John Pearson

W&P were not at Malvern but on another interweb site I was assured by one of the management team (i/c of reenactors field) that the show IS going ahead and bookings will be taken from mid April onwards. I for one hope that it does run but they are leaving it very late to get everything sorted out in time I think. No indication of costs as the normal cut off date has passed. Who will book in? I certainly will be arranging to go if it does in fact run.

I note that Classic Military Vehicle mag (marked April 2022) has a short article stating the War and Peace 2022 "would be going ahead" and "tickets will be able to be booked on line from April". Foreign participation is confirmed. Seems to me to be too late to be thinking of organising such an event? Will be interesting to see if they have a stall selling tickets at Malvern on Sunday. Who will be booking in?

Two possibilities spring to mind: one, Rex is running it or two, Hop Farm are running it themselves. Either way, if either is true, they are leaving it damn late to start to take bookings. If either are planning to run a show, what happens to people who have booked and paid to the "Revival" organisation?

I note that Hop Farm has "War and Peace" not "War and Peace Revival". Anyone know the significance of the change?

To fire the Petard, firstly the spigot is retracted by winch and the bomb placed in the barrel and the barrel/breech is closed. In firing, the spigot is sprung forward and "picks up" the bomb, entering the tube up the middle of the bomb. Before the spigot is fully extended it strikes and ignites the propelling charge at the front end of the tube. The bomb "blows off" the spigot and goes on it's way. The recoil forces stop the spigot momentum and recock the spigot ready for the next shot. In the event of a misfire, the bomb will be ejected a few feet by spring power but of course the spigot does not recock which must be done with the winch if in training but in action a blank charge in a "revolver cylinder" device attached to the mounting would be fired into the large tubular fitting which recocked the spigot. This blank fire recock was only used in action because its use entailed an enormous amount of work in stripping to clean out the corrosive deposits of the blank.

Hi Ryan, Tank ownership is as good as it appears from the outside but few people actually go looking for a specific vehicle unless they are of unlimited means! Most people I know just kept their ears open for bargains then went to look, then decided if it was a good price. A few other considerations: Difficulty of moving the larger vehicles. Secure storage Availability of information and spares Tools needed including heavy lift equipment (may not even use standard spanners and sockets) Fuel costs and land available to drive

Hi Adrian. No, the proposal is quite clearly a suggestion for a bored 6 pdr up to 2.75", not a sleeved 3". It was intended to be a direct swap for the 6Pdr in the 6pdr mounting. It compares the expected performance of it with the American 75mm in the proposal and this might have been the seed of the idea to slightly thicken the 6pdr tube and bore it for Sherman ammunition which resulted in the British 75mm which fitted the 6pdr mounting.

I had not seen this, thanks.

Thanks for that. I am aware of the 8 per being tested but have seen paperwork relating to proposals for an 11 pdr and a 12 pdr (which might be the same just firing a longer/heavier shot) and one photograph hand captioned as a 12 pdr but those are poor evidence that the 12 pdr was actually built. The proposed bore was 2.75 inches by the way and it was based on a bored out 6 pdr tube which would normally be 57 mm.

Bit of message missing??

Hi. Does anyone have any information or pics of the Vickers 12 pdr anti tank gun (proposal?) from around 1942. Anything would be of interest.

I am pleased I bought my copies years ago - as I recall I paid exactly 1/20 of current values, £10 or £15 each. (Did you realise that at least some of the extra papers with the Mk III book relate to the 17pdr SP, the Archer?) You don't have either a Mk IV or a mk VI/VII Valentine parts list do you? These are the only ones I am short of for the full set.

Here goes! Imperial (feet, inches) of course.

I think I have tracked down the info you need. I will (try) post later.

When the virus is over, the Bovington Tank Museum Archives have full documentation and can supply photocopies. What are you looking for specifically?

I have just bought and collected the Stalwart. Big job!!

I know this may sound a bit odd but I usually work the other way round; show organisers tend to contact me and ask me to attend their show. I can't manage all requests maybe due to time or maybe travel costs but I try to agree to attend as many as I can (it is only a hobby after all!) It is very rare that I am actually looking around for a show to attend so if I haven't been asked then the question as to whether I intended to go or not doesn't arise. I have to say that I thought the Victory Show was an absolute cracker, pity it rained so much when I was there.

No, haven't been asked to go to the Victory show I am afraid.

I thought it was never left alone to be honest so there should have been someone about, pity you missed us!

Yes, I have agreed to go to the Overlord Show. You going?

Yes, that is what I was referring to. "Land" tanks are sometimes told to go for a specific distance on a particular compass bearing so to ensure accuracy, the turret is put into the straight ahead position and the compass adjusted for maximum accuracy but this is not the case with Valentine DD tanks. Their operational orders would be to attack a particular bunker etc, probably in view. The approach swim however was always done on a compass bearing and while swimming, the Valentine DD would have its turret reversed, hence my suggestion that the compass would be adjusted with the turret reversed and a special tag issued to note that fact. The reason I queried rather than stated it is because my tank does not have such a tag although all the others seem to be present. (Sherman DD did not have this problem, they floated with turrets to the front)

I have always wondered if the Valentine DD model had a similar tag but marked as "turret must be to the rear" so as to allow using the compass afloat?

I have only just seen this query. I have had a dingo for nearly 30 years and can only agree that they are wonderful. They are simple to operate and maintain (compared to other ww2 armour!) but spares are no longer plentiful. Major problem in using them is the lack of tyres. They use solid 7:00 by 18s which are all but unavailable so you need to bear the tyre condition in mind when looking for one to buy and also consider seriously limiting the annual mileage driven.

Only just found this thread. This Guy Quad Ant spent 36 years about 10 feet away from my Valentine DD tank as both were in the Ellard Collection from 1948 and were sold 10 July 1984.

Not 100% sure that I am still alive but it seems probable. Change of phone lost my HMVF password but if you keep trying, you guess it eventually!