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Thanks for posting those pictures. The insignia is Air Formation Signals. (Not sure without looking which one though).

This M20 which is on Henk Joore's site at the moment has been clocked at 112 mph (it has been slightly tweaked and was running on dope). http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/ahum/ By the way Graham, if the Canadians had a WLA, wouldn't it have been a pinched one ? Didn't they use WLCs ? I have the impression that all girder-forked bikes have increased in price over the last year or so. Sadly, Harley is probably the only Allied manufacturer of WW2 motorcycles with a name known to those under forty years of age. THe Hollywood tough guy impression probably helps their popularity as well (it's certainly not for their off-road performance).

Rather a nice unrestored Matchy here :- http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Other-Makes-Matchless-G3LS-1955-Matchless-G3LS-350cc-Single-British-AFS-Motorcycle_W0QQitemZ130243341209QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130243341209&_trkparms=39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A10&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14.l1318 I wonder how it got so far away from home ?

Actually supplies of tea is one of the things that I do come back for (mostly Assam though !)

'erm did I mention that I'm already an expat ? It doesn't stop me feeling aggrieved though ! If the bloody Londoners hadn't moved out and pushed the house prices up, I'd still be up on the North Downs !

Bring back the LCC with the old boundaries. It's the only way of stopping the cancer of London from spreading. I recall the GLC trying to pinch ground from Godstone RURAL District Council for goodness sake. The locals almost had bayonets fixed ! Sadly, I think that the M25 will be the next move outwards followed by including Gatwick and Stanstead ! Man the barricades Chaps !

Busses are exempt because they spill more diesel than they burn. Just ask anyone who uses two wheels where most of the diesel patches are !

It was a standard scheme for 1975. Based I think on the previous sponsorship of the Race team by John Players using the Number 10 brand. I wouldn't want to give anyone the impression that I collect fag packets as well but I just happen to have one ! It's actually red and blue, not black. Weird scanner. Late Commandos shake a bit more than earlier ones and some of the replacement isolastic rubbers are too hard but I've recently fitted a rose-jointed head steady which has tightened up the handling and reduced the low rev shudder a bit.

I fiddle around with shiny bikes as well as drab ones.

Found it on the net...seems I was right about the 26 tpi but wrong about that being cycle thread on these bigger diameters. Lots of Raleigh ID info here :- http://sheldonbrown.com/raleigh26.html

I have an idea that Raleigh used 26 per inch threads on their bottom brackets and fork stems and most other makes used something coarser. Used to cause us no end of problems putting field bikes together with parts from the dump. We owners of older Nortons have an obsession with cycle threads ! lovely large core diameters and resistance to loosening off.

The chainguard and wheel look 1960s to me and the rest looks older. I have to say that the 'S' looks like that from Singer to me. Are the threads on the fork stem 26tpi cycle or BSF ?

Just an odd thought but might the winner of the Bart H. Vanderveen award be able to facilitate access to Dhr. Vanderveen's archive ? Even confirmation of where it is would be nice ! Oh and congratulations !

Mike Starmer in "British Army Colours & Disruptive Camouflage..." (Highly recommended) states that Air Ministry Order A.618 of 7/8/41 specified that all MT should be painted in KG No.3 with disruptive as per Army practice as since 1937 with the exception of France and the South of England since 1940, they had been Blue Grey No.33. I don't have his Middle East books but assume that blue grey was not used in war zones. It may be a red herring but my old 109" Series 3 which had been a reserve stock vehicle at Recklinghausen had its serial number under the seat cushions as do most of the Radio Operator's seats that I've seen. Perhaps just a protection against the light-fingered ?

Here's an MCC Ambulance, once again from Getty. I hope that she's not releasing a hot radiator cap while her friend is crawling underneath

Hello Les. Nice to see you here. There are a number of MLU ers on the forum. Here's a Time Life picture with what I assume are also 11/30s in the foreground and presumably a variation of Caunter Scheme camouflage ? Rich Payne

Thanks for the heads-up. The author has set himself quite a task in only three volumes ! I found a review of sorts but it doesn't really judge accuracy. Is Dick Taylor good at quoting sources ? http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/ref/mus/book_mus_warpaint.shtml Amazon list it as well. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/8389450631/ref=dp_olp_2/203-6796226-9100717 The book is not expensive if it adds something to previous publications.

I'm not an Ariel expert but I have a copy of Orchard & Madden's "British Forces Motorcycles". The NH was the pre-war sporting 'Red Hunter' and does not seem to have been made in 'W' (War Dept spec) form. There was a small contract for 38 NHs in May 1940 but after August 1940, Ariels only seem to have supplied W/NGs. According to O&M, the NG was based on the 1938 Trials model so presumably higher ground clearance and lower compression etc. I can't see any obvious major differences between NHs and NGs. It looks as if a W/NG should have a frame number prefixed 'XG and an engine number begining 'BH'

My interest is really in the abandoned stuff still with clear British markings. The search term to use on eBay.de is 'beute' but it is over-used for anything captured, abandoned or which the seller can't identify ! To me a photograph is interesting if it gives me new information and it has no intrinsic value. However, those photo collector chappies haven't got a proper money-pit hobby where they can get their hands dirty, have they ?

The expensive picture was bought by Sudek 13. His name is feared amongst collecters of German wartime photos. He seems to be a wealthy backer with a handful of helpers who watch eBay for him. There is talk of access for researchers but little proof. Things are so bad that many people bid against him just to push the price up (They know that they are unlikely to win ). I have bid against him on a few pictures with abandoned BEF stuff but there is no point at all really. If my price is about £15 then he'll pay £150 (but then so presumably will someone else). Personally I'd rather go to the IWM with my credit card and buy decent copies of their images.

Ah, I've got a spanner to fit one of those ! Rich

Jack, I don't think that we are desensitized. I haven't seen any 'recent' footage (wouldn't bother to look) but I think that the chances are that someone who was videoing a display in the 1990s was not a ghoul but an aeroplane enthusiast. you can hear the shocked voices. The availability of the film clip means that the crew of the Mossie are not forgotten. It is perhaps not a bad thing to sometimes quietly contemplate the risks that we and others take for our hobbies and to consider our own mortality.

Nortons did and made about 6000 of them. Based on a pre-war Baughan design originally used for sidecar trials, it had no differential. Those sold off post-war had the dogs cut off because they just go straight on with swd engaged on tarmac. The trials heritage is clearly visible in this shot. Plenty of possibility for the 'monkey' to get his weight over the chair wheel. The picture is taken from a Pathe film and shows 4th Royal Northumberland Fusiliers training at Fontaine in March 1940. They went on to take part in the Arras counter-attack. To quote Blaxland in 'Destination Dunkirk' - "The left or inner column had meanwhile reached Dainville, which stands on a spur overlooking Arras. Y Company 4th RNF came into action here, making what would appear to be the first and only attack ever launched by British Motorcyclists. Having surrounded the village, the company commander, Major Clarke, attacked with a platoon dismounted, supported by a troop of tanks. Forty miscellaneous prisoners were taken and the village was won." They were also used in some roles in North Africa but a number of later contracts were amended to an "A.A. box" (A commercial box sidecar with an angled front) and were used for traffic control etc. There is a lot more information on Rob van den Brink's WD Norton website. http://www.wdnorton.nl/Specification%20BIG4.htm

Any clues as to where this was ? The eBay seller says it's Russia ? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WWII-Foto-Russland-Engl-Beute-Panzer-WWI-Motorrad_W0QQitemZ130235336160QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130235336160&_trkparms=72%3A12|39%3A1|65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

A rather different sort of Bedford portee here :- 121 euro and counting ! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300236309218&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=020 ...and another one in what looks like Caunter scheme. Nice ! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290242445491&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=019 Rich.