Great War truck

Here are a few photos of the day: Most surreal photo and surely worth a caption competition: Rex's panther has a muzzle brake again:

Here we go: One of two. Both were running very well, they just needed a cosmetic tidying.

There were two of them at W&P today running around. Not really restored, just running really. i will get some photos uploaded. Tim (too)

I thought that you might be interested in this: "What am i looking at here then" you are probably asking. Well, you should be able to make out the greaser in the bottom middle of the photo that sits on the end of the King Pins. They are rather large and of quite a distinctive shape. We had been unable to locate any. Anyway, these just arrived: Two correct pattern ones. It is wonderful to have such good friends, so thank you Mick. Tim (too)

There is a similar aged working coal lorry in Bournemouth (which is also a bedford i think. I dont have a photo though. It certainly does not look that clean. Tim (too)

Not a silly question, and no it is not chain drive. Tim (too)

Cripes, you are right! In every case but one it is a twin wheel with totally mismatched tyres. In the other case it is a single front wheel. Looking at "Royal Flying Corps Instruction dealing with the use, maintenance, repair and inspection of mechanical transport" it says that the Crossley should carry "wheels, wire, twin, detachable, with dummy hub". Also " two tyres, covers, outer 920 X 120MM" and "two Tyres, tubes, inner 920 X 120 mm" "fitted to spare wheel". Hopefully that answers the question. That will teach me not to jump to rash conclusions. Apologies all round for garden path, leading up of. Tim (too)

What an interesting question. Looking at my Crossley photos they all seem to be carrying two spare wheels. Not having studied the Crossley closely I had never thought about this before, but is it possible to replace one wide rear wheel with two narrow spare wheels? You could always do what we do and carry a spare tyre and then just change the tyre as opposed to the whole wheel? Tim (too)

OK. It was actually taken in Burford in Oxfordshire. The sherman was belting along and then threw a track. It went crashing through the side of the bridge and got stuck with its nose in the water and tail on the bridge. After some effort it was decided that they could not pull it out so towed it in to and then up the river (not sure what with). Further down the river they hauled it out in to "Dr Cheatles garden", put the track back on and drove it back to the road. Not sure what this did to Dr Cheatles prize roses. Anyway, i will see if i can get a comparisson photo for you (which due to its location might be a bit tricky). Tim (too)

Some good news. Mastercard are going to refund all the money. W & P here i come with a fist full of £'s and a wheelbarrow. Tim (too)

Wahoo! There is a military vehicle named after me!! Ok, it is an amphibious motorised wheelbarrow, but wow? Tim (too)

I thought that they would have done, but phoned them back to check and they had not done so. They have done so now though! I am fuming as this is partly my own fault, as i have been lax at looking at my credit card statement. The credit card co blurb suiggests that they will only cover the most recent statement. Ahhh! All my W&P spending money stolen!!! And i wasnt even drunk!!! Tim (too)

I dont think that it would do. If they have come from Europe they would have their own red tape to get through. I guess that it would fall under the auspices of temporary importation. Tim (too)

I was just looking at my credit card bill that came today. Came across a name that i had never heard of and a debit for £30, then found another one for £40 then another for £50. Looked at the previous statment and came across six more. So they have taken £330+ out of my credit card. Phoned the bank and they suggested that i had taken out an on line subscription (suggesting porn) that i have certainly not done. Anyway, they are going to look into it and get their disputes team to phone me, but tell me that they can not guarantee getting the money back - which is probably just a standard procedure (i hope). The debits involved are to companies with the name Pushpmt.com, cashpubs.com and Hostpops.com. They all have an identical website which says that "I have an unidentified debit on my credit card" and to find out more details that I should enter my details to register with them. Has anybody come across this before. I am a bit miffed to say the least. Tim (too)

Door to door salesman selling doors. "Can i interest you in....oh, i see that you have already got one"

Not been to that one. In fact not been to Normandy for about 10 years. I must go again. Thanks for the info, i will put it in my itiniary. Tim (too)

This reminds me of the WW1 spy mystery with Michael Palin - "Whinfreys last case". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a16mygbGzlE&feature=related It makes me laugh. You will have to go to about 1:30. It is a glowing enditement of Cornish pubs, hospitality and Russia. Funniest thing on TV ever. Tim (too)

I think that a lot of this matter has already been covered in the "Holier than thou" thread from a while back. http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?t=13301&highlight=holier+thou Whether right or wrong, said with good intentions or those not so good, the odd comment can be quite offensive. For example this was said about our Autocar at Bovington a couple of years ago from someone working for a magazine which publishes pictures of military vehciles (but not an MV magazine) "so this is something that you just made up" (implying that the whole vehicle was a complete replica). I am still fuming. If he had said to me that our tyres are too narrow I would have been delighted to discuss the problems in obtaining the correct WW1 pattern pneumatic tyres. If he had told me that the body did not look quite right I would have been thrilled to explain that we had just the one photograph from which to scale it up. It is all about approach. Tim (too)

You have Nelson Mandela on your office wall! Wow. Cool office.

Just to narrow it down a bit, it is in the UK. Tim (too)

That is very true. Every vehicle restoration should extract a pound of flesh, a couple of pints of blood and a whole dictionary of swear words. If it doesnt, well you are just not trying hard enough. Tim (too)

Who knows where this was taken? Tim (too)

What is the bag for that is strapped to the shovel. I recognise it but cant think what it is for. Tim (too)

On the subject of Chaplain's Jeeps Runflat put me on to this photo album. It has been sold now, but some of the photos are quite interesting. http://www.historical-media.com/id1028.htm Tim (too)