Great War truck

Yes Paul. I think you were there the same day as me. Still looking for my other photos of the day. here is one of them: Here are some more of this years event: I will get you the dates of this years event. We will be able to take vehicles onto the ranges and drive on and off the landing craft. Richard will also give us the full tour if you are so interested. There is a lot to see, if you know where to look. I will post some more info soon and if anybody else wants to bring a vehicle you will be welcomed. Tim (too)

Here it is. Packards being rebuilt in one of the hangars. I dont think the insides have changed very much in all that time. Tim (too)

Oh yes, i forgot you lived there. Did you know at the end of WW1, Hendon aerodrome was partly taken over by Packard for ex WD truck rebuilds. I have a period photo somewhere which will interest you. Will have a look for it. Tim (too)

Oh gosh! Is that what it means! Ah well, that explains a lot then. Tim (too)

As you know i am an obsessive postcard collector. Not so long ago i came across this postcard of Alphington Street in Exeter. Nothing special you may say. Well the fourth from the left of the row of Georgian Houses was my first property (well actually the top floor was my flat) Still bored i hear you groan? Well, the view is a bit different today. The first two Georgian houses are long gone, and the building in front of those (on the very left) was until recently a dilapidated pile of rubble. When i told my collegues at work of my purchase they were both suprised and amused. I must admit when i bought the property i was always a bit confused as to why the walls were leaning at funny angles. One door was flush with the floor to the left, but to the right there was a gap of about 5 inches. Thinking no more about and as the surveyors report said nothing (it really did say nothing - but cost me £300) i was not put off. What actually happened was the property was hit in the Baedecker raid of Exeter and all the buildings to the left were flattened. The houses were never rebuilt and the corner shop (and garage behind it) were left as rubble. This rubble has since been cleared and a new block of flats built. Once i had moved in i was hit with constant large repair bills and then extreme negative equity until the flat was worth about 40% of my original purhcase price. On a happier note i rented it out for 10 years and sold it a couple of years ago and made a little profit. Although i could still blame the Nazi war machine for stuffing me financially for 10 years of my life, at least i was not living in numbers 6 and 7 when the bombs dropped. There you go. Every photo tells a story. Tim (too)

I found this WW1 postcard a while back. The sender actually sent it to his girl friend. I hope that she had a good sense of humour. Makes me laugh. Tim (too)

Take a look at this item on E bay 280215723620 Does it really work and is it a good idea? With fuel prices going the way they are we might all all buy multifuel engined trucks and smell like chip shops. I guess a multi fuel REO would not have a problem with this, but something a bit more delicate I would be cautious about. Not too sure what price chip oil is, but new stuff is probably more expensive than diesel? Any thoughts? Tim (too)

Yes, well done Jack. It is a real shame but in a short time everything will be just about back to normal. You just need enthusiasm and support from everyone to get there and you have mine. I notice a lot of picture links are not reloading from Photobucket. Is there a reason for this, or is it just part of the general problem. Tim (too)

Hey thanks for that Neil. It is all very pleasing to the eye. Do you remember that full size replica nuclear submarine they made from old tyres. We must be in with a chance for the next Turner prize. :angel: Tim (too)

With the sump back on and the engine now mostly assembled we could now look at putting it back in the chassis. We had to remove the radiator and bonnet of course. Luckily we have all the gear to do a gentle lift for the engine: Until we finally got it in to place. It does look a little lost in there, but there is still plenty more to add to the engine assembly yet:

Thanks for that Degsy. There really are so many photos i dont know what to exclude, but i will just give you the basic ones to preserve your sanity. After cleaning up the block, we started reassembley. Here is the end cover. After cleaning up all the valve guides and valves we realised that the valves were not in that great a condition, so we had some new ones made. We then set about putting these in. Steve had to adapt a valve spring compressor that he had bought for the job, as its reach was not quite enough. Now all in place And with the covers back on it is looking more like an engine once again.

Then Steve got it hot and bent it back into shape so it looked like this: He then attached some new gauze to make it look as good as new.

It has been four Months since i last updated this topic and quite a lot has gone on. I will add to it in small chunks as my PC has a habit of crashing mid post. You will remember that we found one of the oil filters had been crushed and badly damaged by someone armed with a screwdriver. Basically, after we cleaned of the dirt and removed the gauze it looked like this.

It was in Feb edition of Heritage commercials. Looking at it further and having discussed with a work collegue, we agree that the wheels look like Kegresse wheels, but there does not seem to be enough room for the front steering axle and wheels. Also the rad appears to be just resting and is too wide for the chassis. We are wondering if it is just a few bits and pieces cobbled together. I cant find any reference to its existence. An enigma indeed! Tim (too)

I was very impressed to see the SKY News expert, he reactivated an UZI in "seconds". I wonder if he could fix that Maudslay Kegresse in seconds too? We could rent him out for an instant vehicle repairs service Hold on BBC, i am coming back to you. Tim (too)

There is too much money involved at W&P to let it die off. The owners of the site would be idiots to cancel the event for the future. However, if they did i am sure that someone else would be delighted to pick up the torch and find a different venue. Actually it might be a good thing. Maybe even better toilets, but Rex set a precedent with the charging of vehicles for access, so i dont expect that to go away. Tim (too)

Heck of a lot of work to go for a hoax. I still think that it is plausible. It is non sea water and boggy ponds are great for preserving things. Consider those bodies they dug up from a peat bog in Anglesea. 2000 years old, but incredibly well preserved. Tim (too)

I dont know whether you saw this http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/Maudslay.jpg[/img] It is an ex RAF Maudslay Kegresse and must be unique. It just sold for £180. Apart from the missing tracks it looks to be mostly there. What a beauty and what fun it would be to drive around. Does anybody know where it has gone? Tim (too)

I agree with you. Jack nothing new at all. I also noticed the 101st patches. Probably filmed in Devon as the 101st did a stint of training at Braunton in Devon. Maisy battery was interesting, but totally irelevant to the Omaha. Good CGI though. They only used 3 reenactors to film that. overall C-, could do better. Tim (too)

I cant find out anything else about them. It seems that the launcher came as a kit that could be fitted to the Shermans already in the field and jettisoned without too much difficulty. I would'nt think that they were used by just this one batallion, but the photos of them are very rare. I would expect that the crews would be very wary of using them and avoid using them wherever possible. 20 7.2 inch rockets packs some punch though, assuming that you can get them to hit the target that is. Tim (too)

Rick You have this amazing ability to send me running to my bookshelf with great enthusiasm to look things up. keep it up, i need the exercise. This photo is actually taken in Italy and features the 752 Tank batallion with M17 Rocket launchers which fires 7.2 inch rockets. I dont think that they were used that much as the commanders inability to get out and see must have been a draw back. I notice that the guy on the right has his tank patch sown over his heart as opposed to his sleeve. Tim (too)

It's Italian. Thats about all i know. I have found a picture in Barts book of a Fiat tractor towing two simultaneously. I wouldnt fancy going down a hill with two of those behind me. Tim (too)

Finally, here are the instructions for use: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/VM4.jpg[/img] http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/VM5.jpg[/img] Tim (too)

Here is another one that was not microfilmed but mailed. The letter when folded forms the envelope with the address on the reverse. http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/VM2.jpg[/img] http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/VM1.jpg[/img] Anybody have an idea why this might have been the case, or were they only microfilmed when overseas? Tim (too)

Another thing i like about this diverse forum is that it reminds me to go and look for things that i know that i have but had forgotten about but still have a rough idea of where it might be. Here is a V Mail reproduced from the microfilm for the family back home in the USA. The envelope is only about 3 inches square. http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/VM3.jpg[/img]