Issued in 1944, the Royal Air Force "Ford/Willys, 5 cwt. 4x4, equipped as Aircraft Crash Rescue Tender" was a 1/4-ton jeep converted in the UK to carry rescue, fire and medical equipment.
The jeeps were apparently standard olive drab, with "the panel at the base of the windscreen painted in red and the words Aircraft Crash Rescue painted thereon in large letters of a contrasting colour." In some of these photos, it appears that the bonnet (hood) is painted red or yellow.
The jeeps had the advantage of fast response across rough terrain, although they could not carry as much equipment as larger wartime fire tenders such as an RAF Weeton conversion (60K JPEG) on a Fordson WOT 1 chassis.
Specifications for the jeeps describe a hand bell fitted on the off side of the dash, for operation from the front passenger seat.
Gordon Smith in the UK has provided some photos and further details of these jeeps. An 8-inch diameter Atlantic searchlight was mounted on the off side of the body between the windscreen and engine bonnet.
On the tender seen at left, someone has wisely moved the bell to the front grille.
Fire equipment consisted of four 2-gallon type A foam extinguishers, quart-sized carbon tetrachloride extinguishers, and two 12-pound CO2 extinguishers.
Rescue equipment included a wooden extension ladder, hatchet, grapnel, crowbar, shovel and various small tools, two asbestos blankets and a medical first aid kit.
This remarkable photo, courtesy of Peter Haining, shows crash crews standing by during World War II at RAF Tempsford, Bedfordshire. Tempsford was the top secret airfield where Special Duties Squadrons flew operations to deliver and retrieve agents from occupied Europe.
Visible in the photo (see a larger copy, 230K JPEG) is a rescue jeep and a larger fire tender (130K JPEG), an ambulance and a trailer with an Aldis signalling light.
Another photo, courtesy of Gary Bainbridge, shows RAF Fire Service personnel in a lighter moment at Tempsford in 1944-45.
A member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) is seen in a rescue jeep belonging to 617 Squadron, the "Dambusters." Although according to the RAF Fire Manual the tenders were "to be used solely for rescue and first aid purposes," reportedly this jeep was also used to chauffeur the squadron commander, and pilots to the flight line! Thanks to Nick Thomas.
This picture was taken shortly after the war at RAF Upper Heyford. The station in Oxfordshire was used by Bomber Command during the war, and was handed over to the U.S. Air Force from 1950 to 1993. Thanks to Gary Skinner.
The jeeps remained in service until the early 1950s when they were replaced by the Land Rover Series 1 Aircraft Rescue Tender.
Gerald Lilley saved this photo from his service at RAF Station Deversoir in the Suez Canal Zone, 1949-50. He comments that the jeep was soon to be replaced by a Land Rover, and that it was easily stuck in the soft sand.
See also another shot of the fire tender (40K JPEG) seen in the background here. Thanks to Gerald for scanning the photos.
According to the narration on this 1950 Pathé newsreel, "This is one of nine RAF Mountain Rescue units situated at strategic points throughout the country." The location is RAF St. Athan in Wales which was a large airfield and training facility during WWII, with up to 14,000 personnel. St. Athan was transferred to civilian authorities in 2019.
The newsreel follows a demonstration by the "main party" in trucks and the "advance party" in a jeep painted RAF blue with a yellow bonnet and an RAF roundel in the middle.
When the jeep gets as close as possible to the area where an airman or civilian is lost or injured, the team grabs their gear and hikes in.
When they locate the person in distress, the advance party calls in the main party with any needed equipment such as the "sledge-type stretcher" used to extract a casualty.
The three-minute newsreel was spotted by Thomas Schwer on YouTube.
Also on CJ3B.info, see a rescue demonstration by the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
Thanks to Gordon Smith for the photos and details of the jeeps. Also R. Langham for the Fordson illustration, and Gary Bainbridge and Peter Haining for the Tempsford photos. -- Derek Redmond
See a history of Airfield Crash Rescue Jeeps on CJ3B.info.
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