johnwardle

Yes I agree I had anDutch Munga, and also helped run a grasstrack sidecar outfit with a Wartburg engine. The Wartburg ran on pre-mix (oil mied with petrol) and runs in the opposite direction to the Auto Union.

Leyland Dafs CAN be downrated to 7.5 tonnes GVW, mine has been! when fitted with a box body, mine has a gutted electronics repair body, and fitted with a fixed bed, cooking facilities & storage facilities and NO LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY it can be legally registered as a motor caravan. Road tax is £165.00 per year (Private Heavy Goods) the Mot class is large clas 4. I rang VOSA for advice before doing this. The unladen weight given by Whithams must be wrong as my truck still displays a 9 tonne bridging plate. dedeucting the 4 tonne payload gives an unladen weight of 5 tonnes. Personally I found Withams rather unhelpful, I bought my truck from Dave Crouch, of Crouch Recovery, who not only downrated it, but also Moted registered and taxed it, at extra cost naturally, so all I had to do was pay for it and drive away. Remember if you buy a vehicle from Withams first you have to transport it from their yard, then get it insured, downrated, MOTed, then registered, all a lot of hassle & expense.

Try checking the fuel switch over tap for blockages. Someone I know had terrible problems with his Ferret running rough, he changed the carb, the full ignition system then finally took the fuel tap apart and a dead beetle fell out! after that it ran perfect. ALWAYS TRY THE CHEAPEST OPTION FIRST.

Held at Whitehall Garden Centre Lacock, Wiltshire. Featuring Military & Home front re enactors, WW2 & Post war vehicles. 1940s dance with 16 piece DS Big Band on Saturday 20th August at Melksham Assembly Hall. Free entry to the show, Dance tickets £15 each from Chris on 01225 700985

The Leland Daf 4 tonner has 3 seats in the front, the backrest on the centre seat folds forward to allow someone to look out of the hatch. It is very thinly padded and I would not like to travel any distance on it. There are no seats in the back of the cab, and there is no provision to fit any.

Don't you just hate it when someone reserves a large plot then turns up with a Winnebago carrying a BSA parabike! yes it does happen

I know some of your members looked longingly in to the box body on my Leyland-Daf, pity its too new for your display, they could always look for a Mk or MJ bedford. As to your requests I will put them to the next comittee meeting next thurday. Do you have any spacific dress code for the waiter service?

Hello Darren, The comittee has already decided it was a bad idea to put yourselves & FARG in that area, next year it will be used for exhibitor parking. Thanks for the good report see you there next year. John

Sorry Adrian, Dave told me that Tiger track links had been found on the plain, and I assumed that it was him that found them.

About 15 years ago I was in Shanleys scrapyard in Trowbridge after they had been clearing Salisbury plain, anong the shot up Stalwarts & Saracens was the remains, sadly unidenifiable of some WW2 German Half Track, the overlapping road wheels being the give away. Dave Oliver of the Isle Of Wight Military History Museum found a section of Tiger track on the plain, but only a couple of links. The rumour goes that after the war an entire German armoured divisions vehicles were put on the plain and blasted to destruction. So in all probability there will be some German vehicles buried on the plain, but it is a VERY big & very dangerous area to wander about with your metal detector

You forgot to mention Battledress Trousers, These with KF shirts were an itchy nightmare how the poor sods fought in them god only knows.

How about JEEP? ask anyone who went to AAC Arborfield what it means.

Re My post on 24/1/2011 about the Sherman DD dug up near Imber on Salisbury Plain, I have just found out Where it went. The dug another hole and re-buried it!!!! Apparentley as it was not on any list of hard targets or other assets it was less hassle to bury it again rather than salvage it. There is also the other Tortoise prototype (The surviving one is in the Tank Museum) buried near it, this was uncovered about 15 years ago and again re-buried. Makes you weep doesn't it!

It wasn't just the Americans that cut up monuments, I have a photo of a WW1 tank being cut up for scrap in Trowbridge park, also in Westbury there was a Crimean war cannon that went to the scrap drive along with 2 more from Victoria park in Bath. Are there any Crimeans war cannons surviving or were they all melted down?

Hello Paul, This run is open to ALL Military vehicles of any age, MVT membership is not neccessary. Come along and join in I may even be able to wrangle some free commemorative mugs.

National Drive It Day convoy to the Bristol Classic Car Show on Sunday 17th April 2011 meet at Dobbies Garden Centre car park Shepton Mallett (BA4 4PE) at 11:00 for 12:00 departure. There will be a dedicated parking area inside the show for Military Vehicles, reduced admission cost. The MVT will have a stand inside the show with a Lohr Fardier & ex Berlin Wolseley staff car. All Military Vehicles welcome, no booking in, just enjoy the drive to Shepton and join in. See you all there.

That must take so nerve!!!!!

According to the owner ,this Holt was built in 1917 to British army specification, but for some reason was never shipped out of the U.S. I have had a very good look round this machine and couldn't see a U.S. ordnance plate. Whoever buys this wondeful machine will need very deep pockets, although it has been converted to run on parrafin it only does 140 yards to the gallon!!!

I have been approached by a bride-to-be trying to source a Humber Super Snipe staff car to transport her to the church, and then the bride & groom (who is a serving army officer) to the reception. The wedding is in Pewsey in Wiltshire and will take place in early June. Can anyone help?

Hi Robin, I have just had a look at the Project Tithonus Land-Rover being auctioned on Withams web site, The registration number CH ** AA seems to be a 1996 registration, as Project Tithonus started in 2007, it seems that the in service date of 1986 was entered by mistake.

According to Defence Equipment & Support news August 2007 issue, Project Tithonus is a "mid-life improvment" to currently serving Land-Rover Defenders. A 1986 Land-Rover would be 21 years old when the upgrade programme started, so would not be a viable proposition for upgrade. The AA 11 AA registrations started on 1st Jan 1995, therefore a Land-Rover with a registration ending in AA would have been 12 years old when upgraded therefore in its "mid-life". The project was to extend the overall service life of the Land-Rovers by 10 years, from 20 to 30 years, so it seems strange that they are being disposed of now 3-4 years after they were upgraded.

At Kemble air show a few years ago I was chatting with Rex Ward (the DUKW guru) when someone came up and said "Thats a nice DUKW, do you get your parts from Rex? at which point Rex & Sheila collapsed laughing. When he recovered Rex introduced himself.

At the first military show that I exhibited my Land-Rover I was approached by someone in full WW2 british para uniform, he asked "what did you paint the canvas with and why?" I replied that the Landy was exactly as disposed of by the army down to the lot number from Aston Down. I then asked him why he had medal ribbons on his Denison smock and was driving a series 111 Landy? Strangely he walked off. A few years ago I drove one of Barry Pococks WMIK Land-rovers on the London to Brighton Land-Rover run, Barry drove his Camel trophy Landy, which has a roof mounted tent. Barry took an aluminium extending ladder to access the tent, which he threw in the back of one of the WMIKS. At Brighton someone came up and asked what the ladder was for? My reply was that it was standard SAS issue as they had to have some way of retrieving grappling hooks. He believed it!!!

We had 2 Apaches over our house on friday night about 10:45, they both came east to west then turned around, 1 then sped off, the other cicled for another 15 mins, was he lost? SPTA is only a couple of miles in a straight line from Westbury, so we regularly get Hercules, Chinooks & Merlins flying over, but rarely Apaches. On a still morning you can hear Callengers starting up, and we often hear small arms & machine gun fire.

There has only been 1 found so far, and that was just inside the perimeter fence. BAE Systems were employed to search the site before work started, they found nothing, but suspect that "2 or3 bombs" may still be buried. Most of the excavation work has been completed, so there is little chance of finding any UXBs