Great War truck

Jack Can i just pick you up on the use of the word "sold", as that would suggest the thing had been completed. I am still doubtful as to whether this project will be completed. I see that replica STUG III is up for sale for £18,000 and i found that to be quite interesting and passable for renactment purposes. But a replica Tiger for the price of a house in the South of France going to the USA. I just dont see it happening. Tim (too)

OK. Just stumbled on this picture. http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/cherbourg_background1.jpg[/img] Compare the buildings. Lucky or what. Tim (too)

Can you post a scan of the picture from the book. Cherbourg is quite distinctive and i was wondering if we can identify it as somewhere else. Here is a picture of Cherbourg during the clearance. http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/Cherbourg.jpg[/img] As you can see there are a great deal of crawler cranes now on the docks and the Rhino has lots more engineering equipment stuck on top. Lots of heavy engineering equipment and compressors i see so i guess they were still being used in clearance works. This photo was i think taken from the Southern edge of the small dry dock. The guy on the right has a Bell and Howell camera. Quite fancy one of those for Christmas list. Tim (too)

I rather liked the impressive interior lighting on the Jeeps in Kellys Heroes. Yes i too wish i could drive around in the dark with a light shining up in to my face. Also, what was the purpose of the extended top of the windscreen. Room for the camera man or a Yugo army modification. Really liked the film but just curious. Tim (too)

Not unless they had gotten lost, or were perhaps specialists in clearing blocked harbours. Why do you ask? Tim (too)

Lot 715 is canvas buckets. I wonder how many and what colour they are. Must be of interest to someone? Anybody? Bucket anyone at all? Tim (too)

There is a large van in the background of the jousting scene in Jabberwocky (if medievil knights fighting a B****y great dinosaur count as a war film - :dunno: well just forget i even mentioned it). Tim (too)

Difficult knowing what to do. With the skills and knowledge about i proper restoration could have been done, but i guess at some expense. A pity thay didnt make any more replicas. I wouldn't have minded one of those. Found out a bit more about Mephisto: A7Vs made their combat début in the German Spring Offensive of March 1918. Vehicle 506, plus three other A7Vs and five captured English tanks supported shock troop (Stosstruppen) assaults around the French town of St Quentin. The tanks played a relatively minor role, although 506 and 501 proved effective in neutralising Allied strong points. Following this operation, 506 acquired the name Mephisto and a painting of a devil (Mephistopheles) running off with a British tank under one arm on its front armour. The next engagement occurred when the Germans attempted to capture the village of Villers-Bretonneux and resume their advance on Amiens in late April 1918. Mephisto and 13 other A7Vs took part in this operation. The A7V's were split into three groups: one of these encountered British Mark IV tanks and the first ever tank vs tank battle ensued, resulting in damage to three Mark IVs and one A7V. The group, which included Mephisto, successfully cleared the British front before advancing on a fortified farm in Monument Wood near Villiers-Brettoneaux. At some point Mephisto was driven into a deep shell crater where it became firmly stuck and was unrecoverable. Mephisto remained stranded at Monument Wood until July 1918, when Australian troops of the 26th Battalion AIF (composed mainly of Queenslanders) eventually pushed the Allied front line past Mephisto's position. It was recovered by Allied forces on the night of 22 July 1918 and taken to Vaux-en-Amienois before being shipped to England in January 1919. During this time, Mephisto was 'redecorated' with details of its capture, soldiers' names and a 'British' lion with his paw on an A7V. Subsequently, it was proposed that the tank to be displayed as a 'war trophy' in Queensland. Mephisto eventually arrived in Brisbane aboard the S S Armagh in June 1919 where it was unloaded at the Norman Wharf. On the morning of 22 August, two City Council steamrollers towed the tank to the Queensland Museum in Gregory Terrace. It remained there until 1986 when both it and the Museum were relocated to the Queensland Cultural Centre, South Bank. So there you go. I quite faniced renaming one of my kids Mephisto, but now i know it means the devil, i am not too sure. Actually i am even more determined to do so. Just have to clear it with the wife first of all. Tim (too)

Thats right."Mephisto" is down there. It is in a museum and clearly visible through a window looking out into a park. I beleive that the insides is quite gutted which is a shame. A tragedy to think that there was a surviving example in the UK that got got up for scrap. Such is the way of things. Tim (too)

George Fortys "Photohistory of armoured cars" is very good as well. Lots of pictures of WW1 stuff. Tim (too)

I saw photos of a WW1 truck rear axle with two metal spoked wheels which had been retreived. No mention of the diff but i am sure that it had gone before they dumped it in the water. Probably did a good job as they are right :angry: so and so's to move around on dry land. Tim (too)

More money than sense. Will beleive it when i see it. The replica A7V can be seen at http://www.waffenhq.de/panzer/a7v.html I dont have my own photos of it yet and this is the only one i can find which as you can see is copyrighted. Tim (too)

Very interesting to see it all in context. Thanks Tim (too)

I remember seeing a doccumentary on a related subject about 25 years ago, and it showed current film of a French river with lots of remains of softskin vehicles sticking up through the water. Chassis, axles, wheels and tires were all clearly visible but it was all rusted beyond any possible use even back then. All probably gone by now. Tim (too)

I agree with all those films as being outstanding, but crikey, there are still so many more to choose from. Lets add "Bridge Too Far" and "Bridge at Remagen" as WW2 favourites and "What Price Glory" as my favourite WW1 film. I could list another dozen quite easily, but i thought i should let some one else pick them. Tim (too)

Hi Richard Thanks for your suggestion. That might tie in well with the history of the previous owner. Thanks Tim (too)

You are right. Ridiculous! Even more so if you look at some of the other ones for sale on the same website. Quite mad.

Very much so. Stay with us on this. Tim (too)

I have in my possession a pair of motorcycle paniers that look like this: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/DSCN0010.jpg[/img] Can anyone identify them for me please? Thanks Tim (too)

On the subject of Steam, have you seen this Foden. It is a genuine WW1 veteran and currently lives at Kew. http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/Greatwartruck/Foden.jpg[/img] CMV ran an article on it some years ago. Tim (too)

Actually lots more photos, historymaps etc can be found at: http://www.assaulttrainingcenter.com/Contents.html Worth a look. The site is still under construction but there is quite a lot of info there. Tim (too)

Didnt see the Matilda, but did find an inverted Cromwell and a Churchill which had been blown to pieces. Did also find one of the scaffolding poles though. It is hard to get a definite id on the remains of the tanks and even more so as things keep being buried and dug up again. Of course it is illegal to take any finds off of the dunes, so even if i had found something of great interest i would have left it behind. :whistle: Tim (too)

Oh you guessed! :whistle: Tim (too)

Hey, i had one of those painted on the back of my leather jacket in my strange days in the 1980's. It used to attract a lot of attention from passers by. Actually it may have been the hair, the 14 hole DM's and the spurs that did it. Happy days. Tim (too)

The difference between what we get and what we want are two poles apart. My Mum asked me what i wanted once so i gave her a list showing what it was, where it could be located and she gave it back to me saying "i am not getting you any of that" (it wasnt top shelf material before you ask - just CD's, and Videos). So i have lost all enthusiasm for lists. Just get me anything that i can sell on E bay and convert it into cash to buy something that i do want. The problem is that i do not know what i want it until i see it or know that one exists, and then i want it so bad I cant sleep at night. Tim (too)