My grandad drove them in TA in 1963 they had loads out in Cyprus he drove a WW2 pioneer which was a wreck and Captain told him to dump it up in hills in Paphos he ripped parts off of it.
Bloody marvellous film! 👍🏻👍🏻 Grandad was REME and “off to War in 44”.....landed Normanday on D+6 and apart from mentioning Scammels, never spoke about Normandy again..... Lovely to see what he would have used on a daily basis, so thank you very much....a cracking good vid!
Interesting to see an old Scammel in video. I saw one in use many years ago. A "modern" prime mover was towing a large dozer up a hill on a low loader and suffered a breakdown halfway up. The Scammel came along, hooked onto the pprime mover and attached low loader and simply towed it all away up the hill. Yes the hill was quite steep, too, and the total weight of the prime mover and low loader with dozer was in the range of 60 - 70 ton! No trouble to the Scammel.
Thank you for posting these old videos its nice way to learn the right way to get the job done .I started with the 5to1 pull and now I'm hooked no pun intended lol.
these lads learned the simple methods, using basic tools/techniques...and you can work wonders with modern tools today, if you know the basics...I respect these Scammells and their crews!
My father was in REME and this makes me feel closer to him. He drove universal carriers but I like to think he would have seen, and possibly driven these wonderful vehicles. He was also at Dunkirk. Miss him lots. Thanks Dad.
Thanks for posting, great videos, very sad state of affairs though that we now use MAN trucks in the British army when we used to build some of the best lorries in the world.
My grandad worked on scammells and drove them he drove one and towed a trailer on back they had about five, six, seven out in Dhekelia, Cyprus in 1963 they were all explorers he had to recover a Land Rover green jackets crashed into a riverine and a compressor also went over and he helped recover that they also drove an old Second World War pioneer and it broke down they couldn’t repair it as it was rotten and Captain told them to leave on a mountain and they dumped it there my grandad was REME TA and a recovery mechanic.
I never saw a recovery vehicle in the US Army that was as straightforward and sturdy as these machines. Generally we had 2, one tracked and the other on either a 2.5 or 5 ton vehicle. The crews manning these things (usually motor mechanics) may or may not have had a full course of training in recovery operations; hit or miss whether the recovery team were simply drivers expected to make do on the scene. Watching these videos it's evident that whoever designed and continued to improve the Scammell was a genius. A lot of neat features.
Let us not forget, in wartime overseas, the tank crew having been knocked out... The whole crew is subject to enemy attack, incoming artillery rounds or sniper... Makes all the prancing around distinctly hazardous, so get on with it efficiently !
Don't forget the weight rate on the units is off road , cross country. Those gardener engines while low horsepower had a massive amount of torque and very low gearing. Have seen a couple of them still working in the mid 80s on cattle stations in Australia
I was surprised to see the wire rope being manipulated with bare hands. I was always taught this was a no-no, due to the risk of injury from broken strands, which often then become infected and that heavy leather gloves or gauntlets should always be used.
Noticed that when the tow lift was done , the chains had a bunch of links in "bind". should those un-bind while in transit you get a couple of inches drop for each one of them. The NCO in charge who actually put hands on the binds themselves while performing his checks had on idea what kind of pain he was flirting with.
Very nice vid thanks! Shame Scammell closed down, the factory was up the road from me. The Germans rated the Pioneer, they captured quite a few after Dunkirk and used them extensively.
Right then Mark Davis... The Jerry's rated the Scammel.. I wholeheartedly agree. (Bet you didn't think I was going to say that did you). In fact...I have viewed film footage of the retreating German Army, fleeing from the Russians. Their convoy is loaded with all their stuff, their girls riding in the big Troop carriers, the Arrogant SS Oberst and the rag, tag & bobtail remnants of a once proud Army. But Hey ! What's this.... It's a Jerry truck, in Field grey, what could it be.... It's a Scammel Recovery 6 wheel truck !. This is obviously a Stolen vehicle.
Great video. But I was a bit surprised that the recce-mechs didn't have or use any form of working gloves especially when handling SWR, (Steel Wire Rope)
I had the same thought, they must have been fairly new cables, I only had to get jabbed once when I was a kid to learn lesson, I won't go near that stuff without heavy gloves.
Love the commentary. YES, this is how One used to talk until Coronation St. Announced to the nation, that North of Watford, Thee population speaks with a different accent ! 'Thee Knows'. All of us living North of Watford only think about Beer & Whippets ! Thee knows. However, when it comes to the practical 'Nuts & Bolts' of the job then our trusted 'Artisan' from't thee north, will dig you out of the Shit.....Every fucking time. Good substantial Northern 'Knowhow', leave the instructions to our Officers. They're the ones with the 'Cut glass accents', but nevertheless professional. Team effort !! Just an observation....doesn't anybody use 'Riggers gloves' ? I wonder about the blood blisters and other related injuries, suffered through not wearing Riggers gloves.
1:35 - Why do the drive wheels (ie the two rear pairs) have the reverse tread pattern? The front axle, whose wheels are not traction but only braking, has the tread with the "V" in the right direction, the two rear axles, being tractors, should have the "V" in the opposite direction ... or the fundamental function of the Scammell was intended as a fixed platform for the use of a front winch, or ... or ...? Something is not clear to me, please give me a suggestion - Thanks!
I dont think so. Especially since engineering vehicles are often on older tank hulls. Your not going to reinvent a winch. And I guarantee you, If you put tank armor on a Scammell it would be less mobile than a tank.
Another observation... The Scammell recovery platform is worth more than a Covenanter, Crusader, Churchill, Honey or Grant tank. It surely was less effort to just replace the bloody tank, they were crap anyway.
@@markfryer9880 Well the 8th Army left all their Crusaders in North Africa. Apparently, not a single example was taken with the next destination of the 8th Army, not even Italy. Very fast tanks but as described by a veteran, 'no protective armour & armed with a Peashooter'. Oh, they also fell to bits !!
@@markfryer9880 . Well I did say Apparently. Although I have seen pictures of a Valentine in Italy. No Cruiser Tanks though. 'Cruiser' being the large 'Christie suspension tanks. Covenanter, Charioteer, Crusader etc. In Italy, Sherman's had arrived & the Grants went to the Far East, as far as I recall.
I remember driving one of those Scammell wreckers whilst in the air force around 1979 just before it was demobbed,,am I right in thinking it ran on petrol?
And don't forget your air operated impact lug nut gun for removing wheels in a hurry, LOL...... Seriously, can you imagine the machinists and personal to build this stuff during the war.
Aha ! The compressed air impact wrench is a good idea, I agree with you. However....isn't there always a However.... The air impact wrench creates NOISE. This is OK on the training base but in 'The field' noise could attract unwanted attention from your enemy.
@@markfryer9880 You have that right.. In those days there were a lot of machine shops and tool and die shops to make dies to stamp parts out both in the USA & the UK. But now there are very few machine shops and tool and die because computer machines known as CNC crank parts out easily, a lot of stuff is plastic, and of course we subcontract to foreign countries. There were also steel mills to make the steel for tanks and gun barrels but they are all gone too, fell prey to foreign imports mostly. I believe Trump is trying to get some of these businesses back into the USA... Just because the stamp on a car part or any part says made in USA, they are allowed to use that if they assemble it here, or even make one part, is kind of a lie to consumers.
From what I have read many factories that were producing big things like locomotives were switched over to war production same with automotive factories so the equipment was there to produce Tanks ,Trucks and anything else on assembly lines.
Typical Army . I loved the bit at the end when the instruction title is changed from the 20 ton to the 30 ton transporter. The guy with the chalk rubs out the 2 and the zero then writes the 3 and the zero again. Is a 20 ton zero different from a 30 ton zero ?????? Cheers Eric
What other way would you do it ? just remove the 2 ? Then write 30. What nonsense it would be 300 then ! DON'T BE LAZY rub it all out! NOW on a nice clean unerring surface write 30. Anything else is UN thinkable!
@@markfryer9880 . OK, OK....it was a type 'O. It was a joke as you've guessed, you're very sharp !! I was referring to the film The Longest day when a Been, sorry, Been carrier wouldn't start on the beach. The Beach Master shouted 'if it won't start just pick it up and carry it'. He then proceeds to hit the Carrier with his stick, 'No try it'. It starts. 'My grandmother said, Anything mechanical just give it a good bash'. Predictive text doesn't recognise the word Been. Its done it again. BREN ! For Christs sake.
