Alex van de Wetering

If I remember correctly there is a front view of a Loyd carrier from the Wessex Division with a 10cwt Mortar trailer on tow, taken somewhere near Caen, Normandy. Sadly I can't seem an online example of the picture. Alex

Wow! Excellent work, guys! Good to see that all the hard work paid off. It's a joy to see all those nicely restored and reproduced parts perform together. Did you receive the invitation to Pebble Beach concours yet? Alex

Wow, well spotted. I didn't realise they were back to front. Good job on getting a number of wheels already. You do occasionally find them here in Holland used on farm carts or even carts used by steel construction companies.....you wonder what the farmers did with the tracks.... Bob, well that's a coincidence! I don't know who currently owns it as there was nobody around to ask. But, I have a feeling it might be from the For Freedom museum in Knokke-Heist (Belgium), as there was a Standard jeep/buggy/quad thinghy standing next to it, and I believe that came from the museum. Alex

Alastair, Good to see the progress on the Loyds. Last weekend I visited Wings and Wheels in Ursel, Belgium and stumbled upon the attached Loyd, that I hadn't seen before. Alex p.s. Did you see the Loyd manual for sale on MLU?

Luc, It's a huge project indeed, but definately worth it. I am really enthusiastic about your plan to go for it! It might be worth contacting Hawthorne Leslie shipbuilders as I understand they originally built LCT 7074. According to a thread on ww2talk forum, they had a look at the ship some time ago with the idea of creating a D-day experience around it, but backed out in the end due to the amount of money needed in their view. However, if someone else takes on the project, maybe they are willing sponsor the project.....maybe even with the recovery or with reproducing parts. Alex

Alastair, I wasn't questioning your conclusion that is an early loyd, it's just the wheels I was talking about. I have only seen them on late war pictures, so I presume this Loyd was fitted with a different set of wheels late in the war or maybe even post-war......or maybe my conclusion was a bit premature and someone does turn up with a 1941 pic showing this type of wheel:D Alex

Very nice. I would love to see some more restored Retrievers!

Very nice AJ! Did you happen to come across any dates on the wheels? It seems they are of the type introduced very late in the war. A few years ago a Loyd in France turned up with the same type of wheels. Although you do come across these wheels on Universal carriers in period photo's...all of them are late 1944 or 1945, if I remember correctly. Alex

Hi Adrian. I heard there is another on the Isle of Wight or is this the same as the Bovvy one? Alex

The last....the only....I my opinion one can never be sure about how much examples survive and therefor I never use these terms, although I understand they are often used to attract attention. A few years ago we thought the only A30 Challenger was in Overloon, but now another two popped up....a few weeks ago we thought there only was handefull of Loyd carriers around....now you need three more fingers. The same with the LCT. There is at least one other LCT III surviving as a mobile generator in Albania....and only a few years ago three LCT's were scrapped in Holland....but these last three were not as close to the original as LCT 7074. LCT's were quite popula post-war and many were converted for commercial use....some of them hardly recognizable....there is still one in action in Holland, but it's almost impossible to recognize it as an LCT:embarrassed: There are at least two LST's surviving as museum ships in the US, one of them, LST 325 was bought from Greece in the 90's and moved to the US under it's own power! There are also two or three LCI's surviving in the US and an US-built LCT. In the navy museum in Haifa, Israel, you can see a LCT II. All of them WW2 vessels. regarding the LST at pounds....wasn't that one built after D-day? Alex

I agree, It's not an LST, but an LCT; the British built LCT 7074..."HMS Landfall", unique as the ship has knoiwn D-day history and is still pretty close to the original configuration. I think it's a real shame that this ship has been left to rot for years. A few months ago the ship was in the news again because it started to sink.....and althoough that did bring it back to the attention, it still hasn't been saved.....in fact the last I heard was that only the chimney is now visible on the surface. I did hear that the ship has been sinking for years, but someone was hired to pump the water out every month to keep it afloat. What a sight would this ship be on the beach at Arromanches in june 2014! But maybe more realitic would be a place on land as the base for a D-day museum in Normandy of on the British South coast. Alex

The finished cardboard part looks excellent! Well done and good to see the effort to save the original part. Sometimes simple and cheap material are the best solution. In a few weeks you'll probably show us how to glue your shattered windscreen back into one piece of glass:D Alex

AH, there it is. I remember seeing it at Beltring in 2007, but before I could take any pictures it was gone. If I remember correctly it was only there on Wednesday and Thursday. Seemed like a nice truck which needed some small TLC and some repairs to the canvas. @ Tim Gray. Which brand and type of tires do you have on your PU? Alex

Hanno, I wonder if it is still in Holland, because the last time I saw it was at least five years ago and it was for sale at the time. I hope it surfaces soon as it was a great display! Alex

Are you sure we are looking at an Austin K2? Terrific! I hope the chassis and mechanicals are in reasonable condition. Please keep us updated on this project. Alex p.s. I am building a scale model of a K2Y at the moment and your pictures have already been helpful in giving me info on the structure of the body, which just can't be seen on restored vehicles!

Eddy, I think you will find Oliver Missings website on this subject very interesting, http://www.o5m6.de/ In the links section you will also find several websites with more info and picture of lend lease equipment. I understand that after WW2 the Russians were very accurate in avoiding release of WW2 pictures which showed the help from the Western Allies in the form of Lend Lease vehicles etc. But over the past few years a lot of pictures have come available of Jeeps, Scout cars, Shermans (even the pretty late examples) and of course Studebaker and Chevy trucks.

Adrian, excellent work on the M10 and the RAM as well. Thanks for pointing towards a picture of your Cromwell, somehow I must have missed before. Alex

Excellent work guys! Seems you also have the ideal facility for these sort of restorations....enough space for a Ward la France and a Sherman! Judging from the name on the side of the lifter....are you based in the Cote Armor region of Bretagne? Alex

Adrian, After seeing the pictures of the work you did on the RAM for a client I was hoping on similar pictures of the M10.....and there they are. It's really fascinating to see these old pieces of armor come back to life. I am still hoping to see your M4A4 with my own eyes one day, but I have to say that I can get pretty enthusiastic about the RAM Kangaroo and Achilles as well. You don't happen to have some pictures of your Cromwell online? (although I think we got a sneak-peak of it in the background of one of the M10 pictures) Didn't it come from a mine in the Czech republic? (I think we talked about it on MLU???) Alex p.s. The Windsor also seems to be quite a rare beasty these days.

Good to see the Dukw's have been saved and good to hear that some will be restored. Sadly a lot of Dukw's were eaten by the elements over the years....not only in fields in the UK, but even in museums......I've seen pictures of a Dukw with British registration at the Utah beach museum and a Dukw in the Dutch Overloon museum.....sadly both have been scrapped a long time ago.... And a blog? Yes, please! Alex

I just watched news and Kuuk Griep was walking between the rubble....you could at least see one staff car and one of the burnt Schwimmwagens....very sad indeed. Alex

Yesterday morning I saw a big cloud of smoke coming from Amsterdam. In the evening I learnt from the news that a number of sheds were lost. This morning I learnt that one of the sheds was owned by people of the Dutch Military vehicle club "Keep them Rolling" and that several MV's and tons of spares were lost in the fire. I have heard different stories. some say Jeeps and Dodges, others say Jeeps, a Kubelwagen, Schwimmwagens and an Opel Blitz. Alex

Wow, great pictures Alan. Those CMP Polstens are certainly rare and they would have been quite new at the time. It seems the one in the picture are all triples, like Hanno mentioned. I guess the triple was a special mount only fitted to CMp trucks and the Crusader (?), while the quad also came on a trailer of it's own. But, those Hight Speed Tractors are the M6 monsters!!! Just as rare now as the CMP Polstens I guess! Alex

Well, I don't know the situation in the UK, but here in Holland the Federal truck as pictured is even rarer than the autocar.....it's got a nice curved grille, compared to the bulldog nose of the Autocar/White. By the way, didn't Rex Cadman offer an Autocar on his own website? I agree with the others; the AEC deserves a restoration. Alex

Jim, only a few weeks I overtook a lowloader on the motorway here in Holland with a Monstertruck on a Chalmers chassis on the back! If I remember correctly it even had the chassis back to front. Have you had any time to work on the M4 projects recently? Alex