An important vehicle on any aerodrome is the fuel tender or fuel bowser. Ours is a 1941 Ford 3-ton truck with a tank built by Brown Steel Tank, Brandon. During the war, Ford maintained the previous years’ styling on their heavy-duty trucks in 1941, with “freestanding” headlights as seen on our fuel tender. RCAF Ford 3-ton trucks usually had a dual rear axle, but the fuel tenders only had one. We believe that our truck might have seen service at a school run by the British (note the tag on the tank that is stamped with “Royal Air Force”), perhaps in Carberry, Souris, or Neepawa. Restoration, including fabricating replica booms, was done by museum volunteers.
Some photos of fuel tenders from the archives.
Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum & RCAF WWII Memorial 