The vehicle on display 15 AY 54 was part of the Armaments Support Unit (ASU) based at RAF Wittering and was used to protect weapon convoys in case of fire and accidents. This role has now passed to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston. The vehicle was only 1 of 3 made and they were named after Knights of the Roundtable, this one was named ‘Arthur’
Because of the convoy work the vehicle would carry far more equipment than if was operating on a RAF base. Apart from the usual fire fighting kit such as hoses, branches, axes, ropes, crowbars, first aid fire extinguishers it carried:
Camera, binoculars, road maps, incident boards, safety hard hats, large first aid kit, Pnu-Pac ventilators, BA sets with tools and spares, chemical splash suits and an Epco hydraulic rescue kit. Because of the nature of the convoys along with other members of the convoy the crew were armed and provision for armament storage within the vehicle was made.
Leading Particulars
Chassis: Based on a Volvo FL614 series 4 x 2 chassis/cab modified for use in class 3 hazardous conditions.
Engine: Volvo TD61F six cylinder 5.48 litres turbo charged intercooled diesel, developing 152kw at 2800rpm (207bhp)
Gearbox: ZF manual with six speeds connected to a PTO which is engaged pneumatically via a switch in the drivers cab.
Water/Foam tanks: The combined water and foam tank has a water section with a capacity of 2273 litres (500galls) and two foam sections each of 150 litres (33galls)
Fire Pump: Godiva GMA 3600/19 aluminium two stage multi pressure, the output from the low pressure stage is 3600 lpm (750gpm) at 6.9bar (100psi) and from the high pressure stage 250 lpm (55gpm) at 22.6 bar (400psi)
Apart from the normal delivery outlet valves it was equipped with two high pressure first aid hose reels.
The previous vehicles dating from the 1960’s that were built for this purpose were built by Morris/Alfred Miles, Bedford/HCB Angus and Bedford/Hawson/Gloster Saro