19.02.2009

Can you identify the crane company?

A reader sent us the photograph below of the Coles EMA series seven truck crane, lifting freezer display chests to the upper floors of Newark town hall, in February 1959, for a frozen food fair.
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Who owned this Coles EMA truck crane lifting in 1959

The crane belonged to a company with logo that shows two removal men carrying the name.
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Here is a close up of the owners logo

Can you name the cranes owner?
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Coles built hundreds of the EMA cranes for the British military, many for the RAF, they had lifting capacities of up to six tonnes, with the truck mounted units on a three axle chassis, the most popular of which was the Thorneycroft.

The first EMA cranes were mounted on a compact two axle mobile chassis, part of an order for 82 units from the Air Ministry in 1937.


A result!


Within a few hours Dan had identified the crane as belonging to Westfield Transport. We have double checked and confirmed this. The following is a brief background on the company. Which ran Red vehicles with gold lettering.

Westfield Transport was founded in Mansfield in 1933 by Tom Eason and Harry Winfield and progressed from general transport to specialising in 'one piece' moving of large loads such as boilers, tanks, excavators, bailey bridges and occasionally aeroplanes.

In 1948 Westfield Transport began the movement and installation of hosiery and textile machinery in one piece, shipped to the UK from the USA. This was a revolutionary concept as up to then the machines had been dismantled, transported then reassembled taking six skilled men up to six months. Westfield was sold to Pickfords in 1964.

The following is a video of the crane in action

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Another photo received of a restored Westfield Coles crane on AEC chassis