royal marrines 1957 Malaysian jungle

[lenny100]

In 1957, the British Royal Navy was preparing to send two aircraft carriers, HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion, to take a detachment of Royal Marines to deal with the rebels in the Malaysian jungle.
A light Ground transport and reconnaissance car was needed, as there was a shortage of WW2 era jeeps and a lightweight version of the new Landrover was behind schedule, and the vehicles had to be sufficiently robust and reliable to cope with jungle tracks and worse and had to be light enough to be taken ashore by helicopter from the aircraft carriers.
An admiral had seen a 2CV at a Citroen dealer near Portsmouth, borrowed it to take it on board his flagship for his next voyage as his personal transport when in port around the Med, put it through many tests and returned it to the dealer.
The Royal Marines Commanding Officer on board was so impressed that he ordered 2 more when they arived in france as shore patrol cars.
This little is capable of a remarkable performance for its size and price. It sells at under £400.
All the economy, however, has been made in things that really don't matter such as sleek appearance, superb finish and holidayed seats.
The things that matter – the engine, the chassis, the suspension – are works of great engineering skill. It has independent suspension, front and rear, cooled two stroke** engine (no boiling, no freezing) and gives 60 miles to the gallon
It is not unusual to see a French farmer drive a 2VC through his fields for great distances and this little wonder will take it all in its stride and get the farmer and his load there and be none the worse for it.

Royal Navy's Role Abroad

The Royal Navy, of course, despite the diminishing size of the British Empire, has to be prepared to deal with any situation in any part of the world. It may have to land on the sandy banks of Kuwait or on the rocky beaches of certain parts of Africa.
It needs small vehicles to go with the men to get them around where no roads exist.
Citroen's are justly proud that their 2VC chassis was chosen by the Admiralty.
These vehicles were made by Citroen's at their Slough factory
The first helicopter lift tests involving the 2CV were made onshore in the UK by the helicopter company Westland Aircraft of Yeovil sometime in 1957, using a standard civilian version of the car, bearing the registration number 33CPP.
This vehicle was then taken aboard HMS Bulwark on the aircraft carrier's second commission (voyage) during 1957 and 1958 for sea tests in the West Indies and the Indian Ocean with the Westland Whirlwind helicopters of 845 squadron RNAS.
The tests were judged a success and as a result HMS Bulwark was converted from a fixating aircraft carrier to the Navy's first helicopter commando carrier and equipped with a batch of military spec 2CV ordered from Citroen Cars Ltd in early 1959, to serve as motor transport with the 42ND Commando regiment of the Royal Marines

After supplying for the Bulwark the company received another order to make yet another 35 for another ship. These too have been delivered. In exercises, the light car has been completely successful. While it can be lifted by a helicopter and taken ashore, it needs fewer than half a dozen men to lift it up and give it a helping hand in case, without roads, it comes up against an obstacle it is incapable of jumping on its own. To be capable of being helped is a virtue in itself!


The Unique Features
The Citroen  suspension has done more to solve the problem of comfort and roadholding than most cars of the time.
The car automatically maintains a constant ground clearance whatever the number of passengers or the amount of luggage.
For travelling over very uneven ground one can adjust the suspension and increase the ground clearance of the body.
In fact the entire car is of such a novel design that it appears that its designers first tore up all the books on car designing and tackled the whole job afresh. For example, the idea of putting the spare wheel right in front of the car, even ahead of the radiator under the bonnet, is unique and is designed to minimise the damage, impact and injury in case of a collision, who can think of a better thing to take the first blow than the spare wheel?
The panels of its sleek body are often bolted on with no more than one bolt. In case of damage all it requires is take the panel off, beat it out, repaint it and bolt it back again.
The removal of the roof and rear windows frames allow unfettered access to the rear and allow the fitting of a range of large caliber machine guns and recoilless rifles.
it can also be loaded with up to 1 ton of stores.

[NARSES2]

Interesting Lenny 

[lenny100]

just waiting a 1/24 revel 2CV was supposed to be here today but.........

[lenny100]

OK now done unfortunately lost build photos
this car was used in Malaya and unfortunately dropped on the deck form 12 feet up when the helicopter lost engine power, after repair is was again back in service as a gun bus recon within the week although it looked slightly bent and brused.

IMG_0259 by michael.leonard3@btinternet.com, on Flickr
IMG_0258 by michael.leonard3@btinternet.com, on Flickr
IMG_0260 by michael.leonard3@btinternet.com, on Flickr

[Rheged]

Well built, with a very credible backstory.   I like it!

[Steel Penguin]

very nice Lenny.    I missed the lifting eyes the first time I looked    and an excellent back story as well.

[lenny100]

belive it or not most of the backstory is true but they did not use the car but the pick up truck, most of the uk built examples were bought and used but dumped in the med on the way home due to red tape, the ships were told they had to pay to reimport the trucks back to the uk, so over the side they went.

http://www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/slough/rn-pickup/pick-up.html

[NARSES2]

That looks really good Lenny 

[NARSES2]

belive it or not most of the backstory is true but they did not use the car but the pick up truck, most of the uk built examples were bought and used but dumped in the med on the way home due to red tape, the ships were told they had to pay to reimport the trucks back to the uk, so over the side they went.

http://www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/slough/rn-pickup/pick-up.html

Similar to a lot of WWII lend lease stuff. Dad said they couldn't believe what was pushed over the side from the carriers on the way home from the Pacific. Although that was a case of us not been able to afford the stuff and the American's not wanting them back. This is a case of bureaucracy at its finest.

[Weaver]

Nice one Lenny. I bet a lot of people would think that was completely made up as opposed to nearly true...

[Joe C-P]

Oh, that gives ideas for the famed CV2.   
Durable, lightweight, simple construction.  Hmm...