Chris Warne

Just received my Dodge WC51 build card yesterday, having followed the process provided on this forum. It took around 3 weeks for the copy of the card to come back, and my WC51 Serial 81730560 was built 8th Sept 1944 - a month earlier than I'd calculated. Thanks to the forum for providing the necessary info to get this. For DVLA registration, I'm not sure a copy of the build card would be enough. I've registered several vehicles over the years, and the DVLA want the originals of most documents and won't accept copies. The easiest way I've found is to get the MVT or IMPS to verify your vehicles age - the DVLA will accept their dating as authorative.

Thanks guys, that's great. I take it a photocopy of the V5 UK registration document will suffice as proof of ownership. I'll get on it today, thanks again for your help. Chris

Thought about doing this but never got round to it. What's the procedure/address to get the build card? Thanks in advance....

Err, well, yes, kind of....... Never to be repeated!

I'm very pleased you said that. You're right and I agree 100%, there was a plant stall and some kind of tombola, which left several of us speechless as they were not condusive to the weekend we had expected. We know why they had turned up, but rest assured it will be a completely military theme this year, and i know we'll have more military vehicles and displays attending this year. the weather is looking promising for the weekend too, so hopefully it will be much busier than last year. We need to remember that this started out as a local MV group 'annual weekend camp', but it's such a great venue, with ww2 history all around it, we've tried to expand the facilities and attraction, so there's another event for enthusiasts to come along to, should thry wish. We're not trying to turn this into a Damyns Hall or Bunker Bash, it's a small event where like-minded enthusiasts can get together for a weekend, and be as involved or as relaxed as they want. Hopefully we'll see some of you there.

What happened - i hope you will let us all know after a statement like that? Last year it was just a local IMPS area rally, but based on feedback we got from most (seems not all?) who attended, and particulary John at Classic Military Vehicle mag, we decided to try and expand the event.

Thought I'd check in to let you know all is on target for North Thames IMPS 'Little Easton on the Home Front' on the 26th & 27th May. John Blackman from CMV rated it highly when he joined us for the day at the inaugural event last year, and with more participants booked in, this year looks like it will be even busier. After all the rain of the past weeks, the ECEWF is indicating that Summer might finally arrive on the 25th May! :nut: It's free entry all weekend, and if you want to come along with your MV or Display, you'll be warmly welcomed. Get in touch very soon to get some space allocated, else turn up on the day for 'first come, first served' pitch allocation.

I'll see if I can locate a picture of my jeep plate (now sold), but I won't be over to get a pic of the Dodge one for a week or so. I agree on the blue paint - it has been very well done, and thoroughly too - almost as if the Dodge was stipped down and then painted. Saying that, I was lucky with my Dodge (been lucky with my jeep, half-track and now the dodge) that when I went looking for the original hood number, using the paint stripper approach, I found it. After working through the Norwegian paint, there was a thin layer of blue before I reached the original hood number, then immediately underneath was OD, Red oxide and then metal. From that, I concluded the blue was applied at a later date. My Dodge WC51 is approx August 1944, but who knows when it was painted blue. I would say sometime between the end of ww2 and when it went to Norway in the 1950's, presumably after it had been through a Rootes rebuild. That could be quite a 'window' for it to have seen postwar use in Europe, and I'd guess with alot of manpower around, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think quite a bit of work effort went into any repainting that was done = thorough.

When I got my 1945 Willys MB from Norway, it had a Rootes 1953 rebuild plate. My current 1944 Dodge WC51 has one too, also ex-Norway. I recall when I enquired about the Rootes rebuilds on the G503 some years back, the answer was that Rootes were contracted to refurbish surplus vehicles that were to be supplied under MAP (Marshall Assistance program). I know Norway was a large recipient of vehicles, and possibly some/all of the following: Denmark, Greece, France. On the blue paint found on ex-Norway jeeps and/or Dodges, I was assured by the guys at Jeepfabrikken (Frank Berg & Co) that the Norwegian Air Force didn't paint their vehicles blue, but I have found evidence of jeeps & Dodges being used in Europe post-war by the USAAF/USAF. I have a picture, somewhere, of a Dodge WC51 in blue with yellow hood number that had been restored to match a late 1940's picture of a similar Dodge in USAF service in Germany. I have no evidence to support, but this could be one explanation.

Certainly for a P-51, and I believe this holds true for a P-38 aswell, as long as you have the airframe 'dataplate' (identity of an original aircraft), then that's all that's required to 'restore' the aircraft. In essence it will be a new manufacture. If you think about the P-38 Glacier Girl, whilst the restoration used as many serviceable parts from the recovered original as possible, it is a virtually new aircraft. I remember reading that the CAF B-26 Carolyn suffer undercarriage failure a few years after they got her back into the air. The accident damaged the main spar, and as the original plans were lost in a fire at Martin Aircraft years ago, the CAF had to get a new spar made using the damaged one as a pattern - with reference to other surviving examples too I'd guess. Ultimately, if there's enough money anything is possible.

Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th May, 2012 Little Easton, Nr Great Dunmow, Essex. The plan, which is coming together very nicely, is to 'time warp' Little Easton back to Spring 1944, with the events centred around The Stag pub, where participants will be able to exhibit vehicles, camp & setup displays in the 8 acre field. We have already secured the village hall for a Saturday night dance, with 'Texas Tommy' supplying the music. Sunday will see a dedication at the village War Memorial, and we're hoping to secure the cricket pitch for a baseball match in the afternoon. Once again, we will be running tours of the remains of RAF Gt Dunmow throughout the weekend. The displays area will be accessible for camping from the Friday, and whilst the theme is Home Front in 1944, there will be designated areas for post-war and non-Military vehicles, although there will certainly be an AAF 'flavour' to the weekend, for obvious reasons. Entry to the event will be completely free of charge, although donations for nominated veteran/military charities would be appreciated. The Saturday night dance will be by ticket only, for which there will be a charge, and the funds raised from this event will go towards helping us establish an airfield museum at RAF Gt Dunmow. In addition to the above, we also hope to setup sentry points on the road through Little Easton, with passing vehicles requested to make a donation, the Austin 7 owners club attending, a history display about RAF Gt Dunmow, WI cake/teas stall - all being discussed but not confirmed yet. In effect, we're planning to get the entire village involved and completely turn the clocks back 68 years. Little Easton was the nearest village to RAF Great Dunmow, where the 386th BG (M), 9th AAF, aka 'The Crusaders' were based from late 1943. The Stag pub was the local watering hole for the 386th, so a fitting central point for the weekend.

I've got an original M16/M16A1 rear bucket holder bracket if you need one? It came with my M3A1, which had previously been an M16A1 (elevated maxon, no fold-down side armour). It needs a good blast/strip & paint and a couple of the folded corners tidying up a little, but nothing major. Looking for £20 for it + P&P. If you have your frame number, then hit the Tracked section of g503.com and Joe De Marco will probably be able to give you all manner of build information, maybe even the ORD number assigned to it (for the dataplate). Good to see you found the orignal hood number (40xxxxxx) - was it stamped into the front bumper? I'd imagine most of your time is spent keeping the fuel tanks topped up!! Half-tracks need deep pockets, that's for sure.

All this HT talk made me dig out a picture of mine - now living in Belgium.....

Half-tracks are a superb vehicle, and I always wanted an M3A1, having had a 'matchbox' one as a boy. I managed to buy one back in 2007, but after 2 years driving it to shows, I realised that you really need a beavertail or other transport to get the best out of owning one. I remember taking it to Damyns in 2008 - 2 1/4 hours to drive 36 miles and I had to lay down for an hour afterwards, to recover. Come across any kind of incline in a HT and you'll get overtaken by pedestrians!! One thing with Half-tracks - you get alot of people coming up to look, and alot of questions. I sold mine to a guy in Belgium in 2009 (doubled my money easily!) and he takes it everywhere - it's nice and flat where he is. Lovely looking vehicles, but not for the feint hearted, and if something goes wrong, you need deep pockets.

A few more pics of non-Landrover stuff.... :laugh: Actually, these are from our AAF mechanics display, but working through the checklist before the show, I forgot my camera but a number of people have shared their pics, and this is what we did...... I just had to include a picture of the AAF Mechanics 'holy grail', which a fellow HMVF member alerted me to, having stumbled across it on ebay.... an unissued/NOS WW2 C-47 Service Squadron Kit. This is a complete kit of all the non-standard aircraft tools, still wrapped in waxed paper/OD cloth tape. Amazing that something like this could have survived all those years. Now we need to find the equivalents for the B-26 and A-26!!! And some pics of Maurice's Janie & Marinell, aswell as Sally B. The Three ship flypast was special...but then when Maurice came in on his first pass..... then there was when..... I could go on all day. You needed to be there I think! Special thanks to Phil Whalley for allowing me use of his pictures.

Just noticed that your M3 has M2 (short) mineracks? If they're original then you'd be able to sell them to an M2 owner, and buy a repro set of M3 racks, with cash to spare.

If you want to try and find out the history, contract, Ord Number, even USA Hood number, then get on the Tracked board at G503.com I confirmed the identity of my DiamondT M3A1, that is was converted from T48 model to M3A1 in 1944, and got the new Ordnance Number they assigned, including a copy of the original Chester Tank Depot 'work order'. Joe De Marco is the Half-track historian on the G503 and if he can't help you, nobody can..... http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=84473 Once you have all the dataplate info, Robert De Ruyter in the Netherlands may stamp the details on a plate for you - he has to adjust all his stamping equipment to take a HT dataplate, so charges extra for this service, but it's worth it.

It was the best show yet - displays, beer tent (Mild & bitter all weekend!), airshow, organisation, everything. I needed 3 days to recover, and that wasn't the result of alcohol. Pleased we managed to get Sally B and Maurice's Mustangs back to back, and especially the 3 ship flypast on the Saturday. Sadly, due to the weather forecast on Sunday, Elly wanted Sally B to display earlier than planned at 1.30, so we didn't get the 3 ship fly-by that day, but it didn't detract in the slightest. Thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, and we've already started planning for our own AAF Mechanics display for 2012 - bigger and better than this year. There were rumours that there wouldn't be a show in 2012 - these are completely false. The only question at the moment is what possible impact the 'Olympic Airspace Restrictions' might have on the flying display. It's being looked at very closely and having read the available restriction & prohibited airspace documents, I'm hopeful the impact will be minimal, but the CAA have the final say. I know all the organisers worked flat-out to make the show such a success, and for many of them the entire weekend passed them by - they were all working - but the success of the show is testament to the detailed preparation, planning and management of the entire event. Well done Colin, Richard, Tracey, Keith, Barry, Cheryl, Neil, David, and everyone else who was involved with making this such a superb weekend. Roll on 4th & 5th August 2012!

Here's a picture of the correct items. Early (white) RP-5 rope, various IN-86 (I have the larger cylinder type on the far right), P Clip at top left and the antenna 'securing' clips, although in reality the sections never came undone on my Half-track.

Sorry for the lack of reply, I've been away on hols and then Damyns Hall (which took me a week to recover from - brilliant!). I have 1 complete rope assembly that is excess to my needs, but I need to check how many spare IN-86 and RP-5 ropes I have, as these are the key items you need for an accurate tie-down. The 'P clip' (or something very similar) can be made from commercially available metal cable clips, so I may be able to help a few others (judging by the number of PM's!!) with getting a correct tie-down for their vehicle. I will confess to being something of a hoarder, and unless I need to part with something, I usually keep things stashed away - just in case. Gary, drop me a pm and make me an offer. :-) Back soon......

Sadly, most antenna tie-downs you see are incorrect, but as the correct items are now very hard to find, I suppose that justifies it. This is what you need for a correct US WW2 antenna tie-down: 1. 'P' clip - this slides over the actual antenna rod and is allowed to slip up/down the antenna. It is not fixed/tightened onto the antenna. It's a galvanised flat metal clip shaped like a letter P when viewed from the side, with an inset brass ring that your tie-down rope is looped through. 2. RP-5 tie-down rope. This is a 'multi-weave' cotton rope, about 1/4" thick, either in white (early war) or a shade of OD (OD coloured anti mould/fungus preservative was applied) RP-5 rope came, if I recall correctly, in 15ft lengths, in sealed paper/foil (early) or 'plastic film' (late OD type) wrappers. 3. IN-86 insulator. There are 3 types I know of, and these were placed around 2ft from the P clip, effectively insulating the antenna from the vehicle body should the rope become wet or otherwise conductive, and connected the RP-5 rope that run between the antenna(P clip) and IN-86 and then IN-86 to vehicle anchor point. A common version is a brown cylindrical insulator about 3inches long, with 2 screw-in eyes, one at each end. 4. Each join in the antenna sections (where they screw together) should have a securing clip slipped over the join and this has 2 screws to tighten it. This is to prevent the sections becoming unscrewed/coming loose. I don't believe there was a hook/clip to attach the RP-5 rope to the vehicle body, but I used a spare spring type clip from a ground antenna setp on my Halftrack. Willy might be able to help with P clips, but I think I had the last of them from him about 3 years ago. He might have sourced some more though. RP-5 rope is not easy to locate, but try Pierino (I think) on the G503 as he had alot of the early white ropes NOS a few years back. He also had a few IN-86. Search the Radio section for MP-48 or MP-48-A and you should find his posts from around 2007. If you really get stuck and want a correct tie-down, I could be persuaded to part with a complete setup with the later OD treated rope....I also have a couple of the securing clips for the Blue and Red antenna sections, but none of the small ones. I also have an original MP-48-A antenna base, not one of the current repros being passed off as originals (almost had an argument with a well-known dealer at Stoneleigh over his 'original' bases!) - although they are good - this also came from Pierino in Italy.

Won't be at Beltring, but if you have the August 1998 edition of Aeroplane Monthly, I'd be keen to take that off you? Can send cheque or whatever is best to cover the mag + postage? It has the article I wrote about my 'busmans holiday' working on FiFi and Diamond Lil at the CAF, and my original copies are 'lost' in my archive. :-(

Really need pictures to be of any help, but if 1942 then it should have toolboxes. Could it be that the tub has had some major rear panel repairs in the past? That said, I can't think of any jeep I've helped restore where the toolbox openings were too far gone to save.

Thanks for the correction Ian, I was typing too fast I guess! :shocked: Well, it's clearly even better value now!! :-D

A little over 3 weeks to go, and if you're quick, you may just be able to secure your MV entry to this show. The displays areas have been increased by over a third to accomodate everyone who wants to attend, with more living history & displays, more attractions, more armour, more vehicles, more stalls and undoubtedly more public. The organisers have ensured that those attending won't be packed in like sardines, like some other events you could think of, hence the reason remaining space is extremely limited. Traffic management has been completely reviewed and reworked, so public access to the show should be quick, easy and 'pain free'. The entry price remains at £8 adults and £4 children, with a family (2 + 2) ticket costing £20, which is simply outstanding value for money, when you consider the size of the event, number of attractions and the afternoon Air Display, featuring Ellys B-17 Sally B and both of Maurice Hammonds P-51's, Janie and Marinelle. There's a full evenings entertainment on the Saturday in the 700 person marquee, and it's almost guaranteed that you'll have a great weekend. The information you need is here: http://www.militaryandflyingmachines.org.uk/whats_on.html If you're coming along, make sure you come and say hi - you'll find us on the AAF Aviation Mechanics display.