Inside the Chieftain's Hatch: FV622 Stalwart MkII

Yet another vehicle then available for sale at Rock Island Auction Company. A highly capable, off-road, off-land vehicle. Final sale price: $13,800

[piritskenyer]

"if warning signs start going off, immediately turn on the bilge pump, which I thought would be a no brainer, but whatever" - Sir, this is the British Army, not the Royal Navy. :D

[deanstuart]

In 1965 Trooper Robin Wilfred Painter of the 11th Hussars stole a Stalwart with the intention of taking it from his base in Germany to Ireland via Liverpool. This involved him in attempting to swim the Stalwart across the English Channel. He was forced to turn back due to an apparent lack of fuel, landing in Calais after sailing from Belgium. However the fuel in the reserve tank would have gotten him to the UK, only he didn't know that it was there.

Painter was Court Martialled and got 8 months in Colchester, but remained in the Army. The details were reported in The Times from 24th November 1965.

[johnt]

The touring company I worked for bought a Stally. Used it for an amphibious tour vehicle. The best I can say about it is that it drove like a boat and floated like a truck.

[rmod]

Ah the Stalwart - another of those wonderful post war British vehicles that still looks like it comes from the future, 60 years after it was made.

[bob_the_bomb]

We still had these in the British Army in the 80's. Great off road transport but we weren't allowed to swim them anymore.

Surprised nobody has mentioned the story that a soldier apparently stole one of these from his camp in Germany and then drove home in it. To the UK. Apparently he made it some way over the channel.

[rows]

Drove the Stolly on exercise in Germany many times during the 70s/80s. It's exhaust would glow bright red at night due to the heat from the 8 cyl engine. It's party trick was to turn the ignition off for a couple of seconds, then back on, the unburnt fuel would cause a jet of flame to fly out of the exhaust with a very loud bang. Best done at 0200 whilst passing through a German village.

[beachley]

As REME Corporal I ran the Stalwart repair section at 1Div Tpt Regt in Nienburg Germany. Only one problem was if it broke down it had to be unloaded before you could get at the engine.

[karlp]

I had a die cast Corgi model of the Stalwart as a young kid. I thought it was the coolest looking thing ever. I didn't even realise it was amphibious. Imagine my delight when I visited the Gold Coast in Queensland and they had them as tourist coaches complete with water trip. The British Army sold them off (1970s?) and they were snapped up by..guess who. It's a superb farm vehicle, incredibly practical, doesn't damage fields too much and obviously can go anywhere.

[johnwilliams]

I served with Bob Painter after he came out of Colchester ‘nick’. He was a Cherrypicker 11th Hussars, Red Trousers, from their old CO Lord Cardigan of Balaclava fame. Bob just got browned off and decided to go home, he took a Stolly and stared driving filling up at NATO bases on route. When on Orders in front of his C.O. he was told that if he had got across the channel it would have been written off as a publicity stunt.
Decent block strong willed.
John

[camrenwick]

We had Stalwarts in the Regiment I served with (1977 - 1985). I agree, they were amazing fun to drive off road. They would just ride any holes or bumps like a wave. And yes, they do require a lot of maintenance.

[SedanChevy]

No matter how boring the Saturday, it always becomes interesting when there's a new Chieftain video!

[johnellison]

Worked on loads of these - always remember them pulling left when the clutch was pressed and right when they accelerate - even managed to get the angled nose to hit the ground doing 2 footed braking to try to free a clutch resulting in the engine cover flying over the roof lol.

[mozki]

We used them still in the late 80's early 90's in BAOR.
Bashing the wheels into a road curb also worked a treat for unwinding the transmission. Also slightly scary is when the steering locks while driving. If I remember correctly it's air assisted so you either stop to build more air ( not recommend on an autobahn, ) or give the engine more gas!!!.... and hopefully it releases before you hit whatever you are driving towards when the steering locked.
Absolutely fabulous cross country vehicle though.

[iainsmith]

Just found this channel. On a par with forgotten weapons ie excellent. Nice dry sense of humour.

[kbm]

I have not watched this yet but already I have given a thumbs up. Drove these in BAOR in the mid them. I have now watched this video, that is one well messy Stally, nothing like an original British Army model. I understand about the lighting system...HST to those that know, but that is a poorly looking Stally. As the "Chieftain" mentions, there is no more fun vehicle to drive off road than this, remember how old this thing is, its amazing.

[rickansell]

Tank related thing: For many many years Chieftain and Challenger were refuelled in the field from Stalwarts fitted with semi-permanent (had to be craned out for maintenance, of which there was a fair amount) fuel and pump packs.

As a civilian on attachment I once had the privilege of helping out with a Tactical Replen as part of the Stolly fuel crew. Fun in the pitch black with MBTs driving by inches from your face and handing up the hose. They had Night Vision of course, but I didn't.

From my memory of extensive work with the list of UK Army Equipment, including official names, types and roles, 'Lorry' didn't appear once, Truck it was, all the time.

[johnpreisler]

I loves me some Chieftain on a Saturday morning. Despite the lack of track tension.

[thetourettesgamer]

Love vehicles of this series! My grandad was with the first royal dragoons from 1956-59 and he worked mainly in Daimler armoured cars but he also worked with Daimler dingos, Alvis Saladins, Alvis saracens and centurion tanks. He was a radio operator and he thoroughly enjoyed his time in the military and I’ve shown him some of your videos along with those of the AFV god david fletcher and he found them really interesting.

[yfelwulf]

LORRY is a shortened version of a Latin word I can't locate it was originally a 4 wheeled Roman Cart with a Flat Tray for carrying goods something like Lorica, Lorricus or Loricum. In the UK a horse drawn cart with a flat tray was called a LORRY the name just continued. Throughout their empire (not just in Britain) the Romans used a number of vehicles to travel. The carrus (CAR) was an open chariot which carried a driver and a passenger and was drawn by two horses. The carpentium was a more luxurious version and was covered by an arched cloth. It was drawn by mules and was used by women and officials. The cisium was a cab with two seats. It was open at the top and front and was drawn by two horses or mules. Coaches (raeda) were wagons with four wheels with box-like high sides and seats along them and were drawn by a team of oxen, horses or mules. It carried several people and luggage and its carriage limit was about 327 Kg (687 lb.)

The definition of a carriage is "A horse-drawn passenger vehicle" It is also a railroad Passenger Car.

The Romans had names for specific types of carriages just a we have names for specific types of motor cars such as a sedan, suv, van, etc. In Latin, the word for a carriage in general was "VEHICULIM ". A "carpentum" or a "pilentum" was a small light usually two-wheeled carriage and a "raeda" or a "petorritum" was a larger, four wheeled traveling carriage, usually quite comfortable.

TRUCK
Compared to the fog surrounding “lorry, ” the roots of “truck” in the “large vehicle” sense  are satisfyingly clear.  “Truck, ” which first appeared in English around 1611 meaning “small wheel or roller” (specifically the sort mounted under cannons aboard warships), is a shortened form of the older word “truckle, ” meaning “wheel, roller or pulley, ” which appeared in the 15th century and was derived from the Latin “trochlea, ” meaning “pulley.”  The first use of “truck” in print in its modern sense of “wheeled vehicle used for transporting heavy items” came in 1774.

Here is the definition of LORINUM in English a bridle rein.

LORARIUS Harness Maker or Flogger

LOREMA Bridle or Bit

LORAMENTUM Strap

LORIMARIA bits, buckles, and other metal work for harness.

[DonegalOverlanding]

We uploaded a video of us camping with one. Our friend has a Stalwart and we loaded it up with camping gear and went out on the loch. What a machine!