MILITARY:
I learnt to drive with the British army and my first posting was as an ambulance driver. The vehicle on the left is a WW2 Austin J4 and the other, although it looks like a Commer, is actually a Fordson. I was also a staff-car driver for a while.
Austin J4 ambulance.
Another photo of an Austin J4 ambulance. A similar model featured prominently in the film, "Ice Cold in Alex."
AEC.
This is the type of vehicle in which I took my Class 1 driving test.
South Pacific.
During the final year of my military service, I was a coxswain of an amphibious DUKW during the British nuclear test programme in the South Pacific
DUKWs at work...
We were based at Christmas Island and our primary role was to carry perishable foodstuffs ashore. Being amphibious, there was no need to double-handle the goods as we drove the DUKWs straight from the supply ship to the stores. Canned foods are being loaded on this occasion.
Sometimes, parking wasn't easy.
Quite often, DUKWs were the only type of craft which could negotiate the coral reefs and carry goods ashore on other islands in the South Pacific. The tyres could be inflated or deflated by means of levers under the driver's seat and the tyre pressure could be set to that which was appropriate for the type of beach we might be 'landing' on. However, getting on board HMS Narvik (the tank landing ship which took us to the other islands) wasn't always easy.
HMS Navik bow doors.
In addition to trying to avoid the buoy and the anchor chain, the DUKW driver has to time his arrival to coincide exactly with the ramp going downwards, It's quite a tricky manoeuvre because, if you fail, the DUKW would end up underneath the ship.
....more parking problems.
..........and if the cargo hold was full, we were hoisted onto the deck of the Narvik. I'm on the DUKW in this photo and I had asked the photographer to make sure he 'got' my best side. I suspect he mis-heard me.
Getting ashore wasn't always easy.
Some of the islands in the Pacific were pounded by such powerful tides that the beaches were, in effect, walls. In this photo, for example, at Malden Island, the front wheels of the DUKW have reached the beach - but there is a drop of several hundred fathoms below the rear ones. So, whilst the driver struggles to keep the craft at a right-angle to the shore-line, a helpful group of RAF chappies attach a cable to a bulldozer which tows the DUKW ashore.
Pacific island tours.....
This photo was taken on Fanning Island and illustrates the fact that there were certain attractions which made these trips worthwhile. Occasionally, we DUKW drivers took the islanders on a trip around their island and I wouldn't be surprised if this photo was taken at the precise moment that I realised there might be certain advantages in becoming a bus driver.
Naoki's wife, Elizabeth.
Back on Christmas Island, the ladies were more modestly attired. Elizabeth was the wife of one of the Gilbert & Ellis Islanders who worked as a stevedore at Port Camp. In return for a couple of bars of soap and some washing powder, she used to 'do' mine and my co-driver's laundry each week. I took this photo when we were fortunate enough to be invited to visit them in their village.
Port Camp cinema.
Not quite up to Leicester Square standards, perhaps, but I believe we often used to see films (especially American ones) a lot sooner than when they were released in the UK.
Port Camp heads.
Sanitation may have been rather primitive - but the views were wonderful.
Omnibusologist, 1958.
Rather more hair than in 2008..