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Long Tom and Scammel


moosequito

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Hi all.

I belive my grandfather served in the yorkshire regiment during the second world war. I have some old photos of him with some very large artillery pieces that I assume are 155mm 'Long Tom's.

I always remember his anomosity towards all things american during the war except for the 6 wheeled Scammel truck that he was very fond of and said would go anywhere. I even belive he was blown up in one when he drove over a mine, needless to say he survived.

I would like to build a diorama with both the Long Tom and the Scammel. I think the Scammel would have been a Pioneer R100.

Does any one have any information that they think might be of use to me.

I have only found the long tom in 1/35 from AFV club. Are there any others? I am also interested in 1/72 especially as the only Pioneer model I can find is the very pricey Accurate Armour one in 1/35.

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Hasagawa made the Long Tom in 72nd scale, not sure if they still do. I had 3 of the kits, built one and have the parts bagged for at least one more. Not sure what happened to the 3rd.

Isn't the Scammel a British truck? Airfix makes one as a Tank transporter in 1/76th if I recall.

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Hasagawa made the Long Tom in 72nd scale, not sure if they still do. I had 3 of the kits, built one and have the parts bagged for at least one more. Not sure what happened to the 3rd.

Isn't the Scammel a British truck? Airfix makes one as a Tank transporter in 1/76th if I recall.

Your right the Scammell is British. Maybe my childhood memories of his tails are not so clear now or maybe he didn't realise it was british. Maybe he borrowed one off the americans?

Thanks for your info I will look into the Hasagawa kit. What is your opinion of its quality?

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Hasagawa kit is typical 72nd scale artillery. Shape looks right and details a little big.

Probably can dig out my extra if you want, $5 + shipping if interested (I am in the US).

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  • 3 weeks later...
Your right the Scammell is British. Maybe my childhood memories of his tails are not so clear now or maybe he didn't realise it was british. Maybe he borrowed one off the americans?

Thanks for your info I will look into the Hasagawa kit. What is your opinion of its quality?

If it was on or around D-Day, it is possible that the Scammel wore 5 point white stars like American vehicles, which were a cognition mark for all allied vehicles in the theatre

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Are you certain they are Long Toms? There were large British artillery pieces, but they tended to just have the one pair of wheels whereas the US went for a multiple wheel arrangement. There are no polystyrene kits of heavy British artillery other than the Airfix 5.5in but some are (or were) available in resin and/or white metal: perhaps it was the Trux range which I think have been taken over by Matador?

PS Oxford Diecast are about to release the Scammel Artillery Tractor if you want one ready-made.

Edited by Graham Boak
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They almost certainly were 'Long Toms' as Royal Artillery Heavy Regiments re-organised in 1943 to include 2 Batteries of 7.2" Howitzers and 2 Batteries of 155mm M1. This led to the development of the 7.2" Mark 6 on 155mm Carriage M1 but these didn't appear till near the end of the war. The barrels were new manufacture and longer than the barrels on Marks 1 through 4 so look almost identical to the Long Tom. I am confused about his Regiment though. The Yorkshire Regiment is an infantry regiment formed from the amalgamation of the Green Howards, The Duke of Boots and others as recently as 2004.

Moosequito, do you know where the photos were taken as i might be able to narrow it down for you and give you some idea of vehicle markings.

Beat me to it Trev :)

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Could it have been one of the West Riding Field Regiments?

You could be onto something there. Field Regiments were equipped with the 25lber gun but 94(Queens Own Dorset Yeomanry) Field Regiment and 122(West Riding) Field Regiment amalgamated in 1943 to form 53 Heavy Regiment equipped with 7.2" Howitzers and Long Toms. They used the Scammel to tow the 7.2s and the Mack NO and NM 6x6 truck to pull the Long Toms. Vehicle markings would consist of the 2nd British Army sign and a red over blue square with 194 in white. There would also be a white bar at the bottom of the square to denote them being an 'army' asset, (they formed part of 8 Army group Royal Artillery).

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Thanks for all your replies everybody.

Unfortunatley it was a long time ago when I spoke to my grandad about the war. He didn't talk a great deal about it and I was very young. I may well have things wrong such as his regiment, I do know he was posted near Blackpool either before or after the war. This may be where he was demobed.

I must be honest I have only assumed that the gun was a 'long toms' due the the massive length of the barrel of the guns in the pictures.

My mother has the photographs so I will go visit her and see if she will let me scan them for me to show you.

Thanks again.

Matt.

Edited by moosequito
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