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FIRST OVERLAND NEWSLETTER 22The latest news of the 'First Overland' DVD, based on Antony Barrington-Brown's original film footage of the 1955 Oxford & Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition from London to Singapore. |
I'm very much aware that it's been a long time since there was an updated Newsletter, and even numbers 19 and 20 were making promises about topics to be covered, which still haven't been. So this issue is something of a pull-together of loose ends.
One thing we spent a lot of time on was the possible fate of 'Oxford' and 'Cambridge' once the Far Eastern Expedition had brought them back to the UK. We know that one of them ended up on first Ascension Island, and then St.Helena (see Newsletters 20 and 21). But which one? The registration plate suggests 'Oxford', but the colour is all wrong.
Adrian Fett wrote A thought on the Ascension Island base camp photo [as in the postage stamp]. I think that the vehicle looks to have been repainted pale blue on Ascension after the roof was removed. In the photo it clearly has no roof and the windscreen frame looks to be painted the same colour rather than being bare galv. Could be a squaddy style brush job? Was the colour significant to the project or was there just a glut of pale blue paint on the island? The L-R seems to exactly match the shed/store it's parked next to.
Remember that nothing is wasted on islands. I was on Fair Isle one summer when the Northern Lighthouse Board shipped in a large consignment of paint for the two lighthouses. There was so much new paint that the keepers had to clear out all the old tins in their paint store to make room (lighthouse keepers were always painting). These were placed at the island shop and were free to take away (rationed to 2 tins per croft initially). Most of the gloss was green. By the time I went back the next summer nearly every croft house and barn on the island (and the museum) had green window frames, doors, gates etc.
There's also the often-repeated theory that the original 1948 Land-Rovers were pale green because there were a few thousand gallons of aircraft cockpit paint available somewhere cheap!
We've not yet exhausted the research into the fate of the two vehicles, and behind the scenes I know that some very interesting work is being done. But I have agreed with the person concerned that if too many of us poke about in this bit of L-R history, there's a danger of muddying the waters, and the information being lost. He is doing an excellent job, so I have agreed to draw a halt to speculation on this website for the time being, confident that when he has some information that is verified and can be more generally released, I'll be able to post it here for us all to share.
Dirk Uys is a member of the Land Rover Owners Club of Southern Africa and contacted me after I'd mentioned in this Newsletter that I'd been to give the 'FO' talk to the Norwegian LR Rally. He correctly said that he guessed S.Africa was even more outside my usual patch, but would I mind if he showed the DVD to a film evening in early October? I said that was fine, but in order to migitage his colleagues' obvious disappointment that I wouldn't be there in person (!), I filmed a special introduction for him to show before the main film. This went ahead, and I'm delighted to say that soon afterwards a few online orders came in from the southern hemisphere. Dirk — thank you very much... and I don't think I ever properly acknowledged the printed newsletters that you sent me. |
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Incidentally, if there's any other LR clubs worldwide who would like to take advantage of this special "Sorry I can't be with you..." promotional version of the film, then please contact me.
When these Newsletters first started appearing, a large number of readers were moved to send their own stories of how Tim Slessor's 'First Overland' book inspired them to make their own expeditions. Here's a few more of their stories (and queries):
Philip Bridgen (in Wellington, New Zealand) asked Do you have any information about two topics associated with the ‘First Overland’ Expedition? In the book’s description of the Expedition team’s preparations, reference is made to the help and advice obtained from friends who had participated in a similar expedition the previous year, and had driven two Land-Rovers from London overland to Capetown. This expedition was known as the ‘Oxford & Cambridge Trans-Africa Expedition'. There are photos and brief details in several L-R and 4WD histories, such as ‘The Jeep’ by J-B Jeudy and M Tararine, and Part 1 of ‘The Land Rover Story’ by James Taylor. Apart from ‘First Overland’, the Trans-Africa Expedition is also mentioned in other contemporary overland books, such as ‘Into The Blue’, which describes a University research expedition from the UK to Ethiopia and return. I have a faint boyhood memory of reading an account of a London-Cape Town expedition (presumably the 'Trans-Africa Expedition'), but in the almost thirty years in which I have semi-seriously collected these overland-by-4WD books I have been totally unable to find any such book. Can you or any of your correspondents help?
Several of the L-R and other histories note that there were in fact three Oxford & Cambridge expeditions that Rover Ltd sponsored — the 'Trans-Africa' team bought their own L-Rs! — and which used the two 86” L-R Station Wagons first employed by the ‘First Overland’; ie they were taken on two later expeditions, the last returning in 1958. I understand that the last of these expeditions was to South America, but am unsure where the second trip went. At least two of the ‘First Overland’ team participated in the later expeditions — Antony Barrington-Brown and Adrian Cowell. Also, I have seen a comment in a magazine article some years ago, to the effect that one of the vehicles (I think Cambridge) was sold somewhere in South America, but that Oxford was returned to the UK. The article further stated that Oxford was last known to be on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic! Again, can you or any of your contacts provide any further information on the second two Oxford & Cambridge expeditions and/or the two vehicles? I would be very grateful for the slightest piece of information you can unearth.
Well, Philip, we've already covered the Ascension Island question, but I also got an email from Adrian Cowell (sitting, he said, in a very cold Washington). The 'Oxford and Cambridge Trans-African Expedition' was in the year before the 'Far Eastern', 1954. The man who started it, David Waters, came from Hong Kong like me, and was a friend of mine — hence my involvement. A book was written about that expedition by Don Calman in Australia, but, unfortunately was never published. I was one of the base managers of this expedition, and our good relations with the Rover company, and other companies, was a legacy of this expedition.
The Cambridge expedition to Lake Tana in 1953 produced a book: INTO THE BLUE by Lionel Ferguson, published by Collins in 1955. Several of the members were from my college, St. Catharine's, and John Deuchars was the one who most helped and advised our expedition. He later acted as one of the base managers of the 'Far Eastern Expedition'.
The Far Eastern trip greatly benefited from the experience of these two previous trips, and from the body of friends who encouraged and advised us. I think Tim's beginning of the book is much more adventurous, humorous and cleaner without this organizational history, but it is worth noting as so many people, apparently, still have a serious interest in our expedition.
Other Expeditions
There's little doubt that it was the lasting world-wide appeal of Tim Slessor's book that led so many people (myself included) to form a relationship with Solihull's finest. Here's some more from the postbag:
From Royston Bennett (who I subsequently met at Chepstow last year) I was at the RGS for the 50th Anniversary evening [the launch of the reprinted book], with several old Overland chums. I have the new book & DVD, and copies of the original Hardback & Softback. That book is responsible for a career of over 30 years in the Adventure Travel business, including Land Rover Expeditions in the Sahara working for Minitrek Expeditions. In Feb 2006 I finally made Antarctica, so my World travel folio is virtually complete! It is a pleasure to be still in the World of First Overland with (now) the DVD.
Richard Poulton wrote I have a personal reason to be interested in the 'First Overland' story as the book inspired my Uncle and a few other Venture Scouts to do a similar Journey in 1965, which has always fascinated me. I am trying to inspire him to write about his journey all those years ago. They went from Harpenden to India by Land Rover, and their story covered in the Eagle comics which I have managed to get a copy of. He went on to hitchhike across Australia, until the Land Rover arrived in Melbourne from India and he began circumnavigating Australia.
Graham Fairbairn emailed An old friend of mine contacted my wife and I a few weeks ago out of the blue, and mentioned his recent visit to a Land-Rover 'get-together' where the 'First Overland' DVD was shown and sold. Many years ago (in fact 1964/5) he spent much of his spare time preparing an old second-hand short wheelbase Land-Rover for a round-the-world adventure. He was (and still is) a self-confessed LR nut, although he is a mechanic and I am not. A day or so later a DVD arrived in the post, and I watched (in many ways) my life many years ago flashing before me.
It was the purchase of the 'First Overland' book that set a friend and myself off on a dream to do the same. In fact, we were away for a little over 2 years between 1965-1967, and the book was my bible, and was with me at all times. We didn't have the sponsorship enjoyed in 1955, but did it our way, based on the original journey.
Unfortunately my travelling companion and I have for many years not been in contact, but I have detailed diaries and many slide of our many adventures, good and bad. We had publicity from our local press and the London Evening Standard at the time, and I was intent on writing a book but never actually seriously got down to it. Life back in England became a priority very quickly after our return, and yet the memories and excitement of those years are untainted, and have played an important part of my life.
Unfortunately I am now rather disabled with osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis, and could never repeat it, but I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity and understanding of my parents to have taken the adventure head on. The wonderful book was my inspiration, and now the DVD has played its part in bringing those wonderful days back again. The preparation of the trip, the planning of the route, the purchase of the equipment and preparation of the vehicle were almost as magical as the journey itself.
Thank you 'First Overland' (in both book and DVD form), and of course those wonderful Oxford & Cambridge journey-men who completed their dream all those years ago, and who inspired me to fulfil mine 10 years later.
Now, that's what I call a tribute!
Alan Stevenson runs COTAG here in North East England — a small voluntary group made up of 4x4 enthusiasts who offer their time and energy to assist the emergency services and community in times of need. He wrote Back in the early sixties when my late father was in the RAF he got a posting to El Adam, Libya and, as was the standard practice those day, the family accompanied him to his new 'job in the desert'. I remember quite distinctly being a 9 year old in the main square of Tobruk where we lived watching two Land Rovers pull up near the souk. My Dad, being MT (Motor Transport) Section and a Land Rover bloke into the bargain, immediately went across to speak to the drivers. I recall being absolutely amazed that these guys had driven all the way from the UK and were en route to Egypt and further afield! I put my own sense of adventure down to that chance meeting, and was delighted when my Dad bought me a copy of "First Overland" a short while later. Read over and over again, that book was a treasured possession — but like many treasures somehow got lost or mislaid.
Many, many years later I walked into a bookshop in Hertfordshire and made the proverbial JR Hartley* enquiry "I don't suppose you've got a copy of 'First Overland'?", and was chuffed to bits to walk out with a real bargain! I know, of course, the guys I met in Libya were not Tim Slessor and the team, but there seemed to be the same sense of purpose, adventure and challenge which I found in 'First Overland'.
[*JR Hartley was a fictitious character in a television advert for Yellow Pages many years ago here in the UK. He's shown forlornly ringing around bookshops to try to find a copy of the book 'Fly Fishing'. When he eventually tracks one down, it's revealed that he was the author, and has lost his own copy. It was so beautifully written and sympathetically acted, that 'JR Hartley' has entered British popular culture. At least one 'Fly Fishing' book has since been published, allegedly written by 'JR Hartley'. Wikipedia covers it quite well.]
From Holt, in North Norfolk, Martin Tooke emailed As an ardent Land Rover fan I have enjoyed the film more than once, but not since I decided to buy a L-R older than the usual Series 3's I normally ran. So I came across Humphrey, a green SWB rather sad case, but he is from 1958 — I had decided if you are going to go tax exempt do it in style. [Pre 1973 vehicles in the UK need to be tested and registered annually, but as 'Historic Vehicles' there is no registration charge.] Bought from eBay, collected from Surrey one Sunday morning and left in my garden until I decided to start on him
I had received some provenance in the form of a British Motor Industry Heritage certificate. Although this was based on chassis number alone it, gave me certain information to verify his authenticity as well as the usual dating points used by L-R enthusiasts (screw-open vents etc). But the point I am drifting to is that after watching your film again, right at the end when the expedition reached Malaya, I saw the agents as Champion Motors Ltd. I remembered (and checked with my BMI certificate) that two years after that event my Landy was exported to those very agents in the April /May of 1958. Somehow Humphrey has made it back to this country, I've no idea how, but I was very proud to have possibly some form of concrete connection with your film. His build date is officially the 25th April 1958 so I shall be celebrating his 50th on that date (in 2008). He is still quite rough, but running and on the road as my main vehicle. At some point there will be a proper restoration when I get another tax-exempt (hopefully 1958) Land Rover so I don' t miss out on the unique driving experience. I am confident to still have him at his 60th.
And finally, from Jane Helwig, in Lancaster, SC, USA Just a note to tell you how very much my husband and I enjoyed watching your DVD. I discovered "First Overland" as an Audible.com download and within a few minutes of hearing the start of Tim Slessor's narration, became an enthusiast. I am in the process of enlightening all my friends and family now. The DVD was the perfect sequel to the narrated book.
Photo Opportunity
In a previous Newsletter, someone claimed that a particular vehicle was "I think the oldest L-R in one-person ownership in existence." Well, I'm not going to stir up that hornet's nest, but must report an email from Carol Hopper
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My late husband bought a LWB Station Wagon in 1958, and it has been used non-stop since and is still in full running order. It's used by our son whenever he comes over from Canada, which is every couple of months or so. He stripped it down and put in a new chassis, following which it passed its MOT first time. OK .... Father to son might not be classed as "one owner" but it sure counts in my book!!! I am attaching photo of the old LWB station wagon alongside my old Rangie which was 33 years old when I sold it on to be renovated. We do not believe in parting with our beloved Land Rovers! |
I realise that in previous Newsletters, I featured the restoration of my wife's own Series One (named 'Fido'), but never completed the story. Well, Fido is now safely back home, and a few moments ago I popped out to take a quick photo. You'll recognise the location as the spot in our barn where I filmed some of the DVD extra. There's still work to be done, of course — whenever is there not work to be done on a 52-year-old Land-Rover?! — but we went into town last week for her annual MOT mechanical test. There was then the visit to the Post Office to get that 'Historic Vehicle' registration. It really is very satisfying to push all the paperwork over the counter, and not have to include the cheque (currently £210 for the Freelander, and probably going to rise in the future because it's a 'dirty old diesel') to pay for it. |
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All this talk of expeditions brings me to an email from John Woodroffe. He won a copy of the 'FO' DVD that I provided for a competition in 'Land Rover Monthly' magazine, and we started a correspondence about the very quirky Turner Diesel engines that were fitted to some Series 1 L-Rs (in the absence then of a suitable Rover diesel). This led to some fascinating facts about an expedition named 'Operation Enterprise', and a report described as "An account of the gruelling 10,000 mile reliability trial over the Sahara Desert, jungles and mountains, undertaken by the Turner-Diesel Trans-African Test Team."
In view of the length that this Newsletter is already reaching, I think that this is something best saved for Newsletter 23 — and this time, John, I hope I won't keep you waiting as long!
With the daffodils visible from my office window, it's clear that this rather long, cold and damp Yorkshire winter may eventually move on, encouraging us to open the diary and see what Events to go to. I hope to be able to take the Roadshow to one or two, but can't make many plans because our second grandchild is due in the middle of June, and we will need to be on hand for emergency 'grand-daughter' sitting when the time comes. I am not being encouraged to double-book myself! But I will be going to the Land Rover Heritage Weekend at Gaydon on the May Bank Holiday Weekend (May 2nd/3rd).
And I'm honoured to say that once again the Museum have asked if I will join the talks panel, and give the hour-long version that I did last year. I don't know the exact time of this, but will let you all know when it's fixed. I've also arranged to be able to do the shorter 'RoadShow' version (say) every other hour during the two days — and this time safely under cover in the Museum Gallery, just where visitors leave the restaurant and can be grabbed... sorry, easily attracted to a free film show! No more rickety 'Freelander GazebOdeon'!
And I'm delighted to say that Michael Geary (who memorably unveiled his 'Oxford' replica to the world at Gaydon last year, and reunited Tim Slessor with it) is planning to bring both 'Oxford' and the new 'Cambridge' replica, that he's been working on since a suitable base vehicle was promised to him during a RoadShow at Chepstow. If all goes according to plan, we should be seeing the two parked back to back, with a replica tent between them — Michael really is taking this seriously.
But be warned — the Heritage Weekend arrangements are a little different this year. The Saturday will be a Land Rover Clearout Day, and the traditional Heritage Land Rover Show itself will be limited to the Sunday. But it'll still be a full weekend of Land Rover interest, and I'll be there throughout. For more details visit the Heritage Motor Centre website.
You might wonder what's the point of featuring a book about an expedition in a trio of yoghurt-pot-and-cardboard cars from Eastern Germany in a newsletter devoted to Land-Rover expeditions. But there is a good reason.
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A few months ago I had a phone call from James Ferguson. It was his Signal Books publishing company that took the calculated risk of reprinting Tim Slessor's book, and so led to the great revival of interest in 'First Overland', and ultimately the production of the DVD. Would I be interested in seeing (and reviewing) his latest venture? — an account of a rather hare-brained trip by a group of young adventurers from the Trabant factory in Zwickau in what was the Democratic German Republic to (eventually) Cambodia. It appeared that there was actually a slightly closer link to 'FO' — some of the team had been influenced in their desire to travel by Tim Slessor's book, and the author, Dan Murdoch, had approached him for advice on how to get something similar published. Tim had naturally recommended Signal Books, and it went on from there. So even if your preference is for Birmabright bodywork and a 1997cc engine, bear with me — this "half lawnmower, half Tupperware" expedition shares a pedigree of sorts with us. 'Trabant Trek' was based on the blog that Dan, a young journalist, composed in remote internet cafes along a route that took in Turkey, a number of 'stans' — Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan — Russia and Mongolia, before heading south through China and so down into Laos and Cambodia. Much of the terrain was wilder (and considerably colder) than the 'FO' route, and the Trabants were cars that are generally considered to be one of the biggest automotive jokes to come out of the Communist era. So, how does the book compare with Tim's original? And here all of a sudden I feel very, very old — as I said on the DVD, 'FO' largely succeeded because of one (very unfashionable in 2009) word — Discipline. The team were of an age where National Service (usually a spell in the military) was an accepted part of being a young man in Britain; they had experienced what was needed to rub along with a disparate group of others, and become 'a team'. They had some idea of how to organise things efficiently. Before they set out on September 1st 1955, they had planned, checked, double-planned and checked again. They might not have known ALL of the answers for the 18-thousand-mile journey ahead, but they knew most of them, and knew how they would find the right answers when the time arose. They had new vehicles, supplied by the manufacturer, and had been trained in their maintenance. There was an efficient network of support stretching ahead of them. It wouldn't be easy, but at least they were prepared. |
'Trabant Trek' had none of that. When they set out in July 2007 with the aim of having an adventure, and raising money for disadvantaged Cambodian children, the 5 male, 3 female group from a mix of countries (and no one common language) were hardly a cohesive 'team'. But somehow they managed (generally) to rub along together — the exact line-up changed from time to time along the way as money and/or time ran out, or families back at home insisted on repatriation of their 'endangered' young ones, but generally they forged relationships with each other that translated into 'crews' for individual cars... and nobody actually killed anyone else in frustration and anger.
Because frustration and anger were always just under the surface. The main cause was the cars themselves. The Trabant 'people's car' would not be the first choice for the majority of explorers, but for the Trekkers that very fact was part of the attraction. After all, these cars were cheap to source, and (being unpopular in modern Eastern Europe) could be picked up for a song. They were also so simple that anything that went wrong could probably be fixed with a hammer and a piece of bent wire. But they took a few sensible precautions — the three cars (painted in eye-catching colour schemes, and given nicknames) were first entrusted to one of Hungary's most knowledgeable Trabant enthusiasts for a thorough check, and a decrepit Mercedes station wagon was bought as a 'support vehicle', and loaded up with as many spare engines and other bits as it would carry. What could go wrong?
Pretty much everything. For a start, the Hungarian Trabant enthusiast proved to be not as knowledgeable as they thought, and his carefully prepared vehicles hardly got out of his yard before they started to fail. The Mercedes was also a serious handicap, as if anything it was in a worse state than the Trabbies, and a stock of spare Merc parts might have been a better investment. Let's just say that Günter's tyres never sampled Cambodian soil. And did Ziggy, Dante and Fez make it all the way through? I'm not going to say, but I will hint that a flat-bed truck was an essential part of getting through to the exit point of China before the visas ran out. 'First Overland' this was not.
And what makes that point better than anything else was the technological difference half a century makes. Adrian Cowell needed a manual typewriter and tons of carbon paper to keep an efficient office going as Oxford and Cambridge crossed the continents. Air Mail and Telex were the order of the day. BB had to wait until his film footage had been shipped to the UK and processed before the home team could write a letter to him to point out that one of the lens hoods on his camera turret was getting into the view of one of the other lenses. In contrast, Dan Murdoch kept the world up to date by finding internet cafes in the most remote places, and updating his blog, illustrated with digital pics that could be instantly previewed. And always there was the constant need to find an ATM machine to get more cash to pay for welding. In fact, that was one of the least-explained parts of the book — where all the money came from, and how the expedition was going to aid the Cambodian children.
And, at the risk of sounding just like my father, it was that half-century of 'progress' that caused me the most disquiet with 'Trabant Trek'. I found it very difficult to identify with this disparate, often-squabbling crew as they bungled their way across borders and mountain ranges. I kept waiting for the 'story to start' — to reach the point where they realised the folly of their approach, and pulled themselves together. But I must remember that most of these adventurers were younger than my own son. What they were doing was perfectly valid for the 21st Century, whether or not it was the way that I (or Tim, BB and the others) would have done it.
They had fun, they had a great experience, and one of them wrote a book about it so we could share their way of doing things. You can't say fairer than that.
'Trabant Trek' (ISBN 978-1-904955-50-4) is published by Signal Books
In the next Newsletter, I hope to have some interesting news about some more early L-R exploration film footage, and maybe a report from Gaydon. If you're going to be there, come and introduce yourself. To end, in a previous Newsletter I referred to a cocktail called 'The Gay Explorer' (not, perhaps, an expression we would use nowadays!) BB came up with the details:
At a venture I contacted the President of the Bartenders Association, whose predecessor composed a special cocktail in our honour for a departure party (perhaps at the Dorchester). I asked him if he could find the recipe, which he soon did, much to his surprise. It is composed of 3 parts Vodka, 2 parts Yellow Chartreuse, one part Lemon Juice. I recall it being very potent! Pity we didn't know that at the anniversary [visit that the team made to Singapore in 2006]— we could have enjoyed one at the Long Bar in Raffles, though the name might have raised eyebrows.
Cheers! See you at Gaydon!
GRAEME ALDOUS
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