Military history - missing years on the Merlin archive

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Martino

Martino

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I recently looked up the military history of my 1984 Series 3 109 FFR - see attached file. Although the vehicle is shown as entering military service in 1984, it's first "posting" is shown as 1987, which leaves the first three years of its life unaccounted for. Does anyone know what this means, or is it just a case of the Merlin archive being incomplete. I'm considering requesting the 'B' card from the RLC, but the 35 pound fee is putting me off at the moment. Is the 'B' card likely to have more information?
Cheers.
 

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Of all the examples I have seen, there is always far more information on the B Card than the very limited info on a MERLIN readout.
 
Chances are that after delivery to the military, it went into storage either waiting to be 'issued' or was in some sort of 'war reserve'.
 
wireman said:
Chances are that after delivery to the military, it went into storage either waiting to be 'issued' or was in some sort of 'war reserve'.
Click to expand...
Good chance being in cold storage. Military would loathed to scrap any Land Rover if they can get away with it. Amount of form fillings for another would be the argument. Not forgetting the new 90 and 110 would be due to come in so the military procurement would looking into when the best time change. The RAF like many fellow forces change suppliers on staff cars such as Ford Vauxhall Austin Rover Leyland etc every 4 or 5 years.
 
Thanks for your ideas.

Well I couldn't resist it....I coughed up my 35 pounds and bought the "B" vehicle data card from the RLA...see attached...

Reading the card, it looks like from June 1985 my landy was with 16 Fd Amb. I've googled this and it looks like it might be 16 Field Ambulance unit. Now my landy is not an ambulance - she's a FFR - but I guess she could have been a radio vehicle attached to a unit of field ambulances?

I can't make any sense out of the first entry from November 1984 though, which is "Hilton 037140 D.D.E." Does this entry mean anything to anyone? I've tried googling it and various versions of it and I get nothing that makes any sense. Any ideas anyone?

Cheers.
 

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Hilton was one of the military's vehicle depots:

"...
At Hilton in my constituency there is a vehicle depot that is run by the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. It covers some 270 acres just outside Derby. I understand that it is responsible for the storage of about 7,000 vehicles of every kind—scooters, cars, taxis, fire engines, ambulances, lorries, Land Rovers: in fact, everything that moves and belongs to the armed forces, right up to huge tank transporters which sometimes block up our local villages. They are not regarded, in technical language, as specialised vehicles. They are "B" vehicles.

On the same site, there is also a REME workshop, whose job it is to repair those vehicles. The whole operation at Hilton is the maintenance and storage of vehicles. It is one great big garage—one of the largest in the country. It covers a very large area. It employs about 250 ..."

There was also one at Ashchurch.
 
I think you will find that DDE is Direct Data Entry into the SALOME ADP system (System for Accounting & On-Line Management of Equipment) (Automatic Data Processing) this succeeded the earlier VESPER ADP (Vehicles, Equipment, Spares, Provision, Economics, Repair). This differs from in earlier cards that would show ADPCON indicating the date when data from a purely card system was converted to ADP (note the process was "conversion" & not as widely believed "confirmed"). The Receipt Voucher number looks to be 037140/62.
The red Biro squiggle is UIN Change (Unit Identification Number)
 
Thank you to Wireman and FV1620 - excellent information!

Now I just need to do a bit more research into 16 Field Ambulance and 104 Regiment Royal Artillery. There's plenty on google about the 104th regiment - it looks like they're an army reserve unit based in Wales with mostly ceremonial duties, but there's almost no information on the 16 Field Ambulance unit. Any ideas where I should look for archived information?

Cheers.
 
Field ambulance wouldn’t mean yours would be an ambulance, it just means it was attached to such - they would have used ambulances and other vehicles in various roles - radio, hq, support roles, commanders vehicles etc
 
The original (French) meaning of ambulance was a mobile field hospital, patients that were moved some distance on wheels were carried in an ambulance wagon. The modern use of the term ambulance has been corrupted to mean an ambulance vehicle, I suspect the unit name 16 Field Ambulance leans towards the original meaning of the term irrespective of how big a role ambulance trucks played.
 
Interesting point FV1620 - so a field ambulance unit may not be literally ambulances - may be a field hospital supported by various vehicles including ambulance wagons and others such as an FFR. I just had a look at the museum link you sent me - it may be worth emailing an inquiry.

Thanks for the input Flat - that makes sense.

I've been unbolting the rear tub today in preparation for replacing the rear cross member. I bought a galvanised military 109 style cross member from Rovers North in the US. I live in Grenada in the Caribbean - 62.22% import duty (paid on the item PLUS the shipping) - ouch! I'll have to be careful welding it in to avoid damaging the galvanising on the rear face which will be visible. Fun, fun, fun.....

Cheers
 
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