Hello

Happy New Year to all on this forum. It will be a happy new year for me as I purchased a WM20 yesterday that will be joining my G3L in the New Year.

Can anyone help me with some unit/tank markings. I’m trying to replicate the markings used by the Berkshire Yeomanry during WW2, whilst stationed in Northern Ireland.

The unit was an Anti-aircraft unit - 145th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery and part of the 61st Infantry division.

The 61st Division marking is a red diamond on a blue background so no issues there. The picture below is of the Berkshire Yeomanry on Port Stewart beach in Northern Ireland racing Norton’s and M20’s and this logo can be seen on the blackout masks. It’s the RA marking that I’m struggling with.



I had assumed it would have the square red over blue RA symbol with 145 stencilled on top in white but I’m told this would give away the units identity. So what would have gone on the tank?

In the picture, the nearest bike looks to have the number 44 on the tank, but what does 44 mean?

Just to complicate thing more the Berkshire Yeomanry have always used the Uffington Horse logo so would that have been on the other side of the tank - if the Division mark was on the headlamp?

Are there any experts out there?

Thanks in advance
Gerard

This might be a bit of a help 44 was used on a red and blue square on the tanks of the WM20 used by 179 Battery of the 42nd Royal Artillery Field Regiment part of BAOR in the early fifties moving to Korea in 1953. This is the markings I have now on my M20 Bryon

The Hodges and Taylor markings book says that Infantry Divisions had 3 RA Field Regiments marked with the serials 42 43 and 44. Plus an Anti Tank Regiment marked 46 and a Light Anti Aircraft Regiment marked 47.

So presumably they are the third Field Regiment of the Division.

Rob

email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk

The bike at the end still has the old type census number on the petrol tank.

email (option): leonhop3_at_planet_dot_nl

Thanks for the replies.

The 44 is there in picture so it must be correct, its just the advice in the 'Infantry and Mountain Division Vehicle Markings' section of the forum (http://www.wdbsa.nl/division_markings.htm) lists 21, 22 & 23 as being RA Field Regiments. 44 is listed as a RAMC Field Ambulance Company.

The Berkshire Yeomanry have, over their long history, been Cavalry, Machine Gun Corps, Royal Artillery, Royal Armoured Corps and Singallers but never medics.

The numbers shown next to the unit titles are not unit serials.

At the top of the page "44" is shown on a Royal Artillery Red over Blue square for the junior Field Regiment of the Division

Rob

email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk

Those consecutive numbers are a bit odd, aren't they, Rob ? Maybe Henk lifted it from a wargamers website and it has some significance there ?

Here is a list from an original document :-


how to upload an image to the internet


Leon pointed out that the Norton at the rear has a serial number on a black panel. This is something of a Norton oddity. They dropped the panels in September 1939 under contract C5109 but they reappeared later that year. I have seen one example very early in the following contract, C5612 and then this one also from 5612 (It looks to begin C415)but much later and with a lot of more conventional numbers in-between.

There was certainly a mess-up with deliveries and serial numbers under C5109. I think the best guess so far is that if a number was wrongly applied, someone at Chilwell was overpainting them with the black panel before re-applying !