PART TWO LEYLAND HIPPO
After the Mark 2 Hippo had done its job, there was still a big demand for a forward-control; 10-ton truck in the Services, although AEC were about to emerge with a new six-wheeler for the Army. Leyland upgraded the Hippo with a new model which went on to serve particularly the Royal Air Force, both as a cargo truck and as a base chassis for all those other specialist roles. We could call it the Mark 3, although it doesn’t appear to have officially held that status. It seems to have been given a designation outside of the norm in that it became the 19H.
This was a new generation of Hippo. The design had changed to a more modern cab with a built-in radiator and it was the RAF specifically who made good use of this new version. We carefully use the word specifically as we can’t find any evidence of the army using the new version. There may have been 19H models which used the old Mark 2 engine, but certainly later models were fitted with the new Leyland 0.600 diesel giving around 133bhp.
The RAF found plenty of uses for it. The tethered, balloon-winch truck, on the Hippo 19H chassis, replaced the Ford Sussex and Austin K6 previously fitted with this equipment. The rear body was fitted-out with a winch, a storage area for the deflated balloon and
