Editor’s note: These fantastic photos of Ruston & Hornsby engines in action in Iraq came to us through Ron Page of Australia. Ron’s son, Jason, is in the Australian Army, and got a hold of these photos taken by another group of soldiers. The following is the description that came with the photos, provided by Australian soldier Tony Kuilboer:
I just thought I’d drop you a line and let you know of a discovery a bunch of mates and I found whilst touring the Middle East. Travelling through a small town we noticed a large cloud of black smoke with a single puff of a smoke ring rising continuously above, and the distinct sound of a slow turning single-cylinder engine. On closer inspection we found there was not only one engine but two. One was running turning a belt system in order to pump water out of a well. The other looked to have been used for spare parts or was offline in the hope of repairing it; it was missing the inlet valve, inlet valve rocker arm and some fittings of the fuel pump. The one that was working had a huge exhaust valve leak and was well lubricated inside and out.
Ron Page
Australia (via e-mail)
