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carrying of loads of considerable weight and outsize dimensions, the story behind the war-time activities of Pierson Haulage (1933), Ltd., 1, Springfield Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey, would most
certainly provide the evidence. . .
The main business before the war was in connection with the haulage of building materials, whilst the company also conducted a " gmalls " delivery service. During the early part of the war, it was engaged in the carriage of foodstuffs and supplies for N.A.A.F.I., and it was not until the enemy began raiding this country in earnest that the company was called upon for the specialized service which it was ultimately able to give to the Air Ministry.
When the Battle of Britain was at its height and the country was littered with crashed German aircraft, dismantling, picking up and transporting these machines formed the company's initial effort with the existing fleet of articulated vehicles. .
The breaking-down of 'the German aircraft and the packing on vehicles not,specifically designed for such work, at first gave the managing director, Mr. R. A. Pierson, many headaches, but as each problem arose it was successfully solved. Evidence of this is provided by the fact that no fewer than 185 smashed aircraft were picked up in territory coming within the borders of Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire.
It should be mentioned, here, that an associated company, Charles Chapman, Ltd., was merged with Pierson Haulage (1933), Ltd., during the war period, and the OA total "number of vehicles in the combined fleets is 22. Of these, 18 are Leyland Cub and Lynx machines, three are E.R.F.s (of which two are articulated, and the third an eight-wheeler with trailer), • and the last a 50-ton Foden machinery carrier.
In connection 'with the foregoing, there are 30. interchangeable Queen Elizabeth semi-trailers built and designed to carry specialized traffic, such as could not be carried by the original R.A.F. Queen Mary, which is limited to 3-ton loads. The. Queen Elizabeth is designed to carry a distributed load of 10 tons; the shortest is 30 ft. long and the longest is 40 ft. long.
All the semi-trailers have been specially built by Carrimore Six-wheelers, Ltd., of Finchley, London, N., and have .given every satisfaction. It is chimed, incidentally, that outside the Air Ministry itself, -the combined fleet represents the biggest group of machines used for the specialized duty of carrying aircraft and sea-going craft in the United Kingdom.
. Not the least problem which the operator had to solve was in connection with the lifting and general handling of aircraft, and, in this connection, all the special tackleand equipment was again designed and built by Carri: more Six-wheelers, Ltd., in consultation with Mr. R. A. Pierson.
Most of the work carried out is for the 'Air Ministry ' (Movements, .Four), although work is also performed , for other Government ,Departments. The Air Ministry (Movements, 'Four) has a team Of officers, under tile direction of Air Corn. F. Ft. Sims, O.B-.E., which La responsible for the movement by road of all R.A.F.
equipment, and Pierson Haulage (1933), Ltd., is desirous of expressing its thanks for the co-operation received from this Department.
A special M.O.S. order concerned the carrying of weighty portions of the now-famous Mulberry artificial harbour. On behalf of the Admiralty, many types of sea---going craft were transported, including lifeboats, tenders, rescue launches-, harbour tugs and L.C.A.s, some of which were up to. 53 ft. long.
One may reasonably ask, " Why carry such craft about the country? " The very good reason is that, being built far removed from their natural element, • such loads just have to be taken to it, and moving them
• in this way is certainly far less costly in man-power. A job successfully carried out by the company was the transporting of uncased main planes for Sunderland flying-boats. These main planes, which measure 56 ft by 29 ft., had to be taken from Rochester tb Lake Windermere.
Special Team of Drivers
Another little job, this time entailing the use of a special team of drivers, was concerned with the sending overseas of Blenheim aircraft: First of all, the outsize cases were picked up from the various factories responsible for iheii"conatruction, and these Were delivered to aerOdromes where the aircraft were dismantled and packed. When packed, the complete cases housing the aeroplanes measured 41 ft. by 22 ft., and these were. transported from the aerodrome to the docks, the whole sequence of first bringing the cases to the scene of packing and, later, transporting the cased aircraft going on continuously day and night.
Following this, 1,200 Hurricanes had to be exported, and, again, the dismantled cases and, later, the packeC aeroplanes were successfully handled..
Carrying cased aircraft represented a fairly straight. forward job and called, for no special technique, wher the right vehicles were employed, but the transport 1)3, road of huge unboxed aircraft such as tie Ox-ford, Vulte( Vengeance, Lockheed Lightning and Black Widow, wa._ quite another story. Even so, these unwieldy machines have been handled successfully. In the case of tit( Black Widow, the overall dimensions were:—Lengft 49 ft. S ins„ width 26 ft. 9 ins., and height 14 ft. 8 ins., the weight was 9 tons.
• Routing the Journey
Perhaps the most. convincing evidence of how. thest unusual loads were ,carried is to be found in some of di( accompanying illustrations; but the story does not ene there._ It is obvious that loads of such withhand lengtt could not be conveyed over a give-and-take route unles
special arrangements were made. "
The officer of London Movement Control responsiblt for this routing is Sq. Ldr. G. L. Thonison, D.S.O., b.F.C., for whom the operator has unstinted praise, Jr niany cases towns had to be cleared and inn signs, tree and even chnrch walls had to be removed to permit E, safe and .unobstructed passage. Throughout the move. nient of all abnormal loads; each .vehicle was provide with an R.A.F. escort rider and the police in the varioui Constabularies also provided escorts. The ability of tin and the police escort riders to keep these abnon mal loads and all -other traffic moving on the roads h worthy of favourable comment.
It may well be asked, " Why was it necessary to transport aircraft by road in this • manner? " The answer is that American machines, before shipment to this country, were specially treated to protect them from the effects of the weather, and every one had to be " pro. cessed," as it was called, before being put into service. The transport job, therefore, was to pick up the machines at the docks and convey them to various aerodriames for the treatment mentioned.
Sufficient has been said to show that Pierson Haulage (1933), Ltd., met 'and Solved many unusual. transport problems in a highly satisfactory manner. Now a word as to the vehicles and their maintenance.
Although on the list of high-priority controlled undertakings, the company lacks (in common with most trans; .port companies) the services of skilled and efficient mechanics, but all normal running repairs and adjust' ments and greasing are carried out at its own premises at the Beulah Hill depot, where a large building has been roofed in .especially for the purpose.. The major scheme in connection with keeping the fleet on the road is an exchange-unit plan concerned with engines, gearboxes,. radiators, differentials and springs, spares of each unit being maintained in stock.
Any work in connection with the oil.engined vehicles is entrusted to Maskells Motor Repair Works, Ltd., of Brixton, and Mr. Pierson speaks very highly of the assistance afforded by that concern and the good aftersales service which he .receives; all new vehicles, and trailers are purchased through the Maskells organization.
Mr. Pierson always believes that good oil is the cheapest, and ever since he has been in the transport btisiness he has used the products of the Vacuum Oil Co., Ltd. The. operator carries out all coachbuilding, painting and sign-writing, and anyone who knows the vehiclee will agree that they reflect great credit on the company. The service given by the three vehicle makers concerned has been exemplary throughout, particularly that of the Leyland concern through its Richmond Road, Kingston, establishment, which has, on more than one occasion, been responsible for delivery being made on tithe at the docks.
It is of interest to mention that 11 of the company's vehicles formed the nucleus of the present Air Ministry Pool of specialized types, which fleet, ive are informed, comprises about 50 machines,.
As to post-war activities, it is hoped to make arrangements for the dismantling and packing of aircraft, boats and machinery, and facilities will be available for shipping to all parts of the world, for Mr. Pierson intends to cater for business similar to that in which he has become, shall we say, expert. In any case, it will be a difficult transport problem, indeed, that cannot be successfully solved by this enterprising concern and its enthusiastic managing director.