Great War truck

I am sure that the Baltic is littered with interesting stuff. Maybe we should suggest they build a giant coffer dam near Denmark and then pump it dry. Anyway. I have been giving some thought too that chassis and i have no ideas yet. I will say that it is not WW1 as almost all US WW1 trucks were right hand drive and this is left. I cant add much more than that at the moment. Tim

I reckon from the position that the bloke wearing it was standing at the urinal when it rusted solid. We aim to please. You aim too please.

It is looking good and i very much like the stand. The US Army had something similar in WW1 which allowed you to rotate the whole engine. Sounds a good idea, but you wonder how many times was the engine rotated only to be followed by a series of clunks and bangs as bits dropped out or fell off. Tim

I dont think so Tom, although a good guess. I think it is French in origin, although the owner was not sure himself what it might be. Here is a nice easy one. For sale a few Months ago. Tim

Thats interesting. I had not noticed that until you pointed it out. He would be mortified to think we had seen a picture of him smoking. Now, i will have to go through the albums looking for him with a drink in hand or maybe even a woman! The wrecked aeroplane is probably a Zepellin Straken (thank you Centurion). A four or five engined bomber. I have been looking for a picture of one, but so far without success. Looking again at the photos, i have just realised how interesting they are. What truly amazing things he must have seen. Poor old chap. I wish i had spoken to him more. Here are some more photos. They are mostly of him and his mates larking around. I think this was his billet in Cologne: Even though the war had ended, germany still had its dangers. One of his friends in the army of occupation disappeared one night. Murdered by the locals and the body dumped somewhere. Sad to go through all that horror, only to get stabbed in the back in a dark alley. Tim (too)

Only 30 Tons! How heavy is a Sherman? I could fit one in my Airfix one quite easily and it would still float (in the bath). The Higgins and LCM do look quite similar, its just a matter of scale.

By a remarkable stroke of luck, a family friend purchased two photograph albums at auction which were full of photos taken by or actually of my Grandfather during his WW1 military service. The first photo that i came across was this one: So, i guess he was interested too. A pity i never talked to him about his military service. He joined the Devonshire Yeomanry as a private, undertook Officer training, joined the Cheshires. Served at Passchendale. Was gassed. Sent back to UK to recover. Back to the Western Front where he was involved in bringing troops up to the front. Here are some more photos, in no particular order. I hope that you find them interesting. Any comments gratefully received.

I dont think that is a Higgins boat. I think it is a LCM. Still, one heck of a tight squeeze though. Tim (too)

Does anybody know if there were special Motor Show issues of the "Autocar" and "The Motor" on the occasion of the annual Motor Show at Earls Court in 1937? If so, which Month would they be issued in? Does anybody have a copy? Thanks Tim (too)

When we got the Prop Shaft, the front end flange was missing so one had to be made up. Just a simple turning job, but here is how it was done! A bit of bar end of mild steel was scrounged from a local Engineer - put in the three-jaw - a 1" hole pushed through it first of all and then bored out to the finished internal diameter. And then faced off. The steel was then turned around in the chuck and held by the internal bore, and machined to finished diameter, thickness and shape. The PCD was marked out in this position for the four 9/32 holes for the fixing bolts or studs. Job done.

It is all very sad, but i wonder if this has not forced the stuff in the yard to be sold to collectors which might otherwise have rusted away.

Quite right. "Vorsprung Durch Technik" to be precise. I bet the H&S people today would have a fit over that. "You cant allow our soliders to use that. Look how dangerous it is. Someone could get hurt".

Thanks Nig. It is the only carb we have at the moment, but if we get the correct CH one and can get it working with that then we will let you know about the Zenith. We wont of course let it go until we have something to make our Dennis run. Tony has cleaned the nine nuts and bolts that hold the Diff together - so they are now ready to fit. He then cleaned up the Coupling between the Brake Drum and the first part of the Prop Shaft. The first three photos show it after coming out of the paraffin Bath and the second two after scraping and wire brushing. It fits the spline OK now. It is all just a little bit worn but we think that we can live with it. If needs be, he can easily turn up new bronze bearings if they are deemed too slack. He has cleared all the oil passage ways and have squirted oil through them to make sure that they are clear.. Finally, he has started on the Steel Ring to go on the end of the Prop Shaft. It is all coming together.

Hotse drawn field piano Mk 2. Tim (too)

WW1 Thornycroft and Peerless trucks were used in the early stages of WW2 as mobile anti aircraft gun battery's. I think that it was more of a case of "what guns do we have in stock" as opposed to "lets get the Thorny's and Peerless out and give those Hun planes a thrashing"

This photo just sold on E bay for about £350. Who wants to comment on it: No need to comment about "how much!"

Yes, i see what you mean. I think i would rather take my chances with the horse. brilliant mystery object though. Tim (too)

What a marvellous collection. Thanks. Tim (too)

Sorry, i cant add anything to the motorcycle question. The US Army made use of Cleveland, Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycles during WW1 and it could be any of these. The mystery wagon is very interesting. I certainly dont recognise it as an ammunition wagon. All wagons at this time were wooden with wooden wheels. The exception being workshop trailers which this most certainly is not. I am inclined to agree with Les on this. It looks like a tar boiler to me. The angled sides to keep the tar on the bottom, metal wheels for the weight, look very similar to restored "civilian" ones i have seen at the GDSF (or similar). Photo anyone? Tim (too)

I think i would have to ask her to bend over and pick it up.

Crikey. You are right! i would not have noticed unless you had pointed it out. Tim (too)

Well you know what they say. If the coat fits......

Sorry. What i meant to say was a WW1 vehicle. However, i might be wrong of course. It could be later, even modern. I will have to make some more checks.

Yes, quite right on the Jeep grill, but it was the one in front i was thinking of. Not a WW2 vehicle. Tim (too)

No takers? Oh well, have a go at this one. Must identify the correct truck for the Mars bar from jack.