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wattie

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Everything posted by wattie

  1. In past years there has been a eleventh hour panic to get these mysterious forms that get dreamed up. I have paid for passes applied for passes had my wind screen covered in passes. Rumors that you will be locked in side your camp site ,arrested if in a military vehicle moving in a so called no go area . Are the Norwegians ,Swedes,Dutch ,Americans and the rest of the world going to apply to the MOD for these passes ? Truth is never needed ANY passes for anything . Just go and enjoy the experience. Wattie
  2. I did not realize they had been around that long ,the one I saw looked brand spanking new,is there a later one? As for cost and performance it comes as know surprise another waste of taxpayers money
  3. Followed this ( I think ) on a civvy low loader A35 Dorchester by pass this morning probably on its way to Wyke in Weymouth ,never seen one before !
  4. A month ago I was at multi period living history event a group were portraying modern special forces and wondering around on patrol wearing SAS berets . This is so wrong ,any member of the regiment wearing a beret on patrol would be RTUd and it would never happen anyway. Its a bit difficult portraying SF troops as when on operations they try and keep a low profile and not show that they are SF and keep anonymous. I go back to my point if you are going to reenact your chosen period get it right or you will cause offense . To me they looked like a bunch of clueless ill-informed walts
  5. Read this book Lions, Donkeys and Dinosaurs by Lewis Page Author is ex RN his book covers it all from boots to aircraft carriers the shameful waste of tax payers money.
  6. No its not disrespectful, its confused and doing no one any harm. Years ago Peter Gray had a job to get vehicle crews to wear green coveralls. Now every one wants to wear some sort of uniform. Its a free country and men and women have fought for that However if you are a re-enacter you have a duty to get your chosen period correct if not that IS disrespectful .
  7. Why was Harrier withdrawn? The most versatile and proven combat aircraft we have ever had . We are still stuck with Tornado good at air displays not much else . Typhoon high altitude fighter over priced designed by a committee 20 years late . At least they binned the bottom less money bit the Nimrod. I think politically the RAF have more clout than the Navy . The RAF never forgave the Fleet Air Arm for there success in the Falklands. They keep banging on about the Vulcan raid that cost millions and lets be real they missed the target. Truth is we have nothing, although I do wonder how much a squadron of Swordfish would cost cant be too expensive.:cheesy::cheesy:
  8. Riddys in Coventry 2 x shops .Brought a load of stuff off them over the years still got some of it . They had a load of US WW2 webbing no one wanted it, what use was there for an airborne folding stock M1 carbine holsters and Garrand belts . Not sure when they closed ,a proper surplus store.
  9. Three million seems cheap to me http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/1213/managing_the_defence_inventory.aspx Billions being wasted on storing equipment that will never be used . The MOD cant help itself been wasting out taxes for years. The money spent on storing useless equipment could have been spent on front line infantry regiments or maybe the Ark Royal. Never mind two new carriers being made but no aircraft to fly off them Rant nearly over, but why DID we get rid of the Harrier ?
  10. They could do this to protect the vehicle, probably not that expensive either (Ashford Kent)
  11. I helped restore this M1 way back in the late 1970's .It originally came from Troopers lodge garage near Evesham.It was in a sorry state I have pictures of the restoration somewhare.It has a Leyland Bus engine and the bonnet has been extended. At the time it was quite a rare vehicle and we considered it worth restoring and we did get it to Duxford one year. The old Ward has probably paid for its self as it was the only vehicle that could rescue tractors and combines that fell into big holes,we had to take it once to rescue a modern recovery vehicle that was stuck in a snow drift. I remember contacting the American La France company at Elmira Heights NY by post (no internet then) and a few weeks later they sent me a parts manual that they still had. I think it took about 3 years to restore and I believe it has had another restoration since. The garage has used a lot of ex military vehicles as recovery. The Leyland allready mentioned a Bedford RL , Diamond T,1/2 ton Dodge (was a command car)a post war Dodge (ex USAF) . In return for helping with the Ward my Jeep had an extensive engine rebuild and body work repairs . Happy Days we were young once
  12. Can any one ID this wheel 17" in diameter, 2" width of rubber I have 3. My son keeps leaving me with this stuf, I have no idea what vehicle it belongs to. They have been outside but look to have no wear . Thanks John
  13. Jules Thanks for that .I will give it a try John
  14. For its time the Longest Day is still good. Kokoda : 39th Battalion Aussie troops in New Guinea . Brutal stuff. Horse Soldiers . John Wayne Kellys Heroes . Probably first time an effort was made to make tanks look German ( I will forgive the 1/2 tracks). Dunkirk. John Mills very British Hill in Korea. Great film, spot the actors who went on to be stars . Sand Pebbles. Love the ending Steve McQueen with a BAR
  15. This winch is supposed to be out of a Lancaster for loading bombs. I am fed up with tripping over it . Can anyone ID it
  16. My Dad had a Webley Scott revlolver(on a FAC) for as long as I can remember it was supposed to have belonged to a great Uncle who went missing in 1918. I could never fathom if it was my great Uncles why was it at the family home he was a Private in the 6th Btn SWB would he have a pistol? When Dad died (the day after I came back from the 1979 MVT tour) my mother was holding an illegal firearm .I attempted to own the pistol and was advised that an FAC whould not be granted for a Souvenir of war,I did not think of it being deactivated so the Police took it away. I then carried out some more research and found out the revolver was Police issue and belonged to my Great Grandfather(a police officer) and when he retired handed on to my Grandfather who was also a police officer in South Wales it was kept at home. I hope it ended up in a museum someware. I do recall when I was probably ten or eleven finding some bullets in the garage (as you do) getting the pistol out of the loft and trying to load it ,fortunatly they did not fit I often wonder if they did fit what would I have done next. My Dad had all his personel kit stolen from the back of his truck in Italy he lost every thing including two Lugers .:-( I also remember two hand granades at home no idea if they were live they got chucked in the river at Shrewsbury where we lived in the fiftys.Probably just as well I would have wanted to find out if they were live as I got older.
  17. Theres one at Larkhill outside but with a good layer of paint
  18. Battle of the Bulge . Awful not sure who was historic advisor for film.They did not have a clue . Needs to be remade
  19. Years ago they removed all the real Spitfire guardians at RAF stations and most are now flying, how about a fibre glass Sherman in exchange for an original one? I was only joking however http://www.ebay.com/itm/Full-Scale-Exact-Size-Replica-Stuart-M3A1-Tank-/370589396515?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5648d96e23
  20. Sadly I do not know and it is totaly buried .If you drive towards Burley from Pickets Post there is a dirt layby on the right behind the Shell garage the gound drops down hill and the tank is somewhere in this aera. The Sherman was training for D Day and sank in a pete bog there is evidence of foxholes in this area best seen at this time of year and the US Army did train in the New Forest. A local forester knew where the tank was and permission was granted for a dig but it came to nothing.This was over twenty years ago.
  21. Should this section include gate guardians(not including Tank Museum) there is a Sherman at Alliwell Barracks Tidworth complety gutted inside another at the back of Picton Barracks Bulford supposed to be a DD none in view from the road. There used to be a Lee or a Grant outside Bassingbourne years ago and a Sherman BARV at SEME Borden what happened to them and more recently what happened to the Sherman at Erskin Barracks ,Wilton? did it go to Andover? Years ago they removed all the real Spitfire guardians at RAF stations and most are now flying, how about a fibre glass Sherman in exchange for an original one? There is also rumoured to be a buried Sherman near Pickets Post on the A31 in the New Forest a recovery attempt was planned some years ago but never came to anything.
  22. I think I am correct in saying this tracked jeep went to Canada .Also Jim Dowdall will be giving a talk at the Tank museum on Thursday the 29th March in the evening about his time in the film industry .
  23. Try this link or Google Windak Fabric http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19570509&id=XxEuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=c0kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5752,1865126
  24. Gents, Thanks for the welcome .I missed off the list a Chevy blazer M1009 .I had my Jeep (Ford) for twenty years its now twenty years since I sold it .The two bikes I have I cannot ride (no licence) but the rest of the family assure me that they are going to take a bike test. The Triumph was left to me by an old MVT mate who passed away a couple of years ago. John Watt ( Dorset )
  25. Brought a Jeep in 1973 thats how I started my long time interest in MV's now own a Triumph 3HW and Indian 741 I have helped restore 1/2 ton Dodges,GMC's,Dukw,Stewart Tank,1/2 ton Chevy,Jeeps and various 1940's American cars.
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