FV435 Wavell

[4scourge7]

Hi all

Info on this vehicle seems very hard to come by. Internet pics all seem to be from distance and all the wibbly bits seem to be covered in tarps.

Any source out there for more on this vehicle?

 

TIA

Ian

[Geo1966]

I worked on Wavell at 3 Armoured Division Signal Regiment in the mid 80's (Korbecke near Soest). It was a cushy job as once the system was up and running there was little to do apart from a daily backup of the system. The main bonus about working on wavell was that the mainframe/computer system needed to be kept at room temperature, so it was the only 43*  with aircon. In the cold winters in Germany i would be sat on shift with a t-shirt on and have guys queueing up at the back door wanting to come in to warm up. Hence i was never short of a brew or a smoke.

 

Not sure if i have any photos and if i do they are in the loft so not really at hand. Not much help for you in reproducing a model i know, but it was nice to reminisce.

[Geo1966]

Theres a good drawing at the bottom of this page:

 

https://dawnmonksillustrations.co.uk/military-art/

[Dads203]

Here are a couple for you, FV435 is the correct designation 

 

00FA20 was originally a 6 Brigade wagon which was 206 Signal Sqn and my old Sqn ( 6 Brigade Rhino on the side plus the 3 Div Tricorn on the back door ) and I think this was taken at AVSD Luggershall prior to disposal probably 1993-94 ish. I have driven this exact wagon and probably track bashed it at some point when 206 Signal Squadron was an independent Brigade. I left the Squadron shortly after they amalgamated into 3 UK Armoured Div and moved back to the UK. 

 

 

And another one again probably just before disposal - Stripped of all CES items. 

 

 

 

And what it provided. The Wavell STE , 38kgs of rubbish., We never really used it as it was slow and very clunky, it basically gave you preformatted reports and returns 

on a green vector screen.  We used to have a WO2 called the Wavman ( Wavell Manager ) who was so enthusiastic about this bit of kit trying to get everyone using it. 

Poor guy always looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, by the time the system was up and running we would move locations and with the system taking hours to boot up 

from 12.5 floppy disks it was no easy task. Brigade would move every 6-8 hours with Div being 24 hours. 

Funny thing is that the Terminal below the picture was sent to me by a civi asking If I knew what it was and could it be made to work !! It's my old terminal from 1 UK Armoured Div. I was the Det Commander 

of the G2 int wagon at Div Main so that actual terminal was fitted in the back of my 436 and that is my writing on the front face. Very small world. 

 

 

 

 

The 435's were the slowest of the 43 series of vehicles, they had issues with torsion bars breaking and overheating quite regular as they were well over their designed weight. 

I think the fastest 435 in our Div managed about 25 mph on the roads. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Geo1966 said:

I worked on Wavell at 3 Armoured Division Signal Regiment in the mid 80's (Korbecke near Soest). It was a cushy job as once the system was up and running there was little to do apart from a daily backup of the system. The main bonus about working on wavell was that the mainframe/computer system needed to be kept at room temperature, so it was the only 43*  with aircon. In the cold winters in Germany i would be sat on shift with a t-shirt on and have guys queueing up at the back door wanting to come in to warm up. Hence i was never short of a brew or a smoke.

 

Not sure if i have any photos and if i do they are in the loft so not really at hand. Not much help for you in reproducing a model i know, but it was nice to reminisce.

 

 

So you were "Handbag" then Geo up at San Seb barracks? I was down in Salamanca Barracks but a few years later mate 1989 -1992. Very small world indeed. 

[Geo1966]

Yeah, i did 4 years at San sebastian, 1983 till 1987. Loved it there, first posting and working on AFV's, loads of exercises and loads of beers! Started as a Radio Op then TRA'd to DTG, then Ptarmigan op then somehow drifted into Crypto in NI, Cyprus, Hong Kong, London, etc.

 

Wonder if the Big Ben is still open? The Manager was Ralph if i remember rightly. Happy days!

[Dads203]

Soest was my best posting with Herford being very close second, I arrived as a sprog late on in 89 and loved it.  I did go back around 97 

to see what the old haunts looked like and Salamanca barracks was a business park and San Seb had been taken over by a foil manufacturer, well part of 

it. The Annex was still looking like it did and apart from the over grown trees you would of thought it was still in operation.  All very sad to see these places go 

and close up. 

 

Big Ben, that went shortly after 3 Div and the other camps closed i'm afraid, the Schnelly on the ring road was still open, the guy who owned it was 

an ex Bill Oddy,  (Ex Royal Scots). He told me that most of Soest and the businesses wanted the Brits back again.  Ralph that's him, actually a real nice guy and I felt sorry for him 

as the job was coming to an end with the withdrawal of Wavell -  A good idea just poorly executed, probably a bit of kit that was well ahead of its time but held back 

by the technology of the day. 

[4scourge7]

Thank you very much gents, that is exactly what I needed, thank you.

Cheers, Ian