Great War truck

Admiral Byng was executed today (14 march) in 1757 on the forecastle of HMS Monarch for not doing his “utmost against the enemy”. This charge was brought against him for failing to attack a larger sized French fleet when some of the ships of his fleet had already been badly damaged and the crew were suffering from poor health and exhaustion. It is generally thought that his execution instilled "a culture of aggressive determination which set British officers apart from their foreign contemporaries, and which in time gave them a steadily mounting psychological ascendancy". Do you feel that this was: A. A complete travesty of justice B. Richly deserved. C. Rather unfair, but necessary to encourage the others and is really what made the Royal Navy the greatest Naval force in the world (up until WW2, when the Americans took over).

I would too if i had the storage space. Actually it is amazing what you can do with some creative packing and a JCB. Tim (too)

Marvellous. With the right tools you make it look like a giant meccano kit, only lots more fun. Well done. I would be interested to see how it progresses. Tim (too)

Yes i know that Martian very well. I remember it working as a recovery truck. It is in a field just alongside their yard North of Taunton. You get the impression that when it no longer worked they just pushed it through the gate and it rolled down into the field to come to a standstill. Sad, but thats life really. Dont try and go into the yard without alsation repellant. If they are asking £3,000 for that, just ask if they have anything else that just might be hidden in their yard that might be of interest to an early truck collector and what sort of price it might be going for (if it were indeed for sale of course or if in fact it is still there). Thanks Tim (too)

Jack This is a business venture you may well come to regret (unless of course you have a large amount of spare time on your hands). Buy the plain nets and some hessian strip. Put the two together and then sell completed camouflage nets. Brilliant idea. I wonder why no one else had thought of doing it? Actually, there is a reason. It is a horrible long job (to do it properly) and not something that you can easily do in front of the TV. It makes a terrible mess as the hessian turns to dust and after a while it is really painful on your fingers. Thanks for the offer of the postcode but i will probably steer clear of Dorset until you have finished (so the next 3 years then really). Tim (too)

How many do you have to make? And why? Which pattern do you intend to do? The single colour in the "Greek Key" pattern is the easiest and most effective. What made mine so awkward was my attempt to use the three colour scheme. As i said, horrible job. Tim (too)

Our local MVT Branch is organising a visit to the Home Guard Auxiliary training school at Coleshill (near Faringdon) on Saturday 9th of May. As some of you know, the Auxiliaries were trained to operate behind German lines in the event of an invasion. They were to cause as much trouble to the Germans as possible until they were captured or killed. A great deal has been written about them in recent years and in fact there was a thread on HMVF quite recently about this. The site was also used to train SOE. The actual manor house was destroyed in fire after the war, but the stables and gardens still remain. Within the gardens there is a surviving underground base for the Auxiliaries which is the same as many of the others that remain and we may be able to access this. The estate is a National Trust site with very limited access to the public, so this will be a private guided tour led by the historian Bill King. Cost per head is just £2. The tour is limited to 30 and i expect about 20 of those will be taken up by local MVT members. If anybody else is interested in coming along please let me know. Thanks Tim (too)

I made my camouflage net on the kitchen and dining room floor. I will never ever do one ever again. Horrible job. Tim (too)

Exactly that. Part of our problem is that the petrol is not burning and is forced through into the exhaust where it eventually combusts. Just goes to show the explosive power of the stuff. Tim (too)

As you will have read on another thread, our FWD exhaust muffler blew itself apart. This is the second time it has done that. The first time, the driver who was tailgating us expressed his suprise at the large bang and pieces of shrapnel flying towards him by sounding his horn. I gave him a cheery wave as if to say "thanks, i didnt hear our exhaust blowing itself apart, but now that you have i will pick the pieces up off the road and put it back together again". Well, it went again but luckily, the ends seem to survive and Father has made a replacement. This one is made of a heavier gauge metal and should last longer Tim (too)

Yes, looking very nice. How are you off for drawings of the rear doors? Tim (too)

Yes you have got it. When the plane is launched the bottom half of the pin is extracted and thrown into a drum for disposal. However, Navy crew who need to make a call of nature use the drum (i guess that reduces any splash back in the wind). It is customary on making your first landing to receive the bottom half of a pin as a memento. They dont usually mention the urine thing until you are about to fly off again. The lexington is a WW2 carrier, which after the war was decomissioned for a number of years and then recommissioned as a training carrier. It was the shortest carrier in the fleet. It was finally retired in 1991 and is now a museum in Texas. Excellent guess about the arrester wires. That is exactly what i thought when i was presented with the same question and object about 13 years ago. Interesting idea about the field latrine splash reducer. Very similar, but those were made of titanium and were considerably more expensive. Well done all Tim (too)

What! No more guesses? Okay i was joking about the miniature horses, but the next clue is true! When my wife made her first landing ("tail hook") on an aircraft carrier (Lexington i think it was) she was presented with it by the deck crew. Prior to its presentation it will have been liberally sprayed with urine and the other half of the object is somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. Any more guesses? Tim (too)

That is very observant of you. Yes i do have an infestation of miniature horses in my house and look for anything close to hand to squash them (dont tell Jacks wife). OK, more clues. No crown, but there is a bevel. It is no more than 25 years old. It is made to precision tolerances and would have cost several thousand dollars to make. There is only half of it there. Tim (too)

Ok, here is one that you wont get. Have a go and then i will offer some clues. Just for scale it is 3" high.

I use K seal on the Jeep. It appears to be good stuff (so far). Tim (too)

I would suggest that with the hair styles, nautical theme, moody looks, and overt sexuality, that this is in fact an early video by Duranduran. Tim (too)

I dont recognise anybody, they all look like they are having a rotten miserable time, but some great haircuts (and beards too). Tim (too)

Found them. Three were taken on board by Schiphol in 1960. Two were converted in to crash rescue and one crash recovery vehicles. One of the crash recoverys was scrapped and the other given to the Dutch artillery collection in 1981. The third was still at Schiphol in 1981. Where is it now? Crash recovery: Crash rescue (you can hardly recognise it was once a HST). Tim (too)

Well, i think they were replaced about 25 to 30 years ago. I have a photo, bear with me. Tim (too)

Schipol used to have two High Speed Tractors for use in the event of accidents. They featured in W & T some years ago. I think they both went off for restoration. Tim (too)

Yes, you are right, it didnt look too bad. Anyway, it is all apart now. I just received a picture of Kens Quad. it is looking fantastic and he thinks that it will be finished and on the road very shortly. It is already running and just needs finishing off. Tim (too)

Brilliant idea. I opened it up and it was full of gold bars, which would explain why it was so heavy. Oh no, hang on. I just dreamt that. I do have a key, and it is in fact totally empty, which is a shame. It will make a good door stop. Tim (too)

Just been told about this. Quite amazing footage. I would certainly feel uncomfortable in a DUKW in surf like that. I must watch it all now. Tim (too)

Apart from our trucks, i love collecting WW2 militaria, particularly US stuff. Cant explain why, i just find it interesting. Over the years i have picked up some nice bits, some rare stuff and some unusual things. Anyway, last night i bought this: I know the provenance of it as it came directly from a US base. It is i understand a "Field Safe". They were used for holding cash for when the GI's were paid and also for holding important doccuments. It is VERY HEAVY even when empty. There are big handles on each end for moving it around, which is not something i want to try and do again for a few weeks. Has anybody seen one of these before and (it would have been a good idea if i knew this before i bought it), what should i do with it now i have it? Tim (too)