Great War truck

I use a Redex additive in my MB. It works fine. Morris is probably better though, at least that is what the MD told me. We also use paraffin in our FWD Model B (not reccommended for your jeep). Tim (too)

And "Hear, Hear" from here. Tim (too) MVT Membership No 9137

John Very nicely written. I agree with most of that. I must say though that i diasagree with the whole bad spelling issue. I am rather embarassed to say that i have never noticed a spelling mistake in Windscreen. Now this might be something to do with my generation, where our schools encouraged us to write as much as we could and not worry about the spelling. Sadly that practice was not followed in my second school where i was always in trouble for my spelling, but by that time i think the damage had been done and old spelling habits were hard to kick. I understand that membership of Triumph and MG clubs is in decline, but at last years AGM the MVT membership secretary announced a healthy increase in members. I will be interested to hear next Month how we have done, but i suspect another increase. I will let you know. Military vehicles of one sort or another will always be around, so if people are mostly interested in the vehicles that they remember as a child, i dont give much hope for MG, Triumph and now Rover ownership clubs. Military vehicles will always have a following only the age of the vehicle will change. But saying that, we collect WW1 trucks and the last person that i remember seeing those as a child died a while back. So perhaps the 10 year thing does not encompass everyone (please, nobody profile me). Quite right about the website thing. "Change or die" is the rule here. Without one a club is doomed. A pity the MVT missed the opportunity to steal a march with a forum. The HMVF forum is so well established now that it would be impossible to better it. However there is always room for more. The first forum that i remember using was the "G" and now i look at half a dozen regularly. I think that the forum format is the future. What does that leave the MVT? Well i think that Windscreen is a superb magazine bringing together all kinds of people. The commercial ones are excellent but Windscreen has a greater diversity with people bringing their personal accounts and storys which the commercial ones miss out on. I also like the social aspect. Once a Month i meet up with 30 like minded people in a brewery. Life is good. Love HMVF to bits, but no one has bought me a pint yet (Jack!). The honest truth is that i just cant get enough green machines. I subscribe to four military vehicle magazines and read others occasionally as well. No matter what i would still be an MVT member, read my Windscreen (despite the spelling) and anything else that i can find that has an MV on the cover. Finally (and desperately not wanting to upset anyone or cause any further continuity to a topic that has been done to death), if someone in a club proposes a motion that i disagree with, then i shall go to that meeting and vote against it. If enough people also disagree then they will also go to that meeting and also vote against it and the motion will not be passed. If people really are not interested then that motion might be passed and we will all have to live with planting more trees, being profiled and hanging canvas buckets from our rear tow hook. It's a hobby. I do it for fun. The politics kills it dead for me. Tim (too)

I agree. One of my favourites. A little flawed in places but a great story and visually stunning. My favourite part is watching the Jeep without the chains sliding all over the road. Done it myself, although i didnt park mine in a ditch. Tim (too)

Anybody come across this film? I bought the DVD from Smiths bargian shelf and quite enjoyed it. The cover of the DVD indicates that it has won 7 awards, but when you study it closely they are all a bit off the beaten track "Best Picture, Winslow Film Festival" and things like that. The film is about 5 GI's who survive the Malmedy massacre and try to get away, picking up a shot down RAF pilot on the way. What i thought was quite good was that they used mostly re-enactors, so all their uniforms and kit were totally non-uniform (which would be right for this period of the war) and privately owned MV's (although these did look a bit too well cared for). What i also liked was the cinematography of the fighting, very similar to the start of Private Ryan if you know what i mean. What i thought very odd was a US Medic picking up a Garand and shooting away at the Germans. I thought that they were prohibited from doing this, but then again if he was fighting the SS, and they had just had a bash at executing him a few days earlier at Malmedy then perhaps you could forgive him. Anybody seen it? Worth the £5 i paid for it i think Tim (too)

Ah no. Sorry. The shed is not big enough. The last time i was up there, the place had barbed wire fences across the runway in several places and there were a number of burned out cars. I guess there is still a lot of runway left intact though. Tim (too)

Is there enough runway left to land a C47 on it? Tim (too)

Going back to the original subject matter of the Curragh, they have a WW1 Peerless truck there. Have you seen it and is there any chance that you might have a photograph of it? Many thanks Tim (too)

Yes, you are quite right. The scale of the slaughter makes it virtually incomprehensible. Such a high figure of 19,500 British dead on the first day is such a high figure that it becomes unreal. What i like about Peter Barton's "Somme a new panoramic perspective" (ISBN978-1-84529-399-4) is that it breaks it down into the individual locations and then again into the actions of some individuals. Brings it all a lot closer to home. What i also like about it is the "then and now" type photos. You would think that this would be impossible in such a sea of mud, but this is not the case. A lot of the then photos show the ground with all the trenches but before it is too chewed up by shelling so you can make out the landmarks, which compare easily with the modern colour comparisons. I have still not finished it, but it is one worth savouring. I think Lynn McDonald has now passed away. I very much enjoyed her "To the last man" about the German Spring offensive 1918, but the British always shine the most when there backs are against the wall. Tim (too)

"I also seem to recall that in the case of DUKW's they too have to be licensed for both mediums, land or sea. " That is definitely the case in the USA, but i am uncertain as to whether that is necessary here. Rex? Tim (too)

Yes, i think you are right, the Shrivenham King Tiger was in an almost complete condition i think. Tim (too)

Yes, perhaps we should lock this one now to prevent any bursting forth of emotion. Tim (too)

Yes quite right. On the same subject i am currently reading "The Somme. A new panoramic perspective" which is superb. I really wish i had it with while exploring the battlefields last time i was there, as the maps, panoramic photos and other diagrams really help orientate yourself. A superb book, one of the best that i have on the subject (and i have many). Saying that i do read a lot of WW2 stuff as well. I just cant help myself. Tim (too)

Sorry Tim (too)

The catalogue is brilliant. One of the pictures shows a steel tent. Preston has one of these and always told me it was WW1. I never believed him, but there you go, he was right. Now where can i find that lorry shed? Tim (too)

Yes, that explains that. Still a bit of a mad regulation, but there you go, thats Government for you Thanks Tim (too)

Hi Richard Thanks for your response there. There is so much that i could say in reply, but i will not. There are plenty of other things that i can do with my time, and life is too short. However: No. That is legalese. ;-) The Overlord show was the first big MV show that i ever attended (back in 1992 i think) and it was fabulous. We made a point of going every year, but i have missed the last two. A shame, they were always great fun, i met loveley people and had a fantastic time. Although we will disagree on some points i must say that i wish you, the SOE and the Overlord show every success in the future. What has happened has happened and can not be undone, so we must move on. How we chose to do so is up to us. I wish you well I presume that this is because of the new stringent regulations introduced by the Department of Health following the Dr Howard Shipman murders? Tim (too)

Is it the one that came from Shrivenham, or the one that has always been at Bovi? Tim (too)

Richard Without prejudice I do understand that you had a disagreement with the MVT, the facts of which i am not familiar with, so it would therfore be inappropriate for me to comment on. My understanding is that the majority of your area voted with your feet and moved on to form your own club. That is fine, we live in a democracy, you can do these things. However the MVT is a democratic organisation, people do stand for election (not many want to) and get voted in. If your area felt strongly enough on your concerns you could have proposed members of your area for positions within the MVT committee, and encouraged your area members to vote for you. You could defintitely have got some if not all of the seats and have taken control of the MVT to achieve your objectives. Such a split has happpened before in other areas, i have watched it and i always think that it weakens the overall military vehicle movement ever so slightly. Take France for example where there are hundreds of military vehicle clubs, but with no central voice. I think this lack of group control was a great hinderance in the recent ban in France of certain types of military vehicles. It could happen here yet. As i said, we live in a democracy, you can do what you want. I must say though (hopefully without causing offence) that you do seem to be using this forum to get at the MVT wherever possible. Things have happened or been said in the past that have made you very angry and you make this very obvious, but for goodness sake Richard, please let go. The MVT is not perfect, but what body is? If something is felt to be seriously wrong it will be reflected by the number of people at the AGM. The members can fix it if they want to, if they accept it then they wont attend. There was less than 1% turnout at the AGM last year, with 2 items on the agenda. One was about mugs, the other about life membership awards. We got through both items in less than 5 minutes. We now have a whole raft of controversial (PC) things to consider. Maybe we will get as much as a 2% turnout this year. Tim (too)

I like the phrase beside the small dog "use it as you wish". Hmmm! Tim (too)

Yes, i was thinking that as well. He may have just shot himself in the foot, ankle, calf and thigh all at the same time. Tim (too)

The answer is plainly obvious and i am suprised that you have not picked it up already. These are proposals for the MVT AGM, which is usually poorly attended (less than 1% of membership usually). If you have a few extreme or ridiculous proposals that will get everybody quite enraged then you can guarantee a more than average attendance. I will be going, we will see how many turn up and i will let you know. On other matters listed, i do have the following points to mention: Purchasing a plot of land for shows - quite controversial and will cost at least £100K. Cash will not be a problem. If all gift aid forms are completed and returned the MVT are going to receive a cash windfall well in excess of that sum. Carbon footprint - right or wrong it is what the public might believe. We have to at least be seen to be doing something in the publics eyes. You cant possibly send someone around to inspect my tree (monkey puzzle, it is just like me, very thorny), but i wouldnt mind being told how many trees i need to plant each year to offest our 50 miles we do a year in our trucks. A small shrub perhaps would suffice. Profiling. Mad. How could it be done. Quite insane. Perhaps we should review all new applications which have the name Bin Laden for security checks. Whoops, no that would be prejudicial. Lets face it, no one in their right mind would have our hobby. Yes i like spending all my time in the cold shed and all my money on things that will probably go down in value. And i like smelling of oil as well. anybody who wants to own a military vehicle can be easily profiled. Team building. A great idea. My current employer sent me on two team building events. The first one we spent the day on a boat drinking. The second one on the London eye followed by an afternnon in a London pub. I vote for that. Any club as large as the MVT has to be a well oiled machine, so lets get the committee well oiled. As for the sexual persuasion thing, a number of our members display their canvas buckets hanging from the tow hook so i would think that we have that avenue pretty well covered already. Looking forwards to the reply Tim (too)

I thought that due to new US Governement regulations that you were no longer allowed to export tracked armour back to the USA. Tim (too)

What a butchers shop. A lot of work has gone into such a demilling. Which country have they come from and what sort of money are they looking for? Tim (too)

Crikey. Can you get engine parts easily enough over here, or does it require a phonecall to Holland or the USA? Tim (too)