I see in this weeks Commercial Motor there’s an article about Fred Topham for any of you ex m/e men that know him.
Didn’t know him and the Middle East was after my time, but I read the article and it was fascinating.
Hi all.If anyone could scan the article and post it here on the forum it would be appreciated as i’m sure there are many people [like me] who knew Fred but don’t have access to the magazine.Mike
hutpik:
Hi all.If anyone could scan the article and post it here on the forum it would be appreciated as i’m sure there are many people [like me] who knew Fred but don’t have access to the magazine.Mike
Don’t know what the situation is re copyright on current publications.
I met Fred briefly in SI’s yard in Hackney about '79, and I found him a most likeable bloke.
I didn’t see him again until the Gaydon truck show last year at the middle east exhibition.
Was most surprised to find that in his retirement, like me, we are working for the same firm, me out of Stoke and Fred out of Enfield!
hutpik:
Hi all.If anyone could scan the article and post it here on the forum it would be appreciated as i’m sure there are many people [like me] who knew Fred but don’t have access to the magazine.Mike
You have a PM.
The existence of Fred was hinted at in Cola Cowboys or Juggernaut (can’t remember which); and I heard rumours of his existence in the '80s. It must have been an amazing job! The article about him (mentioned above) is really good, by the way. Robert
I wonder if there were any other countries which had so many trucks abandoned or was this just a British disease?
Jazzandy:
I wonder if there were any other countries which had so many trucks abandoned or was this just a British disease?
In the closing pages of chapter 9 of Cola Cowboys, Franklyn Wood describes (second-hand) the sending of Scotland Yard detectives into Londra Camp at the request of British insurance companies. He describes losses of loads and lorries on a massive scale, blaming the combination of culpably irresponsible British companies, criminal drivers and the Turkish mafia. The last element is the clue: they sought out any drivers who were in any way stranded. ‘The deal was simplicity itself: the driver could not leave Turkey while his truck was intact, because it was entered in his passport - he could leave only if the vehicle was wrecked. The mafia would buy the cargo from him [the driver] and he would deliver it to their own warehouse. Then they would take the truck into the mountains, set fire to it and roll it into a ravine.’
They found the most inaccessible ravines on roads where such accidents were commonplace anyway.
The mafia would not just choose Brits, I imagine, and there is an element of the unscrupulous in all nationalities. It would be interesting to know though. Robert
What rubbish,you live in la la land.
bottlejack:
What rubbish,you live in la la land.
It may well be rubbish. Many drivers over the years have complained that Wood was fed all sorts of tall stories by drivers. If that’s the case, then Wood lived in la-la land, not me: I am merely reporting what he wrote, not necessarily what is true!
However, if you read Topham’s article in this week’s CM you will see that there was clearly plenty of truth in the story, even if Wood exaggerated it.
Robert 
I met Wood when he was running as passenger with Wing Commander Long, doing the research for Cola Cowboys, and that’s why I didn’t bother paying the start price for the book.
I thought he was writing down too many driver’s tales at truck stops to give a true picture if the job.
When Cola Cowboys was reprinted I thought I’d have a tenners worth, and just as I thought, it was more of drivers, and particularly, the Wing Commanders tales.
bestbooties:
I met Wood when he was running as passenger with Wing Commander Long, doing the research for Cola Cowboys, and that’s why I didn’t bother paying the start price for the book.
I thought he was writing down too many driver’s tales at truck stops to give a true picture if the job.
When Cola Cowboys was reprinted I thought I’d have a tenners worth, and just as I thought, it was more of drivers, and particularly, the Wing Commanders tales.
I was living in Qatar in the early eighties, and frequently met with Trevor Long. He was good good company, but prone to exageration. One of his tales was that Paul McCartney had recorded a song called Cola Cowboys…
Fred was in and out of the Caravan yard quite a lot in the late seventies, early eighties. Not because he thought we were doing anything dodgy, just because he found it a convenient base. I think he was living in his Range Rover at the time. Hotels were stupidly expensive - about £100 per night if I remember correctly.
He was a genial guy, but obviously a good copper too, I don’t remember him telling us except in general terms about what he was investigating.
He was friends with, or connected with, or had investigated - I don’t know which! Jeff Litwin, of Simon International, and that may be why he first visited us as Jeff was trying to tie up with Caravan when we O/Ds started subbing from there.
If you read this Fred, best wishes down all the years. I never did fit the cab air conditioner that was in pieces that you sold me!
John
Fred was an ex scotland yard detective who was employed by lloyds of london to recover all the spurious claims from Turkey and all over the middle east, when he packed that in he was running simon internationals internal work for merzario in Saudi, after jeffrey got nicked i never heard what happened to him after that, that was in 1981, a truly nice geezer was Fred
It was after Chapman and Ball had gone down the tubes and Jeff Litwin had teamed up with Jack Corrie and started Litcor International, that I flew out to Milan to recover an F12 for Jeff then stayed with the motor working for SI, and I had the pleasure of meeting Fred in SI’s yard in Hackney,about '79.
Endit:
I was living in Qatar in the early eighties, and frequently met with Trevor Long. He was good good company, but prone to exageration. One of his tales was that Paul McCartney had recorded a song called Cola Cowboys…
Robert
robert1952:
Endit:
I was living in Qatar in the early eighties, and frequently met with Trevor Long. He was good good company, but prone to exageration. One of his tales was that Paul McCartney had recorded a song called Cola Cowboys…
I can only remember meeting Trevor once in the Windmill at Keskemit when I joined about four other drivers on their way home. Somebody asked him why they called him The Wing Commander and he told us that he had a pilots licence and that The Emir of some place or other used to let him fly his plane whenever he was tipping there. Like Endit says he seemed a nice enough bloke and I was interested in what he was saying (i.e. young and gullible) 
but soon after I had mentioned that I was very interested in aviation, spent five years in the R.A.F. and that I had clocked up twenty seven hours taking private pilot lessons Trevor decided to have an early night and went back to his cab. We had all agreed to go back through Czechoslovakia into West Germany the following day but Trevor changed his mind at the Hungarian border and opted to go into the D.D.R. at Zinnwald. I do remember him telling us about a book that had just come out called Cola Cowboys and that he might of been in a bit of trouble with the bosses at Astran when he got back because of something that had been written in it. After joining this site I was surprised to hear how many other people had heard of Trevor’s flying experience.
P.S. If anybody could P.M. me the Fred Topham article I would really appreciate it.
Regards Steve.
It may be that Trevor Long got his nick name from the time he was working for Drakards who subbed for Brit European, he was followed by the old bill when he was tanking on in an F89 and when said bill pulled him over, it was alleged that the question was,“Having trouble taking off are we Captain?”
Steve, you have a PM.