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FIRST OVERLAND NEWSLETTER 41The 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, and the subsequent 'After
Overland' adventures of the two cars. |
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The launch party invitation
The 'Last Overland' Expedition is set to go on Sunday August 25th. SNX891 — the original 'Oxford' car from 1955, rescued from a pile of scrap on St.Helena and brought back to life by Adam Bennett — will set out from Singapore on August 25th, to drive back to London. With two other Land Rovers in a convoy, it will return via the old military roads through the jungles of Burma (now Myanmar) that the original 'First Overland' expedition used on their outward journey in 1956... a part of the journey that the cars didn't re-trace because they were shipped to Calcutta and Rangoon so that academic studies could be completed.
However, as Pat Murphy has just told me, "The Last Overland Expedition is not taking the Ledo (Stillwell) Road which we took in January 1956. It is probably now virtually impassable at any time of year, but totally so during the monsoon period — the rivers will be far too wide and deep to ford. Instead they are taking the other military road, the 14th Army Imphal Road, which has been considerably reconstructed to be an all-weather highway link from Burma (Myanmar) into India (Assam Province)." So it won't be a slavish following of the 1950s route, but the spirit will still be there. In fact, although this 'return trip' will fill in the missing part of the original journey, 21st Century political realities will also force them to take a more northerly (and higher-altitude!) path back to Europe. They hope to be back into London before Christmas.
And although we've known of this plan for some time, the formal announcement was made at The Grenadier in London's Belgravia on Wednesday August 7th, with press coverage... and even a 'live' interview into ITV's London evening news! The Grenadier (once an officers' mess, now a renowned London pub) was chosen because it was from there that the original 'First Overland' expedition set off on September 1st 1955.
 Nigel Newbery, Pat Murphy and Tim Slessor, with the 'Cambridge' replica |
 The Cambridge Replica arrives | The 'Oxford' car (SNX891) couldn't be there, of course, because it's in Singapore. Neither could 'Cambridge' (SNX761) because, as we know from previous Newsletters, it was lost on a subsequent expedition down a Middle East ravine, and (through time, geography and politics) must be considered as lost for ever. But it could be represented at The Grenadier by Steve Kerss' replica, built by Michael Geary. |
 Nigel Newbery (centre) arrives, with Jutta and Pat Murphy |
The 'Trans-Africa' car PAC519 | But if 'Cambridge' was a fake at The Grenadier, the other Series 1 parked outside was the very genuine article... and another of Adam Bennett's 'finds'. PAC519 was one of the cars that preceeded 'First Overland', being one of the 'Trans Africa' vehicles from an Oxford & Cambridge Expedition in 1954 — the later (third) OxCam expedition was to the New World. Adam's researches led to a house in Stokesley, in North Yorkshire, where one of the 'Trans Africa' cars was living, with a different registration. With the same determination that he showed with the rescuing of SNX891, he persuaded to owner to part with the car, refurbished it, and got its old registration back. It was also the surprise 'taxi' that took us from Kings Cross Station to The Grenadier that morning. |
PAC519 on the Euston Road |
Oddly, just a week or so before Adam definitely identified the car, I'd received an order for a 'First Overland' DVD from a Stokesley address, and as I was planning to drive past the town on the way to Northallerton the next day, I didn't put it in the mail, but delivered it myself. I arrived at the house at the same time as a courier, and as signing for that package was obviously going to take a few minutes, I just handed over my envelope and left, with no time to glance around the yard. The car was probably shut away in a shed, and anyway would have had a number that would have meant nothing, but it was quite a shock to get a call from Adam, and realise that I'd been within a few feet of a car as historically important as 'Oxford'. One of the original 'Trans Africa' team, Ross Charlton, joined us at The Grenadier, and was reunited with his old car — in suprisingly good fettle considering it was twice involved in an 'incident' on the expedtion which required ingenious recovery, followed by panel-beating! |
 Ross Charlton |
 Tim is interviewed for Singapore TV | But let's be frank — the story that makes 'Last Overland' newsworthy is not the age of SNX891... it's the age of Tim Slessor! Now 87, no journalist can resist the tale of a man so fired up by an expedition he made 64 years ago that he wants to 'fill in the gap' on the return journey. So although Ross, Nigel and Pat (and the members of the 'Last Overland' team) were all interviewed, at was (quite rightly) Tim who had the major time in front of the TV and magazine cameras. Even Singapore TV had sent a (London-based) crew to speak to him. And unfortunately, therein lay a possible hitch — at the time of the launch, there was a small possibility that Tim wouldn't be going... at least in the short term. A flare-up of an old health problem took him into hospital, and needed some surgery to rectify. As Alex Bescoby of Grammar Productions (who are organising and filming the 'Last Overland' event) said: But Tim is tough, determined to realise his dream, and now is in Singapore, preparing for the departure. You will, I'm sure, join me in wishing him a continued and full recovery, and bon voyage. |
 Alex Bescoby |
 Tim & Alex on the pub steps | But as Alex announced to us all gathered outside The Grenadier, there was a Plan B. In a remarkable echo of Tim's own 1955 situation, his grandson Nat George has just graduated from university, and has a few months' spare before the need to find gainful employment becomes urgent. Although he's never driven an early Land-Rover, and is puzzled by such expressions as 'double de-clutching', he's willing to learn, and to go along and give Tim moral (and family) support. |
 Tim's grandson, Nat George |
Pat and Nigel are flying out to Singapore on August 21st, so all the remaining 'First Overland' team will be there at the start of the journey on the 25th. Tim will, I'm sure, be behind the wheel of 'Oxford' as they set off north. Then a few days later he, Pat and Nigel will return to the UK. I (slightly) envy all those who are attempting the trip, but I hope that my part will come nearer Christmas... when the wheels hit UK soil again at Dover or Folkestone, I intend to be filming those wheels, and then being part of the proposed Land-Rover convoy that accompanies 'Last Overland' back to London. And as a pictorial reminder of the day in Wilton Row, Belgravia, on August 7th 2019, a picture of the main participants: |
The 'First & Last Overland' personnel |
I had my camera with me at The Grenadier, and will be putting together a little video capturing the flavour of the day, and will be emailing again with a link when its finished. All the pictures here are screen grabs from that footage. But in the meantime I also have two audio clips that you might like to hear. A few weeks ago, Marcus was holidaying in our area, so I took the opportunity to record a chat with him about the expedtion. You can hear it here: |
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But it was only my pocket camera I had in London, for ease of getting on and off the train, and by mid-afternoon the battery had gone low. While it was charging up for the vital speeches, I did an audio-only recording with the owner of the 'Cambridge' replica Steve Kerss, and Michael Geary who contructed the look-alike, and has rebuilt the engines of all the original expedition cars. You can hear it here: |
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The Expedition got away on time, but sadly without Tim after all — he was taken ill again in Singapore on the eve of the send off, and hospitalised. He was adamant that the Expedition should leave on time and not wait for him, so they reluctantly did so. It's very much hoped that his determination to take part will allow him to catch up with them in Malaysia. There is a Facebook post which shows the impressive convoy leaving, taken from a road overbridge. [Pet Rant: Why, when people go through real life in wide screen and watch television that way, do they persist in holding their phones upright to take video?!!]
To follow the 'Last Overland' journey online, the social media links are @thelastoverland / #thelastoverland. Alex also has an email newsletter that you can sign up if you click here. The expedition website has all the information you need to follow the team, including their biographies — it's www.lastoverland.com.
GRAEME ALDOUS.
Previous 'First Overland' Newsletters are available here.
To subscribe to this Newsletter, and receive notice of updates, please visit my Subscribe Page.
The 'After Overland' web page is afteroverland.co.uk, and 'First Overland' is teeafit.co.uk/firstoverland.
And a reminder of my DVD titles still on sale, priced at £22 (including postage) worldwide — you can order them via the DVD sales page, where you'll also find the Vimeo download details.
