1946 Beetle, KUV 346

[Martin Southwell]

Hold on to your seats, as there is a whole lot more information to come over the next few days, particularly as a number of people find KUV's history of interest. Unfortunately, my scanner still isn't working, and so it's photo's of photos I'm afraid.

The picture below shows the result of me writing to the local paper, The Bristol Evening Post, asking for their help in tracking down previous owners. Don't forget, that these were pre internet days, and finding out information about anything was a whole sight harder, if not impossible.

In the picture you'll see a much younger self (Was my hair really that dark, whilst sporting a 70's moustache?), and as the reporter arrived much earlier than I had expected, I was still in the process of applying primer by brush to the bare metal, to try and make it look a whole sight more presentable. You'll note the NOS Pope's nose just placed on the engine lid, plus I still have that self winding, Timex watch somewhere.

You'll note that the endevour was successful, as the second owner, a Michael Allen came forward, and he's the person who supplied me the photograph at the start of this blog, showing himself on the left, and his brother on the right. On the back of the photo I've written, taken about 1956, outside 57, New Queen St, Kingswood, Bristol, which is about 1 mile where I last lived in Bristol. To think the photo was taken at a time when I was just old enough to contemplate leaving the pram behind!

[Martin Southwell]

The letter seen below, is that I received from Michael Allen, as a result of the newspaper article above. I've added a 'translation' of it, for those who can't decipher it, and/or English not being their 1st language.

If you care to ring me on 642368 after 7.30pm most nights, I can furnish you with some of the information you require concerning KUV 346.

I sold the car to Kingsway Motors (Which is still going), and was the 2nd owner of the car – regret I’m a little vague on 1st owner, but can help you quite a lot about it.

Back page says: My wife – who was quite fond of the car, has found a photograph of the car in its original state. Saddens me to look at it, as I look rather youthful on it, and am not now!!

I work in the motor trade, and am sure I bought it from a dealer friend - mutual to 1st owner, and myself. You are welcome to visit, and bring a pad + pen, as my wife and I spent endless hours refurbishing it, as you will see from photograph.

[Stetoppingphoto]

Very interesting read!

Is there a picture of the car today?
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stetoppingphoto

[Grant Reiling]

[Martin Southwell]

Hello again. Back on track with the history of KUV 346, and as you will see at some stage later, there have been some interesting developments taking place in the past few days. Bearing in mind, that I've been trying to find the 1st owner of this car for 45 years now, and had almost given up hope.

Anyway, you'll be able to see from the various photos about to follow, that in the early 80's, in those pre internet days, I was looking in every direction possible to try and find the 1st owner. Below, you will see that I wrote to the RAF News in 1988, as the 2nd owner had told me that the 1st owner was a Wing Commander in the RAF, but his name escaped him 14 years on. There was no response, but bear in mind what I asked here, as it becomes relevant later on, and shows I was on the right track.

You'll also see that I wrote to the UK Forces vehicle registration people in Germany, to see if they still held any records, and again drew a blank, although the attitude was helpful.

[finster]

fifty quid fifty quid...for a banana bumper, cog logoed, cable braked kdf...
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"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...

[RichOakley]

[finster]

hunner'n'sixty quid hunner'n'sixty quid...for a banana bumper, cog logoed, cable braked kdf...
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"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...

[Martin Southwell]

The truth is probably that somebody told him £150, but this figure got lost in the mists of time, and ended up as £50. I was just looking to see what house prices were like in 1947 for a comparison, and found this article: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/dec/30/from-the-archive-1947-a-year-of-soaring-house-prices

It is headed From the archive, 1947: A year of soaring house prices. 30 December 1947: Anything up to £1,500 is being asked and obtained for houses which went for £500 or £600 in 1939

The year 1947 has seen a boom in house property prices which throws the post-war boom of 1920-1 almost into the shade. Although since 1946 all classes of house property have advanced in price the demand for houses with vacant possession has been extraordinarily keen, and is to-day probably keener than ever.

In the more select residential districts within easy access of Manchester it is not uncommon for the better types of houses, selling to-day at from £3,000 to £4,000, to command almost four times their pre-war selling price, and three times the price is regarded by a partner in the well-known firm of Manchester auctioneers and valuers, Messrs. C. W. Provis and Sons, as a “moderate estimate.”

[RichOakley]

[RichOakley]

I think I may have covered this topic on thesamba before, but here goes: By early 1947, despite parts shortages (actually, in the winter of '46/'47, it was mainly fuel shortages that were delaying production at Wolfsburg), there was a projected over-production of cars for the occupying forces' needs. By late '46, the German Volkswagen dealer network was in its infancy, with the first cars being sold to Herr Joe Public in July '46. It was decided that 10% of surplus production throughout the year would be offered to Service personnel and associated occupations from the British and US forces- 800 cars allocated to each country, so 1,600 units total.

If you were an eligible US citizen stationed in Germany and you wished to purchase one of these "PX cars" (as the US allotted vehicles were known), you essentially put your name into a hat and names were drawn out at random, as to who would be assigned a vehicle, or so the story goes.

If you were a Brit, you had to apply in writing to the UK Foreign Office in London and if you were lucky, you would be allotted a vehicle and asked to send a cheque to London for £160. This £160 covered the purchase price plus UK purchase tax, so you were eligible to eventually bring the car back to the UK with you. When your car was ready to be collected, I assume that the car would be shipped to wherever in Germany you were stationed.

So, where does all this fit into the story of KUV 346? Well, I have a list of all the cars allocated under this scheme between January and October 1947- 760 units in total. This document is from the Foreign Office in London and doesn't list any vehicle details, unfortunately, but does list the owner's name, address, rank etc.

Martin had heard anecdotally back in the early 80's that the first owner, who brought the car into the UK during 1949, was an RAF Squadron Leader, from around the South West of the UK. I had a look at my foreign office list- most people on there are fairly high-ranking, which would make sense as £160 was a reasonable amount of money at the time. Very few personnel from the RAF are on the Foreign Office vehicle list, but one person, who was allotted a vehicle, car number 227 (around Apr/May 1947), seemed to fit the profile of KUV's first owner. A chap by the name of Flight Lieutenant Harrison, stationed in Hannover (where the car was originally supplied new according to the birth certificate).

From my list...

A bit of quick research on Fl/L Harrison showed that he was from the South West of England (correct place), was promoted to Squadron Leader (correct rank) and returned to the UK in 1949 (correct year). This was all starting to get quite interesting! I handed all this information over to Martin last week, I'm sure he'll enjoy the onwards research!
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1947 Beetle
1956 RHD Karmann Cabrio
1956 RHD Beetle
1957 RHD Pitt-Moto Type 2 Camper
1959 RHD Beetle
1966 RHD Type 3 Fastback
1976 RHD Sun Beetle

[finster]

superb sleuthing, fascinating stuff
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"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...

[Martin Southwell]

All interesting stuff, and it becomes even more interesting, which you'll see at a later stage. Before that, I wanted to show some of the lengths I had gone to previously, to try and find out the history of the car. Knowing from VW's letter that the the car was suppllied new to Keuch, Hannover, I wrote to German embassy in London, and asked which newspaper in that city was the main local newspaper, to try and solve the mystery of Keuch, Hannover. Remember, this was all pre internet.

This turned out to be Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, and so I wrote to them, explaining what it was I was looking for, with the results seen in the first 2 pictures, with the 3rd photo showing the letter I subsequently received back from them. There are still a few few 46/7s around that were supplied through Keuch, Hannover, including Rod Sleigh's 46, and so this information will be of interest to these owners also.

And so, I duly wrote to the gentleman whose details I had been supplied with, and received a letter in return, which can be seen in the 2 photo's below, explaining about Mr Keuch, and his history. Another step forward in the hunt for the history of KUV 346.

[Martin Southwell]

So, with the great help of Rich Oakley this week, we at least now had a name to go on, and with the further help of Richard Cotton, and his long standing family history skills and experience, we started looking for Leonard Henry Harrison. Initially, Richard thought that might be difficult, as Harrison, so he informed me, is quite a common name. Before Richard got back to me with a myriad of details, I put the name in my search engine, not expecting much, and immediately this came up on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Harrison_(RAF_officer)

Leonard Henry Harrison (6 January 1905[1] – 15 July 1989) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer who was awarded the George Cross "for acts of exceptional coolness and courage on several occasions"[2] in defusing unexploded German bombs during the Second World War.[3][4] Having joined the RAF in 1922, he served as Civilian Armament Instructor at a RAF armament training school in 1940 and was an authority on explosive fuse systems. He used this expertise to render many munitions safe, including a bomb with a previously unknown fuse that had lodged in the deck of a grain carrier which struggled into Immingham Docks, which he defused with Flight Lieutenant John Noel Dowland. He also defused a device on a fishing boat in the Humber. His award was published in the London Gazette and was also covered by the Saturday News Chronicle of 4 January 1941.[2]

In 1941, he was given a commission on probation as an acting pilot officer.[4] This was subsequently confirmed and he was made up to flying officer in May 1942. Promotion to the rank of flight lieutenant followed in 1944.

He was part of a scheme to booby trap captured fuses and smuggle them into German ammunition stores so that bombs would exploded when being dropped, so destroying the enemy aircraft. The Germans discovered the scheme but were forced to destroy large numbers of fuses as a precaution. He served as honorary treasurer of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association.

Harrison retired with the rank of wing commander in 1949, but remained in civilian appointments with the Air Ministry until 1970. He died on 15 July 1989,[5] leaving a son, Leonard Jnr, and a daughter, Pat.

More reading on the man can be seen here: http://www.vconline.org.uk/leonard-h-harrison-gc/4589219347.html

Richard has identified someone who we believe to be this person's daughter, born in 1944, and with no reason to believe she has died in the interim. I have written to her, asking if there is a family connection with KUV 346. If the car was purchased in 1947, and sold in 1956, then she would have been between the ages of 3 and 12 for these years, and so, short of dementia, etc, would surely be able to remember the car. Interestingly, she still lives at the same house her mother and father did in 1939, according to the 1939 census.

I obviously await a reply with great interest. Could there be a photo or two of the 1st owner with the car? Could this be the end of a 45 year wait for information? I hope so!

[finster]

wow, this just gets better with each post! after reading about his exploits it's a pity the car wasn't given the reg 700 UXB.

he was another one of those amazing guys from that era, we shall never see their like again, a shame the family had to sell his medals though
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"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...

[Stetoppingphoto]

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stetoppingphoto

[maplesyrup]

Great thread Can’t wait for another update.
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Bugger