Great War truck

70 today! Congratulations. Tim (too)

I love the camouflage in the first few photos. Thanks for posting. Tim (too)

Great photos. I look forward to seeing more. What on earth is the yellow flag. Somerset got their own flag now. Tim (too)

Thanks for that, there really is very kind of you. As i might have said previously, what really makes this restoration possible is that there are three of us working on it. Still a very long restoration though. Any individual sane person would have given this project up as madness years ago. There is certainly no money to be made in it. A labour of love indeed. Anyway, while i am on about lamps i thought i should post a couple more pictures. One of the rotten lamps we bought still had its bracket attached. I would guess the weight of the bracket ripped it out of the scuttle as it rotted and it got left behind when the lorry was scrapped. When we bought the Dennis we had only half of the scuttle (cut up the centre). On the scuttle was another bracket, the exact mirror image of the other one. A matching pair! Making these things is a pain, but now we have a pair of originals: With the holes drilled in the scuttle they just bolted in. Perfect. The only thing is they are at head hight and right in the way so we keep walking into them. Tony has put a pair of gloves over them to make them more visible and reduce injury to passers by. Tim (too)

Yes, thats a good place to find them. A friend picked up a wonderful and complete one in france for €10. A real bargian. If there is the correct reflector in the back it makes them worth buying even if the rest of the lamp is shot. There are other sorts of lamps used by the WD as well and gas generators too of course. Hmm, maybe i should start up a whole new thread on WW1 truck lamps. Thanks for your positive waves Centi. With all this good karma the restoration will soon be finished. Tim (too)

I think you are all quite right. I must admit to looking at say a bright pink Jeep or a ferret with chequer plate and saying to myself "Thats not quite right", but i try not to tell the owner. I also admit (rather ashamedly) to standing next to the FWD just praying for someone to come up to me and say "Those wheels are wrong, they should be wooden" or "your fuel tank is post war". But i think they see me watching them and then move away. One day it will happen. Tim (too)

Something a friend brought to my attention last night is something that I have been aware of for a while but not really given much thought, is the “holier than thou” attitude of some MV owners. Let me explain: You have arrived at a show in your Jeep and someone comes up to you and says “ah, you have got Ford pedals on a Willys” or “That jerrycan is post war”, or maybe “That windscreen is not original”. Basically, it is finding faults in someone elses vehicle and then telling them about it. We all look at other peoples vehicles and you cant but help but notice things that are out of place (radio aerials usually) or wrong (like the six pointed star I saw on one Jeep). But then going up to the owner and telling them about it is pushing your luck and rather rude. I have seen this done a lot with Jeeps, but do different MV owners do it as well? It does not happen a lot with WW1 stuff I must say, but we have had someone come up to us and say that the original Autocar seat raising mechanism was not original (basically, you pull the handle and it leaps up almost on its own – very good idea for its day). Anyway, my thought is that this seems to affect jeep owners more than other vehicle owners. Is this because the jeep design and variations are better documented than other MV’s, or are Jeep owners just a bit more cantankerous and like to demonstrate their superior knowledge. I must point out at this stage that I am a Jeep owner, quite cantankerous and have been told that my Willys Jeep has Hotchkiss wheels (it doesn’t), an incorrect windscreen (it is indeed a replica), Ford pedals (actually they are Willys) and a host of other things apparently wrong with it. When given this sort of advice I normally smile and thank them for imparting their obviously superior knowledge. So, has anybody else been incorrectly told that their vehicle has some terrible problem? Unless of course you covered in chequer plate and painted it in pink, in which case please do not reply until you have been out into the garage and sorted it out. Tim (too)

Ah that explains that. I found references MV magazine of M3 half tracks kept on a British base in Lybia in the 60's for use in the making of war films. The tank museum guide mentions the A7V replica on page two of the guide: http://www.tankmuseum.org/asset_arena/textual/de/bovtm_tankfest_2009_show_guide.pdf Sadly not much info and no photos.

Well someone has beaten me to it. I see that at Bovington this year is the debut of an A7V replica. There is a superb one in Germany, but this is a different one built in the UK by Bob Grundy. Has anybody seen it or know about it? I might have to go to Bovy after all just to see it. Tim (too)

I have seen the DUKWs in Chicago. They were painted pink. I was a little stunned as i saw one reflected in a shop window i was looking in.

The sidelamps turn up occasionally. Here are a pair of Millers that i have been working on. I have the correct glass to put in them, which i will do after i paint them. Both of them were quite badly buckled (probably dropped) and one of them had been used by someone as candle holder. It was full of melted wax and soot. A real pig to clean out. After i finished these two another one (P & H this time) turned up on E bay in the USA. It was missing its glass and was bought at a garage sale out there by the previous owner many years ago. I often wonder how it got there. It is in great condition and wont need much work doing to it: My latest lamp acquisition is this very fine P & H tail lamp. Looks very similar to the side lamps, but has a red lens, glass to both sides and a rear mounting bracket. It is however dated 1924, so i suppose we shouldnt use it, but then again it is so far under the truck chassis that no one would be able to read the date anyway. The tail lamps are the hardest to find. I would presume that because the WD had to order another batch in 1924, they were even short of them then. Tim (too)

As i am about 120 miles away from where we keep the trucks, i keep myself busy by taking bits away to work on them at home and then take them back once finished to put them on the truck. One of the ongoing jobs has been in locating and restoring the correct lamps for it. The Dennis should have two headlamps, two side lamps, a tail lamp and a gas generator. The lamps were primarily made by the companies of Miller and Powell and Hamner, although there were a few other odd makes used as well. The price of an original lamp in good condition can be quite frightening. Over the years we have been collecting odd ones that we have seen, even in bad condition so that we can put a good set together. This is where i am currently at: This is a Miller headlamp, in very good condition. It looks even better now that i have taken it back to bare metal As you can see it has the WD mark on the top: Even the insides are in good condition, with a fine reflector (one of the first bits to disappear), the burner and glass. This is the next one in line to do. It is also in quite good condition although it needs a very good clean: It is however missing the bolts that secure it to the lamp bracket. I did manage to find another lamp which was in appalling condition, but had both bolts and burner in place: We managed to remove the bolts and burner after a bit of effort. Steve could have made replacements, but it is nicer and quicker to have originals.

Very true. Same could be said for all preserved MV's though. After the last flying Mosquito crashed there was an argument that these old birds should all be grounded and left in museums. I disagree with this totally. Not many will want to restore or fund an aeroplane that will never fly again. Really not much motivation to do it. Looking at the number of warbirds that have crashed in recent years it is only a matter of time until we have a real tragedy - say the BBMF Lancaster being pranged. However, i believe that as many warbirds as possible should be returned to flying condition and then flown. I also believe that if there is only one example of a particular plane left then whether it is flown again or not is a matter for serious consideration. Tim (too)

Yes quite agree. Return every one to flying condition until eventually there is just one left. Then put the last one in a museum. Tim (too)

Not wanting to get too anoraky here, but i thought that you might be interested in these photos of British MT from WW1 showing the manufacturers name on the canvas. Probably not going to interest anybody at all, but i have just had a few beers and thought it a good idea at the time: Tim (too)

Yes, very nasty. But it could have been worse, which i appreciate is not much concillation at this time. Tim (too)

Crikey. When i first saw that I thought that the tyre had blown out causing the wheel to fly off and land in your boot. Lucky indeed. Having read your post i now see that was not the case, but lucky indeed. it could have been a lot worse.

Very interesting selection. A bit curious about the sheep, but thought best not to ask. Tim (too)

Thanks Stephan. Tim (too)

John What is going to happen to the Liberty's and the Mack. Saved for restoration? Tim (too)

I only made the Monday. As i arrived, everybody else seemed to be on their way out. I blame the BBC for driving everybody off by announcing heavy rain all day. Silly so and so's. I got sun burned and felt a right prat carrying a rain coast and umbrella. Nice to see catweazle though. Somehow i missed Jack? Tim (too)

Why am i not suprised by this news? I am so mad with so many people i am unable to say what i really feel without being banned. Dont get me wrong. I like France. I like just about every French person i meet. But i hate politicians (as in fact so do most people i meet). Anyway, to avoid getting banned, i will say no more and let De Gaulles words speak for themself. This is what he said on the liberation of Paris. "Paris! Paris humiliated! Paris broken! Paris martyrised! But Paris Liberated! Freed by herself, freed by her people with the support of the Armies of France, with the backing and assistance of the whole of France, of fighting France, of the only France, of the true France, of eternal France". A little over two months earlier, on June the sixth, the greatest invasion force ever assembled had hit the beaches of Normandy. Four thousand, six hundred allied troops had been killed on that day alone, of whom two thousand five hundred were American and nineteen French. Two decades later, as President of France, General de Gaulle would telephone his American counterpart, President Lyndon Johnson to tell him that France had decided to withdraw from NATO. "My intention" the General told him, "is that all American servicemen should leave French soil" to which Johnson is said to have replied "Does that include those buried in it?" This, being the 65th anniversary of D-Day will hopefully be the last political and media scrum. Good job too. I hope the politicians never come back again. I am really sorry for the veterans though. With this probably being their last journey, what a shameful and sad end to it all. Tim (too)

Over the years we have probably all heard stories that we think unbeleivable. In most cases they turn out to be exagerations or fanciful imagination. For example, there is the whole "Jeep in a crate" myth. Also the large quantity of steam engines still held in army reserve bogus myth. But every now and again some strange story is actually true - "There is a Humber armoured car buried in that field" or "there is a WW1 Thornycroft lorry (actually an AEC) in that wood", or strangely enough "There are two WW2 German U Boats in that building (the building being a bombed U Boat pen)". Which have all proved to be true. So what story's have you heard that might either be or not be true, and are they true? Here are a few to get you going: 1). At Brize Norton a collection of captured German aeroplanes were badly damaged in a storm in 1946. They bulldozed a hole and buried them. 2). As a precaution against a Soviet EMP, the MOD still keep a reserve of WW2 tanks (either Comets or Churchills - which are too basic to be imobilised by an EMP) in a London depot. 3). At the Alvis factory site, there remains in a basement a collection of prototype vehicles from the 1950's and 60's. The story goes on that when the factory was cleared the entrance to the basement was filled in. Then when they tried to build a new Tesco's they had to swap it and the car park around as the foundations could not be made safe. A large bore was made and the basement filled with pea shingle. 4). In the Indian Army reserve there are still some surviving British tanks from WW1. Truth or over fanciful imagination. Over to you. Tim (too)

I had the SLR, but it got left against a radiator and it melted (or maybe thats just what my Mum said). I also had the Thompson with the loadable magazine, but was always very dissapointed by the lack of range. The best ones i had were two pistols that fired rubber suckered darts with a really significant force. Steve once fired both directly into my eyes from a range of 6 inches. Ah, happy days. Tim (too)

Dont let us put you off going. If you want to see some WW2 re-enactors doing a battle or some rare tanks driving around up close, then it is brilliant. I do however feel that their target customer are not MV owners anymore, but families. Fair enough, they have a good business plan and will make lots of money out of it to keep the collection safe, so good luck to them. I must admit though that £16 Million is a heck of a lot of money to spend and I really cant see a great benefit in their massive new hall. That money could have been better spent on acquisitions or restoration of some of their exhibits. But it was not me that gave them the £16M, so it is not for me to tell them how to spend it.