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Arming With Motors for Air-raid Precautions
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Municipalities are Equipping Themselves Against Bombing by Aircraft. Makers are. Rallying to Provide Apparatus. We Review the Appliances
that are Available
A_ . YEAR ago we made this statement: " An outstanding development of the past few months is the devising of equipment that adapts certain of the appliances (municipal motors) for service under conditions of warfare." Devising—the word used—is commonly a slow process, and now that twelve months have been added to the few that had then been devoted to it, great progress has been made.
It is, indeed, only since the beginning of this year that manufacturers have been officially announcing their latest products of this nature—the results of the experimental and development work done since we wrote the words quoted above.
Elsewhere in this issue, in our compendium of vehicles designed, built and equipped expressly for municipal requirements, we give brief particulars of no fewer than 10 makes of machine under the heading "Air Raid Precautions Equipment," We know that additional commercial-vehicle manufacturers are coming into this field, but the time is not yet ripe for plans to be disclosed or for their names to be included in the A.R.P. section of these lists.
Even among the vehicles and equipment shown there is certain apparatus that has only just been launched and of which full particulars are not yet available.
The different methods employed in the solution of the problem of economically providing municipalities with equipment for defence against the consequences of air raids, are interesting and varied. Briefly, the functions that have to be performed are the rapid transport of men and materials to the site where a bomb has been dropped, the distribution of bleaching compound to render harmless the contents of the bomb, the subsequent washing away of the residue, and the extinguishing of fires.
c26 In some cases a street-washer is provided with extra equip. ment for forcibly washing down streets, walls, etc., and for fire-fighting. whilst a tender—commonly a trailer—is adapted for carrying a squad of men, with their gas-proof clothing, sand and chloride of lime, tools, mixing apparatus, warning notices and so forth. In others, the street-washer may have seats or platforms for the men, and compartments for the materials and impedimenta.
A third method is the use of an attachment incorporating essentially a tank and pumping plant, which is kept normally at the depot, but is designed to be easily mounted on an ordinary lorry when the need arises.
For pumping, there may be a separate power unit direct coupled to a pump, or the latter component may be clilven from the vehicle engine by chain or other suitable means. In the control of this plant and of the water-discharge apparatus much ingenuity is to be found. A point that is of undoubted importance is the speed and manceuvrability of the outfit, of whatever type it may be. A considerable distance may have to be covered in reaching the scene of operations, whilst the bomb may have fallen in a place accessible only by narrow streets with sharp corners, where the ability to turn with the minimum of reversing or other delay is a valuable attribute.
Accompanying pictures illustrate well examples of the efforts made to meet A.R.P. requirements by makers whose names are well known in the sphere of municipal motors. We propose to outline the salient features of the machines shown, taking them in alphabetical order.
In co-operation with the Karrier concern, Carrimore Six Wheelers, Ltd., has just completed an articulated fivewheeler comprising a Karrier Cob tractive unit and a Carrimore semi-trailer, incorporating a Steel Barrel tank. This outfit is normally a street washer, but it is capable of giving efficient service on A.R.P. work, There is; at the rear, a Ford R h.p. four-cylindered engine driving a Gwynnes pump. This plant can deliver water, at high speed and pressure, from the tank or from an independent source. Discharge is from road-washing fishtails, side sprayers, a hose on each side, a monitor nozzle, gutter or sewer flushers or a first-aid reel. The operative sits aloft.at the front with all necessary water valves and the engine under his control. Accommodation for men is limited to that of the cab and the operative's seat, whilst sand, lime and tackle have to be carried on an independent vehicle.
A short-wheelbase four-wheeled tractive unit, with a water-tight body, and a two-wheeled trailer comprise the Dennis A.R.P. outfit. The former is equipped with a pump and hose connections, and in normal times may be employed for refuse collection or other appropriate purposes.
On board the trailer are carried bleaching material, fire-extinguishers, hose, picket posts, tools and tackle, whilst there is also accommodation for two men, a further four riding on the towing vehicle.
In this case provision is again made for the pump to be fed either from the tank or from open water, also for it to fill the tank.
Builder of special-purpose bodies for many chassis makers, the Eagle Engineering Co., Ltd., c27
has developed an A.R.P. unit which can be lifted bodily on to a lorry or trailer or supplied as a wheeled vehicle. It comprises a cylindrical tank, power pumping plant, lockers for bleacher, tools and hose, surface and side sprayers, side hose couplings, monitor jet and first-aid reel.
Enclosing the pumping set, which is arranged transversely at the rear, is a seat for four men. Under it is a Ford 8 h.p. engine—a self-contained unit—and a centrifugal pump coupled directly to it. For sprinkling, water can, of course, also be discharged by gravity. Four lifting eyes are fixed to the tank for hoisting the set onto its carrier.
Unique in many respects, notably because it is the only A.R.P. machine including power sweeping apparatus, the Lewin is devised to minimize the laborious part of the decontamination squad's work.
The outfit comprises a modified sweeper-collector and a trailer. Equipped, as usual, with a pump, the former, in addition to its washing and fire-fighting capabilities, can scrub the contaminated road surface, the elevating mechanism being put out of action during this operation. It is provided with detachable seats for the men.
Brush Detachable for Decontamination.
No difficulty or danger results from the contamination of the brush, because this can be detached and replaced by a new one in 15 minutes, and left to " weather " or can be burnt. Bleacher and sand are carried in the trailer, which has three compartments, the third being for mixing. This vehicle is attached by a Brockhouse patent coupling, and, like the main unit, has utility under normal conditions.
Shelvoke and Drewery, Ltd., makes an A.R.P. set for converting its refuse collector or rear-loading freighter, thus obviating the need for the purchase of a special vehicle.
An item of the additional apparatus is the pump, which is mounted at the front of the vehicle and is driven by a duplex chain from the engine. Once this is installed, the machine can be prepared for decontamination work in a few minutes, a flexible connection joining the permanent afid temporary parts of the water system. Comprised with the set are water and mixing tanks. containers for sand and lime, lockers, hose and loose equipment. The main part is mounted on rollers, so that it can be transferred easily from the staging at the depot, on which it is normally kept, to the vehicle. Its capabilities are comprehensive and include fire fighting.
Whilst relying upon a semi-trailer street washer, equipped with its maker's 10 h.p. four-cylindered engine and a centrifugal pump, for the washing away of the residue and for fire fighting, Scammell Lorries, Ltd., has evolved a large tender—also a semi-trailer—for transporting the decontamination squad, and the incidental equipment.
These two units are hauled by a Scammell mechanicalhorse three-wheeler, one tractive unit being all that is actually necessary, time being a relatively unimportant factor in bringing the tanker except in case of fire.
Self-contained Conversion Equipment.
Yet another outfit for mounting on an ordinary lorry is the A.R.P. equipment, just introduced by Tuke and Bell, Ltd. In its latest form, this consists of a water tank, with a compartment at the rear for sand and lime (contained in bags or bins, as preferred), and brackets on which is supported a four-cylindered pumping set, mounted on a two-wheeled trolley .• There are also rotary mixers and distributors for bleaching material, first-aid reel, spray pipes, fire hose and jets, sewer flusher, washing gear, etc.
This set has many applications in addition to decontamination work, and should appeal to municipalities on that ground as well as that of obviating the purchase of a special vehicle. We hope, in the near future, to describe the products of other makers, notably the Fordsort, Thomycroft and Transport A.R.P. vehicles, but, at the moment, full details and illustrations are not yet available, Brief particulars are given in cur specification tables elsewhere in this issue.