Glen Sands meets Richard Salter who explains the triumphs and troubles of owning a Leyland Hippo Mk II GS
The need to get supplies from the beaches of Normandy to the forward depots supporting the Allied frontline line led to a new and better suited class of truck for the British Army.
The ten-ton class of vehicle was chiefly used for long-distance haulage work and fitted with a well-type general service (GS) body. Some were also fitted with a large type of house-body for such purposes as printing and map reproduction, which required equipment too bulky and heavy to be carried in a smaller class of trucks.
After the war the ten-ton class became a widely used military classification, with new designs produced by AEC and Thornycroft among others, to supplement wartime vehicles. The Leyland Hippo Mk.1 was a pre-war commercial model fitted with a WD-pattern open cab but retaining its original wheels and tyres with twin rears. This was not very satisfactory – and was uncomfortable for the crew – resulting in the introduction in 1944 of the Mk II.
This was an improved vehicle designed with military use in mind from the outset. It had a closed cab and was fitted with single wheels all round and large military…
