and will always be remembered by most who came across him on there travels.Many tales which could not be put on here ! Heres to you Bunny R.I.P. Never Forgotten. Usher
Bet he is running around heaven shouting “what the ---- is happening”
Hello Ray, how are you, there must be loads of stories that you can put on here I’m sure.
Charlie
Jacknife Continued :-
Czechoslovakia was still in the grip of communism and I was well aware that people introducing themselves as ‘friends’ could well be secret police or agents provocateurs so I was treating our new friend with care even though he was being extremely helpful. I also knew that the only people who could get things done were party apparatchiks and sometimes you had to take small risks to achieve your aims. Anyway this guy seemed to have the right contacts and to know what was going on. He gave Tony and myself the address of the hospital and we set off in a taxi to visit Eric.
Eric was a in a somewhat spartan but scrupulously clean ward with five others and this being only a couple of hours after his accident was still in quite a confused state. One of the doctors who spoke reasonable English told us that his injuries were only superficial but that he was concussed and would need care on his discharge from hospital before he could set out on the journey home.
Tony and I returned to our trucks and rang the doorbell on our friend’s flat. He welcomed us in and introduced us to his wife. He made us very welcome and poured glasses of whisky for us and during a very pleasant evening it transpired that he was a retired Czech diplomat who had honed his English whilst in India. He proudly showed us his massive collection of ■■■■■■■ magazines much to his wife’s disapproval. She turned out to be an ardent Catholic! Anyway to cut a long story short, he told us about the tragedy of their lives. They had lost their only son in a road accident several years previously and it had left them distraught and bereft. He said that if there was anything they could do to help us they would be honoured.
Next morning Tony and I took a taxi to the British Embassy where we reported the accident and Eric’s current predicament. They allowed us to phone our office as it was impossible to phone from a public phone in Prague at the time, and it was decided that Tony continue his journey in the morning while I was to stay in Prague and sort things out.
Tony left after lunch and I trundled off to the hospital to find Eric much improved and coherent sitting up in bed but unable to remember why he had jacknifed. Next day I Ieft for Izmir having agreed that our ‘friends’ would look after Eric on his discharge.
I tipped out at BMC Sanayi and reloaded at the cotton mill in Antalya before returning to our Istanbul office for the return paperwork. Once everything was ready Madame Ira, who looked after the English drivers put me on the phone to Ken, our manager in London. “Can you pick Eric up on your way home?” he asked. It had proved that the GMC Astro was undriveable and was to be piggybacked home. Another tractor was already en route to collect the trailer.
Once back in Prague, I called in to collect Eric who appeared to be fully recovered although still unable to recall the accident. The old couple were looking after him like a son and I thanked them for all their trouble. “Don’t worry it is our pleasure” the old man said as we murmured our goodbyes and Eric was covered in kisses by the old lady who was in a somewhat distressed state and very very tearful.
Back out on the road Eric told me how well he had been treated. Nothing was too much for them. “And do you know?” he said, “I shared exactly the same birthdate as their son!”
Jazzandy:
Jacknife Continued :-Czechoslovakia was still in the grip of communism and I was well aware that people introducing themselves as ‘friends’ could well be secret police or agents provocateurs so I was treating our new friend with care even though he was being extremely helpful. I also knew that the only people who could get things done were party apparatchiks and sometimes you had to take small risks to achieve your aims. Anyway this guy seemed to have the right contacts and to know what was going on. He gave Tony and myself the address of the hospital and we set off in a taxi to visit Eric.
Eric was a in a somewhat spartan but scrupulously clean ward with five others and this being only a couple of hours after his accident was still in quite a confused state. One of the doctors who spoke reasonable English told us that his injuries were only superficial but that he was concussed and would need care on his discharge from hospital before he could set out on the journey home.
Tony and I returned to our trucks and rang the doorbell on our friend’s flat. He welcomed us in and introduced us to his wife. He made us very welcome and poured glasses of whisky for us and during a very pleasant evening it transpired that he was a retired Czech diplomat who had honed his English whilst in India. He proudly showed us his massive collection of ■■■■■■■ magazines much to his wife’s disapproval. She turned out to be an ardent Catholic! Anyway to cut a long story short, he told us about the tragedy of their lives. They had lost their only son in a road accident several years previously and it had left them distraught and bereft. He said that if there was anything they could do to help us they would be honoured.
Next morning Tony and I took a taxi to the British Embassy where we reported the accident and Eric’s current predicament. They allowed us to phone our office as it was impossible to phone from a public phone in Prague at the time, and it was decided that Tony continue his journey in the morning while I was to stay in Prague and sort things out.
Tony left after lunch and I trundled off to the hospital to find Eric much improved and coherent sitting up in bed but unable to remember why he had jacknifed. Next day I Ieft for Izmir having agreed that our ‘friends’ would look after Eric on his discharge.
I tipped out at BMC Sanayi and reloaded at the cotton mill in Antalya before returning to our Istanbul office for the return paperwork. Once everything was ready Madame Ira, who looked after the English drivers put me on the phone to Ken, our manager in London. “Can you pick Eric up on your way home?” he asked. It had proved that the GMC Astro was undriveable and was to be piggybacked home. Another tractor was already en route to collect the trailer.
Once back in Prague, I called in to collect Eric who appeared to be fully recovered although still unable to recall the accident. The old couple were looking after him like a son and I thanked them for all their trouble. “Don’t worry it is our pleasure” the old man said as we murmured our goodbyes and Eric was covered in kisses by the old lady who was in a somewhat distressed state and very very tearful.
Back out on the road Eric told me how well he had been treated. Nothing was too much for them. “And do you know?” he said, “I shared exactly the same birthdate as their son!”
Excellent story Andy, keep them coming. I also shared the same birth date with Tony…
I have got loads of stories and will post them when I have time. Just wondering If I know you reddesertfox as your comment about the drums means you must know me!
Jazzandy:
I have got loads of stories and will post them when I have time. Just wondering If I know you reddesertfox as your comment about the drums means you must know me!
No not personaly Andy, it was just that your reputation for being good on the skins went before you. Good friends like Tony Baker, Howard Leighton, Leo Smith and of course Alan Brown (aka the ■■■ machine) often spoke of you.
All the best RDF
Oh dear!!!
One thing I forgot to mention was that the steering was air assisted so turning the front wheels as she was reversed out of the jackknife needed two of us!
Question for Jazzandy, back in the late 70’s I worked for a company in Oldham that stored all the dried fruit for Park Cake Bakeries, sultanas from Turkey (Izmir) & Currants from Greece (Patras). One day pulled into the yard with a load of sultanas on for storage and one of OHS tilts was in unloading the same and it was being pulled by an F7. It was in OHS colours and the driver said he just did the UK part of the journey, oh and it was taxed as a PLG? with the driver saying it wasn’t his usual motor and was normally kept across the channel, reason for the reduced road tax, but had been shipped across to deliver this one load for some reason. The fruit was normally sea freight into Heysham, Newhaven, Dover & Harwich which we then collected all handball off the dock, hard ■■■■■■■ work, occasionally as it would seem in this instance it would come in as a backload for someone on the M/E run. By the beginning of the 80’s it had nearly all been transferred into 20ft boxes which made my job a lot easier but the whse; staff hated it as they then had to do the palletising which the drivers had normally done when collecting.
BTW remember the OHS GMC’s & the Mack’s from back in the day, they might not have been in this country much but they certainly stood out when they were.
Regards
Dave Penn;