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REME units have always needed a selection of domestic transport to carry men, messages, food, fuel and stores. The Museum has acquired a small number of such vehicles in order to cover fully the range of motive power found in workshops and REME units and to demonstrate to some extent the non-specialist vehicles which REME repairs for other units.
The use of tracked vehicles to move over rough ground was pioneered in Britain in the 19th Century and they still remain the best option. REME and its equivalent in other armies has used a variety of such vehicles in order to recover tanks or reach isolated vehicle casualties to carry out repairs. The collection contains several examples.
The concept of a ‘breakdown lorry' came early in the history of the motor vehicle and the British Army had converted several lorries to this role in World War 1. From then onwards, a series of purpose designed wheeled recovery vehicles was provided, but never in sufficient numbers, making it necessary to supplement them with improvisations and adaptations of normal gun tractors and trucks.
The use of multi-wheeled vehicles to gain improved off road mobility was pioneered in the 1930s. The Alvis range of six wheel drive vehicles of the 1950s continued this concept.
Units operating armoured cars or wheeled APCs were never officially provided with armoured recovery vehicles until the advent of the Saxon in the late 1980s. Various improvisations filled the role at times.
The principle of using tracked vehicles to cross rough terrain was also applied to oversnow vehicles, most of which were light and unarmoured. Very broad tracks gave a low ground pressure. Most of such vehicles used by the British Army since World War 2 have been of Scandinavian origin.
The original military tank transporter of the 1930s was a recovery vehicle. It was only recognised during World War 2 that tanks travelling over hundreds of miles to a battlefield on their tracks could be worn out before going into action. From that time the transporter had two roles, tank carrier for fit vehicles and recovery transporter for damaged vehicles. The two roles were the work of separate Corps, RASC and REME. After a difficult start in the North African Campaign, better coordination enabled transporters to be operated more logically and economically regardless of role.
By the 1970s tank transporting became the role solely of the Royal Corps of Transport, successors to the RASC. This was the result of REME Forward Repair philosophy, the use of rubber blocks on tank tracks and the need to be economical.
The concept of a mobile workshop following the armies whilst on a campaign dates back at least to Roman times. By the 19th Century, in the British Army, horse drawn forge wagons provided a mobile metal working facility. Before World War 1, trailer mounted workshops drawn by steam tractors existed and soon after, motor trucks with workshop bodies appeared. Generators providing electric power for machinery were also in use by this time. By the outbreak of World War 2, most of the armies of industrial nations had complete mobile workshops capable of repairing the whole range of military equipment.
REME has always used a number of trailer mounted workshop installations including machine shops, stores trailers and generators. Lightweight machinery trailers for use by Airborne Forces were developed in World War 2 and similar equipment has evolved since.
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Page produced by Peter Eldred - Last updated 24 July 2004