A Brief History
Upon the cessation of hostilities in North Africa in 1943 and prior to its transfer to Italy, the 25th Army Tank Brigade (North Irish Horse, 51st Royal Tank Regiment, 142nd Royal Armoured Corps and Brigade support units) was stationed in Algeria in the vicinity of the port of Bône (now Annaba).
Brigade HQ, together with North Irish Horse, was located near the small village of Ain Mokra. It was there that the idea of forming a Rover Crew became a reality.
Why the decision to call it A.M.8? For a quite prosaic reason - the civilian telephone number allocated to Brigade HQ was Ain Mokra 8.
Under the dynamic leadership of R.S.L. Capt. F.Ward (unfortunately Killed on Active Service in Italy) the Crew both grew and prospered to the extent that it was even possible to publish several magazines detailing the activities of the Crew and its Patrols.
During December, 1944, the 25th Tank Brigade (Army being dropped) was disbanded the North Irish Horse being transferred to the 21st Tank Brigade As a result, the NIH Patrol decided to become a fully fledged Crew on its own..Thus, under the able leadership of RSL Ken Cheater the Mustangs A.M.8 Rover Crew came into being.
In this writer's possession are four, one published by the A.M.8 Crew three by the Mustangs. It is known that the Mustangs published at least one more and possibly so did A.M.8.
Unfortunately, due to aging and the acidity of the paper, the magazine covers, illustrations and text at times are not quite legible. However, every endeavour has been made to reproduce them as accurately as possible, including colour matching that of the paper used. No attempt has been made to edit content except for the deciphering of any words not fully legible. Pages end as they do in the actual magazine, some articles being continued on the following page/s.
This writer, as Editor, has interjected notes and explanations where deemed necessary. Hopefully this action does not take away anything from the original texts.
Front Page