Big ray

This is Tony Wilcox, Ray`s son. It is with deepest regret that I must inform the readers of this forum that my father passed away at 13.35 on Sunday 16th December. He remained the dignified man that he was until the very end but lost his most difficult challenge. It is probably the first challenge for which he could not find an answer. He found comfort sharing his past with the readers of this forum and greatly enjoyed the responses he generated. He raised me and worked with me and we also shared our interest in MV`s. I am proud of the man that I am today thanks to his input and will miss him dearly.

This film was received very poorly when I went to view it immediately after WW2, the Burma vets were not too impressed, they had already been seen as the forgotten army, I think that this just seemed to rub salt into their wounds.

Welcome Seb, Why not think about joining your local area group, we meet in Longton on the last Thursday of the month. You will be made very welcome, lots of support and activities to be enjoyed with like minded people..... give it a try, we have a couple of people in the Crewe area already. You will find all of the information on the MVT site.

Things will probably stagnate a little due to the general economic climate and rapidly increasing prices, making it difficult to attract younger people into the hobby. I am sure that the interest remains very strong, but if you have young children and a mortgage its going to be difficult to get involved on a vehicle level.

I suspect that the only person making any money would be the one selling the project, some of the prices are quite frightening.

A first class series, thanks for posting this insight into the very considerable making of this fine programme.

My brother used to drive his C.O. (RASC) about in one of these in Germany 1945 to 1948, he never stopped telling me what a fantastic vehicle that it was. So good luck with the restoration, like everyone else I will be waiting to follow your progress.

That particular proceedure left me unable to attend the re-union, however our son Tony suggested that I should just go down on the Saturday and have dinner with everyone, which we did, and I am very grateful to him for making that possible. It was great to meet up with them all again, so I did not miss out completely.

My re-union with my army buddies of the 1950s was held on the weekend of the 4th of this month (Oct) Two weeks before the event I suddenly found that I had difficulty breathing. I assumed that the condition was related to my heart condition, but went along to my doctor for a check. She immediately sent me for x-ray and blood tests at two local hospitals on the same day. I was immediately sent to a third hospital for assesment, and the following day I had my chest drained of 4 ltrs of fluid, no wonder that I could not breath, the fluid was crushing my lungs.

The value of my GMC 353 as just gone up considerably, better make sure that I dont get any woodworm !!!!

Yesterday, M3 Halftrack on transporter, going south on the A34. Staffordshire.

Welcome in, I recently purchased a W.C. 51 myself, should have bought one years ago.

You engage 4wd manually.This happened in Germany, 1957, not me I hasten to add, both driver and passenger emerged unscathed.

Actually, if you are in command of all the facts, its very easy to understand why........ the second world war had its seeds sown in 1919.

Would that be the author of "Achtung Panzer" by Heinz Guderian......... ???? If you have never been to Normandy, then I have to say that I, along with several of our members did a coach tour over there "out of season". We were all agreed that it was nothing like our usual visits over the 6th of June, when there are lots of re-enactors and vehicles to be seen, it certainly enhances an otherwise normal tourist experience. ( We of course are over there to express our gratitude to the men and women who made such great sacrifices to ensure freedom of determination that is afforded to us today.) Just go into the cemeteries, read a few names and say thank you.

This is what you want, they are bullet proof and a lot of fun to drive, bigger than a Jeep and less trouble than a truck to garage.......... I love it.

Correct, I have several vehicles and I have just purchased a Dodge Weapons Carrier, I LOVE IT, its a great little machine. Should have bought one years ago.

I would stick with originality, that`s how they were meant to be, if you drive correctly (Not thrashing it through the gearbox or sticking in the low gears for protracted periods of time) you could expect to get 12 to 14 mpg. Its a long time since I drove them in Germany (1950s) but I thought that they were a very nice little truck, just a bit skittish on the back end, particularly on the German cobbled streets in the wet.

It would certainly require a great deal of organizing, but I am sure that it would be very well received by the general public, and the enthusiasts alike. Just needs someone with the energy, enthusiasm and contacts.

Another three weeks and I will be with my buddies for our 54th re-union,we are beginning to wonder just how much longer that we can continue, so I suppose that we will have to make everyone count now. I am going to make a point of telling them just how much that they have meant to me over the last 57 years or so, you should do these things before its too late.

I agree, the tow rope was too high making the car "Dig" into the earth, increasing the pull and subsequent added stresses on the rope, the guy sitting at the rear of the tow vehicle was in line for a possible injury from the rope if it should part particularly at the point on the towed vehicle............ just got to be careful folks.

I dont think that I ever started a Jeep any other way during my service in Germany (Mid 1950s) We always jumped in,clutch down and into gear, hitting the starter at the same time (we certainly did not bother with the handbrake) our reason for doing it that way was because you would have to wait a second or two before selecting first gear without the associated crunch........... just seemed to make sense at the time, I even do it now sometimes when driving my Jeep. And incidently you could always guarantee that it would select the gear the moment that the engine began to turn.

Thats a wonderful and pretty comprehensive introduction, maybe you could post a few photographs of you surrounding countryside, photographs speak volumes. And welcome to the friendly forum, I have visited the States several times, wonderful country, I was never disappointed with the country or the welcome that I received from the people.

Welcome in Ferdinando, this is the friendly forum.

I always suggest to our members that they should try to get a drive of a members vehicle,even at showgrounds maybe at the end of the day when the public have gone, because it looks right does not mean that it is right. You may find that it does not suit you. Thats what the club is all about, helping each other.