National Diesel Engine

Diesel engine, type MBSE, engine no. 270116; 12bhp, National Gas and Oil Engine Company Limited, 1940.

The National Gas Engine Company was founded in 1890 by Henry M. Bickerton at Wellington Works, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. Initially, the company manufactured engines designed to run on town gas.

In 1932, it became the National Gas and Oil Engine Company. In the 1930s, the company was taken over by the sucessors of Mirrlees-Bickerton & Day Limited. In 1966 the name of the company was changed to Mirrlees National. In 1977 it became Mirrlees-Blackstone, part of Hawker Siddeley.