Saving Old Seagulls

Don't mind "chum" not so happy with the "Old" even if it is true.

Thought I'd got my bus pass, but the Bas***ds have moved the goal posts back a year!

I'm sure I don't have to remind you that the barmaids at my local think you're my Dad!

And I'm old enough to get free prescriptions...

I think both Charleses have to own up. That's not an engine stand -- that's a zimmer.

I'm not owning up to anything.

The coroner gave an open verdict on why my last girlfriend had chosen to crawl out to the garage only to get trapped under the up & over door, I only noticed she was missing when the washing up started overflowing the sink.

Who can understand the logic of women, she hated the zimmer, & didn't like using it.

RickUK wrote:Slightly off-topic, but I wish we could quell or correct the tales about Seagulls for military service. I'm sure that the MOD of the day ordered Seagulls in excessive numbers as they were probably prone to do, and I assume Seagulls possibly had a place for pontoon manoueuvering [...]

You might find some of this stuff interesting:

BRIDGE AND ASSAULT CROSSING EQUIPMENT

ASSAULT BOAT MKIV
Assault Boats were folding boats with a plywood floor, wooden gunwales and canvas sides. [...]

There were three ways of propelling the assault boat.
- it could be rowed with four men using paddles.
- it could be powered by a Seagull outboard motor. This was noisy and prevented any surprise.[...]

The Assault Boat MkIV had the following dimensions
Length - 17 foot 6 inches
Width - 6 foot
Height - 2 foot 8 inches
Weight - 415lb

A Divisional Field Park Company Royal Engineers carried 48 assault boats.
A Bridging Company carried 24 assault boats


FOLDING BOAT EQUIPMENT MkIII.

Decked Raft Class 5.
This was simple to build and operate but needed landing stages on both banks. It was a single floating bay of two boats and a standard 19 foot 6 inch length of roadway and so could later be incorporated into a bridge.[...]

The decked raft could be operated as a ferry with cables strung across the water obstacle. Power could be outboard motors, winches, or paddles.

Ferries.
Any of the decked rafts could be used as a ferry. [...] The raft can then be powered by whatever means is available. Oars and propulsion units are not suitable because of a lack of space but outboard motors and winches can be used. If necessary the raft can be powered by men hauling on the cable.

The Tracked Raft.
The Tracked Raft used two folding boats but otherwise was a different equipment. It could not be used as part of a bridge or in any but the basic form.[ ...]

The tracked raft can be powered by;
- Oars. Five oars are provided for each boat, usually two are for steering.
- Propulsion unit. An engine is carried in the bows of the boat and the propulsion unit fitted to the stern. Usually only one set is used per raft.
- Seagull outboard motor. This is clamped to the stern of one of the boats.

From: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/bridges/28543-bridges.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Brilliant! I had never seen that before, and I shall read further...

Any idea of the date for this, this sort of ties up with the SD instruction book, comments Charles.

Sorry I didn't spot the fins on those 102's, thanks Charles.

Any line drawings - and even photographs - are suspect. British Seagull were frugal with their costs, and fresh printing plates were probably avoided is there was a basic similarity between the motor being advertised and th one they had already engraved!.

This kind of thing.

I also found this in a copy of 'The Sapper':
Seagull Outboard Motors
Charles Palfreeman is compiling a history of British Seagull and their range of outboard motors. During WW2 over 10,000 were supplied from the Burma campaign onwards. He is interested in any memories, or particularly photographs or documents that would support the story. The manufacturers say that large numbers of them, accompanied by inflatable craft, were supplied in the early stages of the Normandy landings which were later abandoned and then used for years by French fishermen and sailors. Many still survive in Normandy to this day. Anyone who can help is asked to contact Charles Palfreeman at ...

His contact details can be found at:
http://content.yudu.com/Library/A18cpm/ ... ces/53.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(thought it best not to publish his address or email)


Also - Google turned up this:

The Oxford University Arctic Expedition, North East Land, 1935-36
by AR Glen - 1937 - Cited by 29 - Related articles
Royal Engineers (surveyor), J. W. Wright (surveyor), D. B. Keith (biologist), and K. J. ... Seagull outboard engine, kindly presented by Messrs. John Marston of ...
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1787611" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So at least one Seagull has been to the Artic !
Can't read the full article, as I don't have a subscription ...
Be nice to know how the ol' Seagull got on at such low temperatures ... ?

Damn right, I don't want my contact details plastered over the forum, I get enough contact anyway...

I had one single response from that, one gentleman wrote to me. I didn't get the stuff you've just posted, however. The only concrete reference I have I had to buy on the evilBay with some rich enthusiast bidding against me. Both of us bid way more than it was worth, but I got it eventually. The other bidder was, coincidentally, also called Charles.

I asked for help and information from all sorts of sources, but the return was massively disappointing.

charlesp wrote:Damn right, I don't want my contact details plastered over the forum, I get enough contact anyway...

I had one single response from that, one gentleman wrote to me. I didn't get the stuff you've just posted, however. The only concrete reference I have I had to buy on the evilBay with some rich enthusiast bidding against me. Both of us bid way more than it was worth, but I got it eventually. The other bidder was, coincidentally, also called Charles.

I asked for help and information from all sorts of sources, but the return was massively disappointing.

Hello Charles - no idea it was you ! Strewth - there's an awful lot of Charles' in this 'ere Seagull world - must be something in the water ... ?

What did you type into Google to get that reference about the Arctic stuff? I have tried all manner of things but I never found that one...

Later on the British Antarctic Survey used Seagulls. They got on just fine, apparently. Of course the water temperature isn't that cold, but even so, it's quite an achievement.

charlesp wrote:What did you type into Google to get that reference about the Arctic stuff? I have tried all manner of things but I never found that one...

Later on the British Antarctic Survey used Seagulls. They got on just fine, apparently. Of course the water temperature isn't that cold, but even so, it's quite an achievement.

"Royal Engineers" "Seagull outboard" (quotes 'as written') shows as 4th down on page 2 of results.

Came up purely by chance - beginners luck !

That expedition was 1935 to 36 & used a 22ft whale boat with a small Seagull, no pictures of the boat in that document.

So probably OA, OE or an OF, "small " would preclude an OB.

I wonder what happened to it?