horrocks Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 Unfortunately with the rising price of WW2 kit and jeeps in particular this could happen to any of us, imagine losing your own pride and joy it would be heart breaking. This was stolen from the mans property whether it was a field or a garage doesn't matter someone has gone on private property and taken what doesn't belong to them.. Indeed, and Jeeps are incredibly vulnerable to this kind of thing. Unless your Jeep is in a locked garage or sitting in your kitchen, there is very little to stop someone sufficiently determined from just winching it onto a trailer and disappearing. The British Army in its post-war rebuilds put a makeshift steering lock onto jeeps, and I have also seen eyes put onto the dashboard that allow the gearbox to be padlocked into reverse. Both aren't perfect, but they would at the very least slow potential thieves up. Thanks again for the words of support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdx10 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Have you tried neighbours along any access road and who may have had CCTV ? Obviously it helps if you know what day and time it was taken but a lot of people have security cameras these days. ..... for those untouched by car crime I was reading some interesting posts elsewhere the other day about GPS trackers , if I owned something as vulnerable as a Jeep I think I'd be considering one of these , magnetic so unlikely to damage your vehicle and apparently with up to 30 day battery life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryH57 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 (edited) By chance is there anywhere with CCTV along any likely route through Essex that may just have captured it and the thieves? Were there any distinguishing features that might be used to identify all or part of the Jeep if it is used to complete the restoration of another? Edited June 22, 2014 by LarryH57 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horrocks Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 By chance is there anywhere with CCTV along any likely route through Essex that may just have captured it and the thieves? Were there any distinguishing features that might be used to identify all or part of the Jeep if it is used to complete the restoration of another? Have done the CCTV thing, but none we can find locally pointing in the right directions. The Jeep has several unique features, but for obvious reasons I can't advertise them on an open forum. However, if anybody is offered a Jeep or parts that seem suspicious or unusual, I am only a phone call away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billruston Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Is this the jeep just down chivvers road?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horrocks Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 (edited) Is this the jeep just down chivvers road?. No, Bobbingworth, Stony Lane. Chevers is High Ongar, on the A414. Edited June 22, 2014 by horrocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosrec Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 All the best in your quest. I believe if found it will a lot closer to home than you may think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horrocks Posted June 23, 2014 Author Share Posted June 23, 2014 All the best in your quest. I believe if found it will a lot closer to home than you may think Thank you. Its disappearance certainly involved some very local knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEMIMA Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Many of us ,especially with larger vehicles have no option other than to park them in farms,old buildings etc - lets not criticise this poor family at their time of loss over where or why it was parked - likewise whever or not they could have done more to secure it - hindsight is a wonderful thing - but as we all know,and this sad tale proves - if someone wants something or wants access bad enough.....theres not a lot you can do to stop it ! (i myself know of a few years ago - some grab handles were unbolted from the rear of an F60 whilst the owner slept in the back at a show,and the rear of the vehicle where the theft took place was surrounded by occupied tents who were part of the same group!) Lets pull together.....stop critisizing and analizing this theft and the circumstances around it and all make sure we are extra vigilant in the search for this jeep and in fact our own vehicles and kit..... Best of luck to the family,i hope they are re-united with their jeep very soon...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcot1751 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Many of us ,especially with larger vehicles have no option other than to park them in farms,old buildings etc - lets not criticise this poor family at their time of loss over where or why it was parked - likewise whever or not they could have done more to secure it - hindsight is a wonderful thing - but as we all know,and this sad tale proves - if someone wants something or wants access bad enough.....theres not a lot you can do to stop it ! (i myself know of a few years ago - some grab handles were unbolted from the rear of an F60 whilst the owner slept in the back at a show,and the rear of the vehicle where the theft took place was surrounded by occupied tents who were part of the same group!)Lets pull together.....stop critisizing and analizing this theft and the circumstances around it and all make sure we are extra vigilant in the search for this jeep and in fact our own vehicles and kit..... Best of luck to the family,i hope they are re-united with their jeep very soon...... Well said, as they say hindsight is a wonderful thing. This jeep was stolen from its rightful owner and my sympathies lie with him. I hope he gets it back and the thieves get punished big time. If people can break into banks they can steal a jeep wherever it's kept, I've heard of large capacity motorcycles being lifted over two cars in a garage to be stolen, these people don't care what damage they do to steal something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Ashby Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Many of us ,especially with larger vehicles have no option other than to park them in farms,old buildings etc - lets not criticise this poor family at their time of loss over where or why it was parked - likewise whever or not they could have done more to secure it - hindsight is a wonderful thing - but as we all know,and this sad tale proves - if someone wants something or wants access bad enough.....theres not a lot you can do to stop it ! (i myself know of a few years ago - some grab handles were unbolted from the rear of an F60 whilst the owner slept in the back at a show,and the rear of the vehicle where the theft took place was surrounded by occupied tents who were part of the same group!)Lets pull together.....stop critisizing and analizing this theft and the circumstances around it and all make sure we are extra vigilant in the search for this jeep and in fact our own vehicles and kit..... Best of luck to the family,i hope they are re-united with their jeep very soon...... Well said, we are all open to this sort of problem at any time. Lets all be vigilant and hope to hear or see something that may help these unfortunate people get their vehicle returned. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boba69 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Many of us ,especially with larger vehicles have no option other than to park them in farms,old buildings etc - lets not criticise this poor family at their time of loss over where or why it was parked - likewise whever or not they could have done more to secure it - hindsight is a wonderful thing - but as we all know,and this sad tale proves - if someone wants something or wants access bad enough.....theres not a lot you can do to stop it ! (i myself know of a few years ago - some grab handles were unbolted from the rear of an F60 whilst the owner slept in the back at a show,and the rear of the vehicle where the theft took place was surrounded by occupied tents who were part of the same group!)Lets pull together.....stop critisizing and analizing this theft and the circumstances around it and all make sure we are extra vigilant in the search for this jeep and in fact our own vehicles and kit..... Best of luck to the family,i hope they are re-united with their jeep very soon...... Here here. And it could happen to anyone of us. I would not wish this on anyone who spend a lot of time and money in keeping these historic vehicles on the road, and some with very understanding wives/partners, who may/may not accept second place for the love of these green machines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 ..... for those untouched by car crime I was reading some interesting posts elsewhere the other day about GPS trackers , if I owned something as vulnerable as a Jeep I think I'd be considering one of these , magnetic so unlikely to damage your vehicle and apparently with up to 30 day battery life. AFAIK there are 2 systems. 1 GPS theft system tied into the electronics/battery, will also give alarm to the security company when the batteryleads are removed. May lead to false alarms when working on the Jeep, let the company know before remving battery. 2 Selfcontained unit with its own batterypower. These are used when things are transported, something like a container on truck on ship. Offcourse not very usefull when parked somewhere for a while unless you want to replace every 30 days or so. Could be useful when taking vehicle to a show, travel or such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcap Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Posted about it on Twitter, just in case. Direct link: Not a Landie, but historic none the less: #Hotchkiss #Jeep #stolen in uk: http://www.warhistoryonline.com/press-releases/urgent-wwii-jeep-stolen-in-the-uk.html … Keep your eyes open & #catch the #thieves! Hope this helps, and hope you get the Jeep back to it's rightful owners toot sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toner Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 I've retweeted Recap's tweet and put this info up on the Post War Military Vehicle Club page on Facebook. I hope you are reunited with your jeep soon. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Post-War-Military-Vehicle-Club/344048745620059?fref=ts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horrocks Posted June 23, 2014 Author Share Posted June 23, 2014 Thanks all, though I should point out that the Twitter/War History Online article is about a Hotchie that was stolen last July, not this MB. Do we know if the owner recovered his Jeep? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toner Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 I've updated the FB post and sent out a new Twitter thingy with the following link http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?44937-Jeep-Stolen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffo Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Yes be very vigilant! I was followed home whilst in my jeep by a guy in a Nissan juke but I shook him off before I got home, 10 minutes later x2 police cars pulled outside my house!! seems the guy in the Nissan reported me for having a thompson in the gun rack thompson on has now been sold good ode luck with finding the jeep!! dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horrocks Posted June 23, 2014 Author Share Posted June 23, 2014 I would just like to say how very grateful both the White family and myself are for the terrific support we have received from the members of this forum. There have been around 2,250 views of this thread since I started it on Saturday, which is quite amazing, and the comments have been overwhelmingly supportive. We have now been interviewed by our local paper, The Brentwood & Ongar Gazette, who propose to run the story because of the 'human/local interest' element, with the Jeep having been owned by the family since the war, and the direct connection to the local wartime USAAF base at RAF Chipping Ongar. Nick Jeffrey of Jeffrey Engineering, who has spent many hours working on the Jeep over the past 8 or 10 years, is also putting word out on the W&P dealer/trader grapevine, for he is intimately familiar with the Jeep's quite specific idiosyncrasies that make it uniquely identifiable. Others are spreading the word amongst French and Dutch MV dealers and enthusiasts. I can also now confirm that a £1000 reward for information leading to its recovery has been put up by the family. If something doesn't bubble to the surface out of all of this, at least we will know that we have done our best. Thanks again to all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Johns Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 (edited) Thanks all, though I should point out that the Twitter/War History Online article is about a Hotchie that was stolen last July, not this MB. Do we know if the owner recovered his Jeep? No its not been recovered, thieves went to hard work, cutting down fence, hedges, bridging a ditch, removing gates etc to get Jeep out Edited June 23, 2014 by Nick Johns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horrocks Posted June 23, 2014 Author Share Posted June 23, 2014 Nick, needless to say that I am sorry to hear that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Johns Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Nick, needless to say that I am sorry to hear that. It was a friends Hotchkiss that was stolen from his farm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcot1751 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Does anyone here know if the jeep stolen from Pickering War Weekend showground a couple of years back was ever recovered ? It was taken during the day with hundreds of people around ! :mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow_wolf Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Sorry to hear about your Jeep. I'm admin for a small group on facebook that have an interest in Willingale/Chipping Ongar Airfield, I have posted your Jeep details to this group in the hope that it helps. https://www.facebook.com/groups/481955158501192/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horrocks Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 Many thanks Shadow Wolf. All helps. The story has made the front page splash of the Brentwood Ongar Gazette today, photo of the Jeep is the first thing that anyone who looks at the paper sees. Unfortunately nothing online yet, though it is online in the Epping Guardian.. http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/11300080._Much_loved_piece_of_family_history__stolen/ Here's hoping... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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