Axenige

Hi has any one got any pictures of the canvas ammo bags used on the Bren and universal carrier, they were apparently designed to hold five Bren gun mags and to be used incase of a quite evacuation from the vehicle, its a picture of the front I most need as I'm not sure if they had any fasteners fitted or not. Nige H

My Grandfather worked for the Fairey Aviation Company during WW2 in fact he was one of the Bosses, he had first hand experience of these pelts through test performed by the company, I remember him talking about them years ago. There not a lead replacement they do as stated previously act as a catalyst to obtain better combustion of the fuel, as also state this was due to the lack of refinement of the Russian grade aviation fuel, which was very poor in quality when compare to the British equivalent High octane high lead petrol, I remembering him tell me that the aircraft sent to Russia perform very badly on the home nation fuel in fact if caused internal mechanical damage to some Merlin engines, and meant others would not run at all. The main problems were at start up and even more so in cold Russian winter weather, the tin pelts help the situation but were in no way a cure, the real answer was RAF grade aviation fuel. As to Tetraethyl lead being lethal, toxic etc, try this for size and sheep graze on this old WW2 site :eek: Nige H

Yes very much the end of an unique era in the history of British combat aircraft, I wonder if the RAF will be retaining any for the Air show circuit, as really the should do, as this iconic aircraft holds just as much a place in the publics heart as the Vulcun. Nige H

Hi, I'm also from Kettering and have spent many year looking around Grafton underwood, plus have been involved with the local MV scene over the years, and as I far as I know one of the original Grafton jeeps is/was still in the Kettering area, this was a 1942 Scripted Body Ford GPW that had two civilian owners from de-mob, one a local garage mechanic, and the second person its current owner. I seen this vehicle many times overs the years at local events, all but this vehicle is now in British army livery, due to the jeeps current owner being an ex-British serviceman. Nige H

I was under the impression that in most cases the strip of land that constituted the original railway line remind the property of the state if it was a nationalised local branch line, or mainline, ether at a local or at national level. Some have been sold off to various private organisations such as railway preservation trust etc, but again these section of track are still being used as just that railway line. As to who own what thirty years on in your case, is anyone guess, but if there are tunnels involved then I'm sure they will stay in state hands due to safety issues, as some of these old derelict rail and canal tunnels are very much the worse for ware these days, I know of one in the midlands where the inner skin of the brickwork is peeling off the vaulted ceiling in 2 ton lumps, this is due the structure being 150+ years old added to which is fifty years of neglect, a lack of maintenance and water ingress into the brickwork. Nige H

Hi James, and welcome to the forum, from a fellow Northants resident. As to Bruntingthorpe again like others have stated its on the list of things to do, I did used to know some over there years ago, but I can't for the life of me think of the guys surname, but its Dave ?. However I am very lucky in that I get to see the Vulcan every now and again, especially if its on a trip over towards Sywell aerodrome. Here's a picture taken from my back garden :-D Nige H.

Hi does anyone know about the fabric weight, and width etc, plus do they do other colours apart from Olive such as Khaki yellow, or tan and chocolate brown. Nige H

Oh Mick NO!!!!!!!!!!!! My misses started the same old ploy, about money and the fact I had a lot tied up in my jeep. So in the finish I got rid of the jeep to keep the peace, and then I gave her the elbow ten years latter for the same reason. So if you feel your being forced into selling your MV don't do it, you'll regret it in years to come. Nige H

Here's a little more about the channel wrecks, that I found while out suffering the virtual seas :-D http://neutraldivegear.blogspot.com/2008/08/scuba-divers-discover-d-day-tanks-at.html Oh and this also http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2504563/D-Day-tanks-found-on-seabed.html I as to John Marchant, I think that he also owned a Centaur bulldozer, which I was latter told was turned back into a Gun tank with a Range wreck turret, does anyone know if this is the case, again its the old story I heard this info third hand. Nige H

Hi Richard, I would recommend you try contacting fellow former 39/45 MVG member Jon Wright, he has built at least 3-4 of these over the years including making some of the castings that are required, Jon is a fantastic engineer who really who's his stuff, other project include a replica early Canadian pattern Willys jeep, a scratch built airborne trailer and more working WWII wireless sets than you can shake a stick at. The best place to try is: http://www.wwiireenacting.co.uk He calls himself replicaright :-D All the best Nige H

Well you know what they say mate, a fool and his money :-D, anyway you told me you wanted a Churchill Tank, and I know tanks are like buses you don't own any for years and suddenly you wake up one morning and find you've bought yourself an armoured division. Seriously though I think your a very brave guy to take on this as your first tank project, and it certainly no mean feet to obtain WW2 armour these days, especially restorable British vehicles which were never that abundant anyway, well when compared with the various Sherman armour that you see at shows and so I'll be watching with great interest. Nige H. P.S. Your skint! and I've not even invoiced you yet for my introduction fee :cheesy:

Hi, I've been involved on and off with the military scene for some twenty years nearly, and although I no longer own any military vehicle I still have a great interest in WWII. In the past I regularly went to shows all over the U.K. in my 1944 Ford GPW and also made several trips to France, Holland and other places in Europe all of which were a long time ago and now very much missed. These days I spend much of my time on work, as I make WW2 reproduction canvas items and trade in period Militaria for a living and when I on not working, I help fix the "other sides" vehicles in the form of VW beetles and buses. I do however keep in touch with my old MV links and I still enjoy the hobby and attend MV events as and when possible, but these days due to funds my collecting is now limited to British Commando items from the D-day period. Finally I've recommend this site to several people over the past year, and thought its was about time I join it myself. Nige H

Eddy sounds good m8, how you'll get on I'm not sure. As to the Cromwell on the road unless there is some legal president which states that you cannot register this vehicle for the public highway, then I can't see why not. I've seen many a pictures of British tanks with steel tracks on British roads especially on the build up to D-Day so unless there has been a retrospective change in the law then all should be O. K. as most laws regarding vehicle are not retrospective its normally from a certain date onwards. As far as I'm aware its not the steel tracks which are the problem, its more the perceived damage that they cause to the public highway, the fact that rubber can do just as much if not more damage seems to have passed the highways agency by the by. Also even today you still see plenty of steel tracked plant vehicles on the road, so that must be some legal way around this, and talking of excavators maybe a bit of legal digging is required on this one as to how large plant contractors manage to get around this issue. Nige H

I think for MV's there no real need unless your restoring a B 17 flying fortress and intend to fly it at high altitude or next weekend you intend to take your custom supercharge M3 White Scot car down the quarter strip at Santa Pod :-D as nitrogen filled tyres only really make a difference at the extreme of tyre operating limits. Nige H

I've just got to say WOW, having just read the restoration thread on MLU and watched Jesse's Youtube videos of the rebuilt R 975 running, I've seen pro re-built radials that run far worse, his had no noticeable exhaust smoke even at startup what a fantastic job. Nige H