steveo578

At least some-one else watches decent stuff. I considered the original Red Dwarf Criton false teeth quote but forum rules would forbid it;) Steve

the cent hull seems to be none standard it is not an avre, bridgelayer or Ark it may be a test hull for a later bridge layer type perhaps a trial for the chieftan avlb which had similar lugs for the frame. Good catch on the churchill Hanno definately the Hill 112 tank -note the position of the turret. steve

I thought Article27, paragraph 4 stated that "no member of AHG shall use vindaloo paste as a metal cleaning medium":D.

On the other hand he is probably about as fed up as other denizens are at having the place look like a set from a Borat movie:-D -simple situation if you don't want people forever asking about the status of the "abandoned property/vehicles" make sure the place doesn't look abandoned. Steve

2nd computer I've tried to access the fotki site tonight both times got no further than a frozen sceen, probably due to the micky mouse quality of both the site itself and the idiots who overload their vanity photo sites. If a site blocks photo download the simplest answer is prtsc and copy to paint or photoshop. Steve

yes it would be an interesting site if it wasn't for the Lada quality download time:undecided:

On the embankment near the Kremlin. It's the phone camera culture and it happens everywhere not just russia- back in 1996 on the M3 I remember an Army fuel tanker developed a fire in the the rear brakes-everyone just speeded up to get clear in case it went bang:wow:.

I've had the same problem as Andy reported in post#33. This happened at 15.10hours today and has been a recurring problem since the new year, got on site by googling. I'll try to capture the screen if it goes wierd again;)

The Iraqi received 12 Cent Mk7 in 1956 10 financed by US offshore military aid along with the M24 chaffees- King Feisal received a further 2 Cents as a gift from HMG -similarly 12 Churchills in service in Iraq were a gift of the HMG. In 1957 Iraq received a further 40 Cents making enough for a full rgt or more likely a light regiment and reserves. Although the Churchill look antiquated it is likely until the full complement of Cents arrived in 1957 and training was complete the Churchills were used as pure infantry tanks as the Iraqis were still probably in a WW2 time warp, the Churchill Mk7 was the last infantry tank. The Cents remained in service until the mid to late 1960s when spares and some runners were transfer to Jordan. They would be in poor condition as in late 1961 the Iraqis decided to invade/threaten Kuwait leading to the British re-enforcing the kuwaiti army with Centurion and later Chieftain and kept British forces in Kuwait as a back up -but not the only occasion British forces faced potentially hostile Centurions. Steve

Hi Hanno Another nice link complete light batalion of Mk7s in parade finish -inclredible, says something for the local REME- good stuff:)

Again an interesting batch of pics The Red cross aircraft is a Nakajima KI 6 -a copy of the famous Fokker Universal built in numerous countries, the Japanese used them in Mancu area as transports and even bombers- pics of the red cross marked Ki 6 is fairly well know to the extent that a resin kit comes with it in those marking. I wonder if this aircraft was a transport for surrender negotiations -the idea of Japanese wartime forces adherring to Red Cross Protocol- just doesn't sit well but then I'm the son of a former 14th Army soldier :-( The trucks are probably Issui TX40 in the fore ground and TY10 background both types being the early 4x2 subsidy type the double rear wheels probably to improve performance. The tank is an early Type 89 probably an A type. these tanks were heavily influenced by Vickers Type C. note the door on the front plate. Steve

virtually no difference Besa fires a 198gr bullet at 2,700 ft/s MV and 450-750 RPM . whereas the 30cal fies a 150gr bullet at 280 ft/s MV 400-500 RPM. Besas where not fitted to Valentine 17pdr SPGs -only as a possible lash up the Besa at 53lbs was very heavy and to give an idea of how much effort a lash up would require look at the tank mounting -possibly if some-one managed to find an MG37 mount it may have been possilbe to lash up something, otherwise it seem a none starter- there wasn't even a gun mount for troops to use if there tank was KO'd. As for the other commonly held belief reliablity- both Browning and Besa were equally reliable -there are stories of besas turning translucent due to the heat but still firing. Steve

Almost impossible to know what colour the loyd was originally three shades of Khaki drab existed 3, 5 and 7 with No 7 becoming the SCC15 colour "olive drab" as described by Adrian. Post war colours when exposed to long term range weathering often look like pea green. Steve

I'd like to see some in service evidence for Valentine 17pdr SPGs in Jordanian service -it is well recorded that Eygpt had them and lost some dug in on the sinia-gaza border but Eygpt also had Valentines -mostly used for training and OP work by 1956 but allowed them to have a logistic line for working with "archer". Steve

Valentine 17pdr SPs (not archer- made up name) were new build 655 out of 800 completed the hulls were specific to the SP having thinner side armour, 20mm, than the comtemporary MkIX,X at 43mm- this was a common ploy in Valentine design to save weight against heavier armament, MkII gun tanks had 60mm side amrour MkIII and V had 50mm and later maks had 43mm. The personel armament of the SPG was a Bren and a 2inch mortar- there seems to be no specific stowage for Stens although they must have been stowed somewhere or guard duty would be impossible! Steve

Rather unfair chances are it would have done its job as well as any other British AFV -to an extent a lot less tempremental than the Chieftain, it might be interesting if anyone has turn out stats for various BAOR AFVs to see where it was in the reliablity stakes. As Paulob1 says My only caviat is that the development of the 432 and the "need" to retain a national build type means that the 432 was more akin to the US M59 rather than the contemporary M113 which probably would have been better value for money and NATO commonality. Steve

Yes very good -whoever is taking those photos has a hightened sence of history- note the photos of old painted adverts on the gable ends of buildings and the collection of 'phones -brilliant. The wrecks of which some of the cars seem to be in Europe shows some important stuff. tank and MV wise huge numbers of various GMCs Dodges and Macks the Sherman is probably a M4A4(T), there is the inevitable wrecked T54 not a T55 as stated in the caption, the H/tracks are M16s which were only turned in by the French Army in Europe in the late 1970- early 80s. The aircraft are pretty good too -Dassault Super Mystere great stuff. The thing which I find most striking is what could be a Panhard AMD 178 dating from between the wars (the later model turret lies between the M5A1 and the A/C), sitting in the sea surrounded by the M5A1s- perhaps a vandal act of disposing of a gate guard :-(. Perhaps a scrapyard might still yield up one of the Coventry ACs sold to France in 1945, I can but hope. Steve

Pretty good cosmetic restoration -certainly must have been in fresh water as the type 95 had very thin armour. the oil/grease lid would be just soviet booty mechanics were often as not equiped with either western tools and trucks or what ever could be found during the war against Germany there have been several photos over the years of Steyr 1500 trucks used in Soviet service during the Far Eastern campaign.

As Dijbouti was a French dependancy the M5A1 are probably ex French -even foreign legion target tanks -the Dijbouti forces fought against Eritrea with active French support but that was around 1991 so much later than the tanks wrecks shown -so possibly targets from an earlier period -the lack of a/t target holes suggests air targets. A few light truck components in there too

Yep:-) as a German full tracked AFV -10,252 built all marks as opposed to 5791 PzIII -170 PzIII were converted to StuG III. The PzIV the longest manufactured full tracked German AFV managed 8519 tanks of all marks plus 4948 SPGs of all types including 1108 StugIV and 31 converted from PzIV. Production started after the StuG III prodction at the Alkett factory was bombed in 1943. To continue the pedantic mode to its conclusion:cool2: the most common German AFV was the SdKfz 251 half track in 4 marks 15252 in all, the simplified D model ran to 10,602 on its own which makes it the most common German AFV. Steve

Lee, you are perfectly entitled to make the point you have made to clairify the position as stated in the blue portion of your post -as I never said that an applicant for a FAC need not declare a previous conviction what I said was not incorrect:-) It's Xmas go and have a nice mince pie and let's move on:-). Steve

The thing is an Obice da 305/17 modele 1916 built by Armstrong works in Italy it was also mounted on a more sensible fixed "octaginal" mount-the Garrone (I assume this refered to the base plate/ pivot plate) as the mounting was a long girder affair -note the fairly modern triple recuperators above the barrel. There was another coastal mount companion piece the ex naval gun Cannone da 152/45 which remained in service on the fixed mount until 1945. There were a number of De Stefano mounts for several calibres during WW1 in 152,210 and 305- a 210/8 mortar on a DS mount is reported to have survived into WW2. Naval cannons survived longer in service than howitzers which were apparent until the end of WW1 for example the US 12inch seacoast howitzers. The wheeled mount seems to have been an attempt to get a 305/17 mobile to use against the Austrians called the Da Stefano mount, it had a huge 3m x 2m x305mm steel base carried on a separate wagon as a tie down (the coastal mounting was fixed in a prepared earth or concrete bed). I think it managed to wreck a Cathedral in a city in the Austrian tirol. I would think the large box beneath the trunnions would allow sufficient recoil without digging a pit. The Austrians had Skoda howitzers of similar calibre the 305/11 and 380/16. There was once a 35th scale resin kit of the 305/17 coastal howitzer by the Italian kit company Kriel, no idea of the price though -probably a ridiculous one:shocked: Steve

I didn't say nor did I imply that a "spent" offence would not need to be reported on an application for a FAC and I was refering to the section of Adam post which I quoted, not specifically to the matter of Mr Birds criminal record. There is no evidence in the public domain that Mr Bird failed to inform Cumbria Police of the offences in question nor that Cumbria Police acted improperly in allowing Mr Bird to continue to hold a FAC. Steve

The reason is that normally an offence is "spent" after a given period of time, if it isn't a "crime of violence" after 5 years it should have no relevance to an application for an FAC. However existing law is sufficent to control the holding of firearms by those convicted of an offence and jailed -probation release can preclude the possesion- use- ownership of firearms even including air weapons, so there is no need to change this aspect of the law. It's very easy to break the law -many people don't realise they have commited an offence, technically if you drive within 24hours of having more than 2 drinks you may have commited an offence -it all depends on your ability to metabolise alcohol- and how many of us never drink any alcohol? Steve

Looks like the same post war training aid photographed in Wheels & Tracks No 54 page 28 which shows 33ZR62 a Mk1/2- note the fish tail exhaust. Nice find probably there are still lots of snaps from post war natonal service rotting away in cupboards. Steve