One for car enthusiasts?

[Bay Horse]

It's too hot to be bothered going outside, so I have started looking through some of my boxes of papers and reading some of my mum's notebooks. Her intention had been to compile a family history but she didn't finish it. My aim is to incorporate it into something of my own... maybe.

She recorded that she accepted a lift in a farmer's Land Rover with some other Land Girls back from a railway station - the year was 1948. The year is correct, given some of the other details. Now, unless the farmer was exceedingly well-off in the early post-war era, it could not have been a Land Rover - 'Landies' weren't produced until 1948. It's a small detail but...

So, what utility vehicle might it have been, back then? A Willys Jeep? (I can't think of anything else).

 

[Schnurrbart]

The Austin Champ, like the Land Rover, a bit too late, so, as you say, probably a Jeep, Willys or Ford.

 

[arthurk]

I couldn't think of anything other than a Jeep either - and I guess there would have been quite a few surplus ones at the end of the war. However, while pondering this I came across a Wikipedia article about Tillies (utility vehicles) produced for the British forces. They were based on car designs, and not as capable as Jeeps or Land Rovers.

I was going to say that I didn't think anyone who knew what a Land Rover looked like would be likely to confuse the two, but halfway down the article there's a picture of a Standard 12 Tilly, and apart from the front end, it's not that different. See what you think:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilly_(vehicle)

 

[Bay Horse]

The Austin Champ, like the Land Rover, a bit too late, so, as you say, probably a Jeep, Willys or Ford.

Never heard of an Austin Champ, @Schnurrbart - just looked it up.

I was going to say that I didn't think anyone who knew what a Land Rover looked like would be likely to confuse the two...

@arthurk, this was my mum we're talking about, bless her - she knew little about cars , but given her description of 'all jumping in the back' with their belongings and holding on, it was a utility vehicle and not a saloon, like a Prefect or whatever. To begin with, I wondered if American forces had brought loads of Willys jeeps over with them during the war and left them behind, which is still a possibility, but having read your link on the Tilly and its production, I think that is the most likely.

Thank you, gentlemen, for helping with that small detail. (Note carefully added in pencil).

 

[arthurk]

... given her description of 'all jumping in the back' with their belongings and holding on, it was a utility vehicle and not a saloon, like a Prefect or whatever. To begin with, I wondered if American forces had brought loads of Willys jeeps over with them during the war and left them behind, which is still a possibility, but having read your link on the Tilly and its production, I think that is the most likely.

One thing I was unsure about with the Tillies was that the Wikipedia article didn't mention any kind of civilian use for them after the war, either as ex-military surplus or as new non-military models. I vaguely remember seeing the occasional Jeep driving around in the 1960s, but not Tillies. There was a mention of the Tilly Register, an enthusiasts' group, and it might be interesting to see if they know anything about post-war surplus vehicles:

http://www.tillyregister.com/index.html

 

[Bay Horse]

Thanks Arthur. I'll send them a message.

 

[arthurk]

... she accepted a lift in a farmer's Land Rover with some other Land Girls back from a railway station

I'd been concentrating on the farmer, and suddenly remembered that you'd mentioned Land Girls. In that case, although the Women's Land Army was a civilian organisation, it was so much a part of the war effort that it may well have had access to the kind of vehicles produced for the military, and issues such as post-war surplus vehicles wouldn't come into it.

Sure enough, I've now just found a page with a couple of photos of Land Girls posing (calm down, chaps - not like that ) on what look very much like Tillies. Enjoy!

https://www.womenslandarmy.co.uk/january-collage-land-girls-cars-and-trucks/

 

[Bay Horse]

You're brilliant, @Arthur. Thank you.

 

[Bay Horse]

And the Tilly Register have responded, agreeing that they were used by the Land Army during and after the war.

Highly likely this is what my mother was referring to.

 

[arthurk]

Yay!!

 

[Auburn]

Yay!!

Well done, that man!