ferretfixer

Are we agoing to see them too?........................:cool2: Happy Birthday Mate! :-D :yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay:

You have pretty much covered it really. Air beds wernt issued in those days. The 'Lightweight canvas thing' is a camp bed. Plenty about. iso mattress also never existed in those days. The liners were absolutely useless! Every time you turned over, you tied yourself up in them! You only used them once!! The idea was top keep the bags clean & send the liners for dry cleaning. In practice, no one used the liners much. The basic issue was just a 'Doss Bag'. The poncho was a personal issue to everyone. You always tried to get a LONG sleeping bag, but they were hard to source. Dont know why? A standard one for the everage guy was still JUST a little short! Hope that helps you. :??? Mike. :yay:

Hello Andy, Wellcome to HMVF! This is a very friendly site, & you will find lots of usefull help & assistance from fellow members. In the short time that I joined & monitor daily. I have found lots of friendly people who are generous with time & advice. It's also good fun & a laugh at times! :-D I am sure you will get some help in the areas you need advice on. Well done to a 'Track Basher' who has made it here! :yay: Kind Regards:Mike (Ex-R.E.M.E) :coffee:

Tim, There are an abundance of these insignia's out there on the collectors market. Nearly ALL reproduction. IF, these are indeed original, then badge / LRDG Specialist collectors will pay a great deal to possess them! ORIGINALS are very scarce! :coffee: Mike

WELL DONE DAVE, THAT RINGS A BELL! :idea: iT'S BEEN 32 YEARS SINCE I DID A PACK LIFT & ASSOCIATED REMOTE TESTS! :confused: I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING OIL/ PRESSURE RELATED THAT WAS VITAL TO INISTIATE BEFORE RUNNING UP. THE THING ABOUT THE 430 SERIES IS, THEY ARE PRETTY RELIABLE IF YOU RUN THE VEHICLE REGULARLY. HOWEVER, IN PRACTICE, THE VEHICLE SIT OUTSIDE MAINLY ON THE VEHICLE PARK FOR MONTHS AT AN END. WHEN IT COMES TO A MAJOR EXCERCISE, THEY ARE CONSTANLY FAILING OVER THE FIRST WEEK. THE AMOUNT OF CASUALTIES TO BE RECOVERED & REPAIRED IS A FAIR FEW. AFTER A WEEK WHEN ALL HAS BEEN RECTIFIED. GENERALY THEY ARE OK FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TIME. NORMALLY ANOTHER TWO WEEKS WORKING EVERY DAY. WHAT THE MAIN PROBLEM IS GENERALLY, HOSES GO HARD & SPLIT OR LEAK & NEED RE-TIGHTENING. SOMETIMES YOU CAN GET AT THEM, SOMETIMES IT'S PACK OUT TO GET AT THE OFFENDOING ARTICLE. THERE IS A HEAT EXCHANGER IN THE COOLING CIRCUIT & THAT WORKS VERY HARD INDEED!. STARTER MOTORS GO OCCASIONALY. I AM NOT SUPRISED AT ANY COMPONANT FAILURE IN THE ENGINE BAY. THE TEMPERITURES IN THERE GET UNBELIEVABLY HOT, EVEN WITH THE FANS RUNNING. WE USED TO RIDE ON THE ENGINE LOUVERES IN NOVEMBER TO KEEP WARM! TOTALY VERBOTEN NOW, HEALTH & SAFETY STICKING THIER NOSES IN AGAIN! IF WORKING ON A STEERING BOX AT ALL. WAIT UNTILL IT COOLS RIGHT OFF (24 HOURS) THE TEMPS IN THER ALSO ARE UNBELIVEABLE. YOU COULD FRY AN EGG ON THE TOP OF THE BOX IN A MESS TIN EASY! :cool2: GOOD LUCK.

Would that then be know as a Twatt Cap...? :rofl:

As a Relatively new member (Sprog!) MINOR contributor, & Humble 'Monitor' of this clubs postings. I would just like to say, it is difficult to add any more to the above post. Jack I have enjoyed our chats on the phone, nice to meet a kindered spirit. It is your attitude & those of fellow members who through thier generous giving of time, advice & assitance. Truly embody the spirit of this Hobby & make it such an enjoyable one. I offer my personal thanks to you & fellow team & 'Ordinary' (If thats truly the right term!) Members for establishing & maintaning this Outstanding Communication & Friendship Facility. Warmest Regards: Mike. :yay:

I think Normandy is pretty well played out now. People are aware of what things are worth & also the Battlefileds & Beaches have been pretty well picked over. Though Im sure things will still turn up....................:cool2:

Found some excellent stuff at Peenemunde (The original V2 Rocket base site in the North) also. I only kept one item from there though. I still have it, a large Luwtwaffe water pitcher. Funnily enough, I also found a lot of WWII Soviet stuf there too. Empty & complete cart cases, Ammo belts for the Maxim & bottles, tins Etc. Up the road from one of my postings in a Town called Hagen. During the war there was a factory there which made german insignia, medals Etc. Going over the derilect site. I found various medal bar crossed swords, the centre from A Spanish Cross & tho halves of an Iron Cross 2nd class frame. I also still have these. :yay:

German model 36 Steel helmet in an attic eaves. Also a Luger pistol. Various buttons, general assualt badge, ammo, tins, bottles Etc. There was a training area out the back of the camp manily used by the Bundeswher. Wartime disused rifle range there also. overgrown, but found many empty carts Etc. loads of postwar bundy pyro's ! :cool2: Happy days.............:coffee:

I was stationed at Hemer (Actually Dielinghofen) with 1 WFR & 2 Light Inf. Next door were the Irish Rangers. All infantry units. I went back years later whilst touring & it was the RTR in my old camp. I now hear from a Civvy friend in Hemer that the camps are closed & handed back to the German authorities. I belive they are building housed on the sites, what a shame. :-( the rocket bnase was the other side of Menden, Couldnt tell you for the life of me where! :???

ADD ON: It's better to be safe than sorry (And out of pocket with a lot of expensive parts to buy!) Mike.

Having spent my last six months in the 430 bay before remustering as an Armourer. I attest that I was truly sick of the sight of 432's & pack lifts. :-( I have personally been involved (Minimum of two people) with many pack lifts using the 434 Hiab. There is a frame you bolt to the top of the pack. five engine frame mounting bolts out, disconect prop shaft from steering unit. all cables from interior front pannel, exhaust pipe interior two clamps & exhaust belows. fuel feed pipe is on front pannel also if i remember correctly. lift out pack, rotate 180 degrees, drop pack. connect all cables/ pipes to front pannel & run up engine. WEAR EAR DEFENDERS = ENGINE NOISE LOUD WITH EXHUST DISCONNECTED! we were always taught NEVER to run pack for more than 15 mins. Something to do with pressure oil feed to gearbox? i THINK, because you put the gearbox transfer lever into NEUTRAL when run out of the vehicle, There is no pressure feed out of it & it fills up & causes big trouble. Why would the Army teach us this rule if it meant nothing?? :nono: Dont forget I last did pack changes in 1979!! :??? Mike. :coffee:

NICE ONE LEE, CHEERS. I HAVE SAVED THEM ON MY MEDIA PLAYER & WILL BURN LATER. USEFULL, BUT WHAT I REALLY NEED IS POSTWAR RADIO TRAFFIC. BUT THANKS FOR BOTHERING TO POST ANYWAY. :-D BY THE WAY, HOW'S THE 25 PDR COMMING ALONG? MIKE. :coffee:

PAUL, THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND OFFER SIR. PLEASE LINK UP WITH ME VIA PM FACILITY & WE CAN MOVE THIS ON. THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ASSISTANCE THIS IS FERRETFIXER,..OUT............................................:cool2:

When I was stationed at Warminster attached to 27 Command Worshops. We had an approach road to the Main Gate resurfaced. It was discovered that this road had never been given a name. Tenders were put out to all Personnel to suggest a name. The Commanding Officer there at the time was a Lt.Colonel Wareham. To that end, one wag suggested 'Wareham Down'. :-D The CO thought this was good, he couldnt see the Irony in this as we did. he was a Boring Bu**er! :rofl:

Though obviously not conclusive. The gauge going 'off the clock' is usually indicative of a short circuit to earth. If you have a Manual, all you can really do is labourously go through the wiring circuit with a test lamp. Start at the item it goes to, & work your way back to source (+) at each juction. In theory, the lamp should light each time you check. As soon as it doesnt, there is your break/ short. from where it doesnt light, try other wire at that point. If it lights from there to another place, than that is where the 'Juice' is going to. :??? I am not a Vehicle Sparkey, but I have done a lot of electrical fault finding myself when one was not avilable at unit. By doing the above sequence. It takes time, but you might be lucky & find it within half an hour. I would imagine, that if you cannot reach all the wiring prior to discovering the fault, it's 'Pack out' Time & you should then be able to get to EVERYTHING! :-D When the pack is out of the vehicle, if you get the pack to face the front of the veh in front of the steering hatch. You CAN re-connect all cables to the pannel on the pack. This is done so you can start the pack out of the vehicle to test systems to check for leaks, correct function Etc. WARNING: Do NOT run for more than 15 Mins. or Pack will seize!! :stop: Pack out is obviosly a last resort. But, if you cannot get to all cables & juctions.....you have no choice! I wish you luck. It would be nice to know for all other 432 Series owners to know the outcome of your labours! :yay: Mike.

Hello Nick, Isnt that a Paradox though? A Doctor & then a Sniper....Ha,Ha.:rofl:

Hi everyone. I am requesting assistance if at all possible? I am looking for a cd/ tape of Military Radio traffic for a Display. Anyone copied anything from an Excersise or got anything like that? I need it to play through an extention speaker from the vehicle at displays to represent radio traffic as though it was live. Obviously, I am willing to pay expenses for this item if you would be kind enough to help me out. The vehicle will also be used at British Legion Fund raising events throughout the year as well as normal Mil Veh shows. Thanking you all in advance. Mike. :iloveyou:

I dont think so. 50 Miserable was in Menden & the yank missile site wasnt' too far from thier camp. I too had to do sanger bashing when attached to 26 Engineers over one Christmas period. we were billeted in the attic of one of the blocks at Menden in 50's Barracks. Most boring! 50's & 26's camps have now been handed back to the German authorities, :argh: damm shame. :cry: I liked those barracks, original German pre-war camps. Had a few interesting 'finds' there.................:cool2: Mike.

Been there many times, was used as the last BP filling station you could use your petrol coupons in before leaving FRG comming home on leave. Interesting place up the road from there called 'Wachendonk'! Also been past Titz in the south of Germany..... :rofl:

Im with you all that Neil. But it was a case of be VERY carefull. If anything had been unofficially altered & something went wrong. You were looking at big time trouble. Today, Christ! I dread to think. With health & safety, & all the rule book boys & laptop kings in abundance, they would hang you for getting upto anything remotely like we used to! I was one of the Armourers at the school in Infatry at Warminster for 3 years. A great posting, no excercises & we went away once a year for a week for 'adventure training' in devon. I was trusted enough & a good friend of the then curator of the small arms weapon collection in the museum. I could draw ANYTHING i wanted from the collection & use it on the range. I had 20 ak47's on strength in the Armoury next to the Armourers shop. I used to 'function test' them on a regular bassis. Also had access officialy to the training area upon liason with the range staff. I was sanctioned to rob anything I wanted from vehicle targets for spares. Happy days...............:yay:

When the above MOD was done, the Armourer also had to shorten the trigger return plunger as well. This would have prevented the weapon from firing full auto by retricting the amount of rearward travel of the trigger. As a better add on to the Guchi kit the guys wanted. I used to mdify a pair of plasit front handguards & a GPMG bipod assembly. I fitted this to the rifle to make it a bit more stable when firing full auto. But the min reason it was done was for the IWS sight for observation work. They got VERY heavy after a few hours! This was TOTALY unofficial, but unofficialy sanctioned within the unit. I was attached to the Paras at this time in my career. :shake:

Not quite correct. They were ok with blanks because the round were lighter. BUT, only filled with 28 rounds of ball were thay useful. if you think about it, you are asking the magazine to opperate in 180 degrees differntly to the way it was desighned to work! Also the spring was flat steel strip. The SLR had steel wire & was much stronger. :coffee:

No, the problem was IF YOU GOT CAUGHT WITH IT!... :nono: the Danger was, some guy who had the 'Magic' done by an 'Anynonemous' :cool2: Armourer. Sometimes forgot to change back the componants to standard before returning the weapon to the Armoury after usage! OPPS! :shake: