I was delighted to see the Stalwart on the cover of Issue 212 of CMV for a number of reasons. Like you I had the Matchbox BP Stalwart in my childhood and always marvelled at this unique vehicle. Twenty or so years later I had a brief sojourn with the army and indicated that I’d like to join the Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) upon commissioning: the army felt otherwise and ‘suggested’ that an Infantry career beckoned.
Long story short, I didn’t share their enthusiasm and exercised my right to withdraw from training and subsequently joined the RAF. One of the draws of the RCT was the possibility of becoming a Stalwart troop commander in BAOR, which offered a young officer quite a degree of freedom of operation. While the army and I parted company, my interest in the Stalwart remains and your article encouraged me to dig out a couple of books from my library to refresh my memory of the type.
1. British Army Transport & Logistics by Robert Swan & Geoff Fletcher, ISBN 0-7110-1986-X, published by Ian Allan in 1991. Looking back to the end of the Cold War (in view of the current situation perhaps that should be the First Cold War?) it provides a fascinating insight into the organisation of the army …
