mark m uk

 

The floor of that jeep is well rotted out though - was it scrapped or restored?

Yeah I agree, I guess this must have been 'back in the day' Young jessie seems more interested in the Differential.

Why don't they make carpets like that any more?

Because most of us would not buy them - but you could specially commisionn one if your desperate :-D

Thats a great picture Jessie, thanks for shareing.

Regards Mark.

Great comments chaps, I really appreciate it.

Phil any pictures of that , TBH, I am not familiar.

Regards Mark.

good stuff, I liked that last bit about exactly who has guarded our various rights and freedoms.

Regards Mark.

Thanks for that Jack, I had no idea that the 'braves' were just intended as temporary.

Personally, I really like the very modern design - its a beautiful thing.

Phil, thanks for those comments, and your interest. I am afraid I do not have too many more pictures of Omaha, but here are a few of Arromaches.

Again a personal thing, but I didn't like the way things were done at Arromanches as much as Omaha...........seemed a little more 'touristy'

The German 88, was treated more like a kids climbing frame than a piece of kit that may well have butchered allied servicemen.........and French men don't have blue taches

These are the things I gravitate towards - the stuff that lies around, not the stuff that is painted up and displayed.

Cor !...........great pictures, what a great thing to do !

Regards Mark.

Terrific stuff, thanks for posting.

I remember the old usaaf airfield in our village was turned over to civil defence storage. In the late sixties the green goddess fire engines that were stored there had to be transported to greenwich in London for some reason - my mates dad used to drive them there and it was a great adventure to go with him.

Then a big day at primary school was when a fat unpopular kid brought in several ww2 steel helmets and gave them away - next day he promised more and much to our surprise they turned up !........Anyway, long story short, he agreed to show us his 'supply' after school - we all marched off to the local quarry and there befor our eyes were hundreds of tons of steel helmets, all ww2 vintage. Gas masks,gas capes, tents, sand bags, everything and anything you could imagine. All just tipped in heaps in the disused quarry.

We helped ourselves - our dads got really fed up of having their sheds stuffed with this ..........rubbish.

Then, it was gone. The top of the quarry was pushed over the lot. All buried..............be worth a small fortune now.

Mark, at least people talk to you. The last time I saw Jack he mugged me and stole my media pass

..................now that, is a good answer :rofl:

Thank you top dog.

Here, is just a little more information on my Grandfather Harry.

This information took years to research - The situation in France at the end of June 1940, with the new 'management' did not lend itself to good record keeping at the time, so this was put together over several years by delving into British, French and German army records. Interviews with French civilians, and any number of resources.

By the first week in June 1940, Rommel and his guys had reached the western banks of the Seine. The bridges across the Seine had been blown by retreating French and British forces - temporary stalemate.

Harry had been with the forces that had crossed the Seine and blown the bridge at Pont de l'Arch, then moving north they found themselves in disarray just south of Rouen, in a village called Criquebuef.

Allied troops were moving north. Dunkirk had fallen and the only way out were the north western ports on the French coast. Every day Rommels tanks could be kept on the eastern side of the Seine, thousands of soldiers escaped, and tens of thousands of French civillians could get distance between themselves and the fighting.

Harry, was with two other Brits, Jack and Valentine (wounded) - they elected to stay behind in the village and help a group of French engineers that had been sent to destroy a small bridge in the village. The bridge did not link with the west bank of the Seine, but to an island, and it was considered that the Germans could cross to the island, then use this bridge to assault the main eastern side of France, and drive on to Paris.

Long story short, The Germans managed to get infantry across the Seine just north at Manoir via a partially destroyed rail bridge. Their orders were to take Criqubeuf and the bridge there.

As they assaulted the village (three o'clock in the morning, according to French civillian eye witness) a running battle raged and the British and French defenders were split in two.

Harry, his two mates, three French artillarymen and a Senagalise soldier

were seperated and fell back further into the village. Then they blew the bridge.

The Senagalise guy took up a position on the river bank and held the Germans back while the others tried to escape by swimming the river.

That is as far as the eyewitness could recall (or was willing to tell)

Official German army records state that the village was taken, but the bridge was not secured. It states that it was defended "with determination"

The French army records detail the action, and the French officer killed with Harry and the boys was awarded the Croix de Guerre for the action.

British army, took a guess that our guys were lost between the "2nd and the 17th" ( it shows on Harry's cross '7', but that '/' is actually a '1' on the record)

According to the Germans, it was actually the 13th - that ties in with French civillian witness.

It is debateable how exactly our boys were killed.

The Germans had declared that any white troops fighting alongside black troops would be 'dealt with severly'

Sekou Diouf (the senagalise trooper) was the lone survivor of his company that had been taken prisioner, they had been executed a week earlier.

The German army forbid the French civillians to bury the bodies for three months, they were to be left where they had fell ( perhaps this was to remind the civil population the price of resisting, or disobeying their proclaimation)

Your guess is as good as mine.

Below is part of the French civil police report, showing the layout of the village and the position of the bodies

The village, then and now (last week).

The road that they retreated down - leading to the bridge, (past eye witness house)

The bridge, (since rebuilt by Germans in 1942)

The foreground where Sekou took a stand, and the far bank where the other guys were killed.

The spot where Harry was killed - and layed for three months.

Some flowers I put there

It's a bit like when I say to Mrs Beckett....'I really love you' and she turns around and says 'how much????????':sweat:

:rofl:...............I like that, thats a good comparison.

By the way, I get that too Jack,

Last time it happened to me, she asked "how much",

I replied, "do you want the answer in metric or imperial" :cool2:

Mark you really can't make people post if they feel they don't want too. Otherwise the whole thread would be just about trying to prop someone's ego up and it would lose its whole impact - sometimes less is more.

 

Look at it this way - if you are in a pub or a group, at a meeting, how many people do the talking and how many people do the listening? HMVF is just a reflection of the broad spectrum of society.

I whole heartedly agree Jack, you cannot make people post, and certainly if they don't want to they will not.

Not sure I have really got my head round the business of propping up egos with threads, I am a little confused by that because I have never previously associated the two things together. However, now you have mentioned it I have given it a bit of thought and tend to agree with you to some extent.

I was thinking of that replica VW166 thread, and it is true that getting posative comments about the project is very encourageing and really good for morale - never befor thought of it as ego boosting, but have to confess, I guess that is a really accurate way to describe it !:-D

However, this type of thread is a lot different - no skills, no vehicles or collectables being 'shown off' here.........just an opertunity to open a chat about how long relics may be found in a particular place - cant see my ego getting fueled up by any number of comments.

However, as with my original question - if people are not interested in the subject matter, and have no interest in discussion, then I would not invest my time in starting off.........It would seem from the replies, that is very much not the case :-D

Regards Mark.

Nice Vid,

Here is an old photo I just scanned (hence the dreadful quality)

Taken 'back in the day' - The MOD could sometimes help out us civvies - here they are putting a bridge section accross a river in a remote spot for a local footpath group..........I helped out :-D

WOW !

Seriously Wow!

Thanks to everyone for the absolute barrage of replies. I certainly have a different view of things having read all the posative comments.

It would seem the reasons for not posting replies to threads are very reasonable and valid, However, one thing that shines through is that I am not the only one to wonder why there are not many/any replies to threads. I am, not the only one to be dissapointed, and as one member pointed out stopped posting because of it.

May I respectfully suggest that a lesson has been learned, or not so much learned as restated. - "Nothing is for nothing"

If we cannot find the time for even the most brief "thanks for posting", then we should not be too suprised if there is little of interest on the forum when we log on.

Its like a snowball - more stuff will lead to more stuff, but those that (as Enigma) stated, take the trouble to source, buy, scan, watermark, upload and share pictures - should be encouraged.

I think we can all agree on that, can't we ?

Thanks again for the comments chaps, Regards Mark.

P.s. Thanks Jack, I was typeing a reply as you posted that up so didn't see it right away. Good reply, but I must take issue with you on one very important point.................I believe that PMT, is now refered to as PMS. LOL,

And where did you get that EGO ? are they available on ebay ? mines a little fragile, so maybe I need a tougher

one..........Lol, Thanks again,

Fantastic pictures, really top stuff - I have some somewhere, will sort them out and post them up when I get a minuete.

Do you know where these were taken ?

I am really interested in any pictures taken of the 1940 Blitzkreig on France, in and around Rouen, which was under attack from Rommel's mob mid June.

My Grandfather was killed there.

Regards Mark.

Look forward to seeing pictues.

regards Mark.

Yikes! Doubled the view/answer ratio in about two minuets.

Thanks Guys, appreciate it.

Best regards Mark,

Christian and NOS,

Thank you for the comments, I am glad you like the pictures, and troubled to pass comment. Interesting remark NOS, it seems we think the same.

As you know, its a lot of work taking pictures, selecting, uploading and posting. Specially if, like me you have a half-arsed broadband connection, and have fat old cracked bricklayers fingers that type at about twelve words an hour.

Nearly a hundred views and only 2 people have commented - on what is a descussion forum.........

.........have I got it wrong, is this boring to most ?

I have pictures of Collville-sur-mer, Arromache beach, the forest at St Sever where the 28/29th inf and US 2nd armored slugged it out with Das Reich SS.

I am not trying to be bothersome or rude, I am a new guy here and just finding my feet. It is your forum not mine, but if my threads along these lines are just regarded as unneccersary wear and tear on your mouse - please let me know one way or another, even if you post "boring" its better than silence. at least i'd know to shut up :-D

like I said (wrote) not looking for an argument, just enlightenment

KG 200, were the luftwaffe unit dedicated to use and maintain captured allied aircraft.

Seen here with a captured '17, - 'Punchboard' was damaged and forced down over Denmark.

Went to France last week, and as is almost a duty when in Normandy, I stopped off at one of the D-Day landing beaches.......Omaha.

Here is the beautiful sculpture that sits on the beach to greet any visitors.

The beach these days is for the most part like any other beach, a tranquil happy place where kids run and shout, local people exercise their horses and gulls screech and squark.

This time of the year its a very pretty and peaceful place.

It is difficult to believe that this quiet and peacful stretch of golden sand was once one of the most dangerous places on the face of this planet. But, looking among the rocks, with the odd lengths of discarded fishing tackle, beer cans, and all the myriad of stuff that gets washed in with the tide and left behind.............there will always be 'evidence' of this beautiful beach having a dark past.

Thanks for the nice comments guys,.

Baz, I recon forewarned is forearmed, so I will check out the fit - watch this space, if it goes **** shape - it will be here first !

Phil, I recon I have already build most things twice - except the engine cover - that was about a half dozen times.

Your very good at veedubaya facts. the beam is from a '69, but the hubs (to get wide 5) are from a '66. The ride height adjusters are made for the surf boys that 'slam' their beetles (lower).........but work just as well to raise the ride height too.

Them glass replica are made by Panzerwerks, but I think the company just got into bed with Kooble Kar.

thanks for your interest guys, regards mark.

49°22'1.62"N

0°52'55.03"W

 

Think that deserves a coconut.

 

Mick

Sure does,

Oh, and one for Enigma.

Now you guys can get some work over christmas as the sound effect for a pantomime horse :rofl:

Been a long while since an update on this thread, but I have been busy,

imaginary cyber coconut to the first to figure where this picture was taken

Now, back to Schwimm-progress,

Filling, sanding, filler primering and primering - mostly done.

Used a polyester 2pak, at £23 a litre, I didn't use much, and just the thinest skim of u-pol over the welds after they were ground to about +1mm.

I had a "right royal result" (as my cockney barrow boy mate would say) with the top coat, a light stone matt, ex British army camauflage paint - surplus from the gulf war, a last minute snipe off e-bay for..............99p

Anyway, I couldn't do it to the guy, so I arranged the shipping and sent him a £20 note.

The finish is not so great, TBH, I got the arse with it and didn't bother much with the inside.

Some shots, it is still a long way off perfect, there are plenty of flaws, but, well, life is too short, and it ain't a real 166 anyway.

Useing a homemade wooden sanding block, is not without frustrations :mad:

Regards Mark M

Great thread, real nice looking halftrack.

It seems like an age ago that I restored mine, I am not trying to hijack the thread, but noticed that picture of the inter with the front crane. Was that picture found on the internet ?

Its a long shot, but I wondered if it may have been my inter, mine had "Willy wombat" painted on the front.

As I said, great thread - sorry for any tresspass.

Regards Mark.

Welcome, I am new here too.

The guys here are OK,

Regards Mark.