eddy8men

jack glad to hear things went well on the convoy (i did worry about how the weather would be down there for you lot) sorry i couldn't make it with the carrier but even with me and 2 other guys spending 4 solid days grafting til all hours trying to bash it out we just couldn't get it right and i had to admit defeat, which was down to my leaving it until the last minute. please accept my apology and i hope i can get it right for the next one. all the best rick

hi barry about a month ago i took the carrier to the battlefront museum at old buck airfield in norfolk to get the restoration finished in time for beltring but forgot to mention to shaun that i needed it for a&e. unfortunately shaun couldn't do the work due to other commitents so i decided to go down and bash it out myself. however things didn't go to plan with the carrier, which with hindsight is bound to happen when you try to condense a months work into 4 days. even with the help of andy ferretkit and another fella called ian we just couldn't get it sorted and at 2.30am sunday morning i gave up trying but it's not all bad as we did get a lot done and she should be in good shape for beltring. as for the thrown track that was down to an over enthusiastic turn at speed from a tarmac road with a step down onto a gravel road which resulted in the inner rear part of the track going under the tarmac and being pushed off the sprocket aswell as taking a fair chunk of tarmac with it (which was hastily stamped back into place) you live and learn ! see you at beltring rick

Sorry guys, not goint to make it to a&e, carrier no where near ready, theres always next year all the best rick

going to be a great show mate, if i wasn't at a&e i'd be there in a heart beat. there's always next year :-D rick

"are we ready" erm no actually the carrier has a few issues like it doesn't run, there's no cooling or charging, the brakes and steering have packed up, the engine armour needs fabricating and fitting and i need a steering wheel but apart from that we're good to go see you friday but i've a feeling it will be late when we arrive ! rick

alastair don't listen to those two defeatists, B is for "barely scratched" i read somewhere that there were 4 types of avre hull "R" was the original canadian type then A,B and C for various other types ie. dozer equipped, fascine and so on, the only problem with that theory is i have seen many gun tanks with a letter after the wd number so i can't say for sure, the best way to find out would be to speak to an avre veteran, which i intend to do at the soonest opportunity. rick

thanks paul any help will be much appreciated.you're right about the red white red square, there's also an upside down triangle on the left upper corner which i assume is the 79 armd insignia, it was much more visible until i rubbed it down with wire wool and oil which was a bad idea, i'll use water and a sponge next time ! there also appears to be a sky blue square with white detail on the upper right side, again i would assume it's unit sign but i don't know which so any suggestions would be welcome. i'll get some more pics up as soon as i can. cheers rick

one more pic of the rear

i think you might be onto something there adrian, i thought there was another unit after the "T" but put it down to overwriting from previous signs, i'll go up to bobs yard and try to clean it a little better and get a few pics from above and below at a sharp angle which might accentuate the numbers. thanks for all the help guys i owe you a beer, if any of us are still alive by the time it's finished you can even take it for a drive by way of a thank you cheers rick

thanks adrian it looks like it's a mk IV vauxhall built churchill, as it has the later armour cone nuts as opposed to the cones welded over the bolt ends which is how the earlier marks were built. now i have the wd number i will be able to positively identify it :-D even though it's a real wreck i'm itching to start the restoration, maybe i'll surprise myself and get it running one day but i'll settle for a static display if it proves too much for me. rick

just had another look at the first pic and it looks like T32427/b anyone else got any better suggestions ? rick

you'd be surprised just how common they are, i've been collecting them for only 2 years and i have over 40, there's normally 4 or 5 on ebay at any one time. all the sights have the same dimensions and look similar to one another so there's no way without looking at the designation to know which gun/mg combination they are for unless ofcourse you look down the sight as the type of gun is marked at the top of the lense ie. 6pdr 75mm 77mm and so on. here's a link to a great sight when it comes to all things ww2 http://www.wwiiequipment.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=119:british-sighting-telescopes&catid=49:other-data&Itemid=61 rick

it's almost been a year to the day since i last posted anything on the old girl, time flies when you're having fun well the move from shrewsbury went without hitch other than the fact that it was supposed to go to my home in manchester but the wagon driver thought it was unrealistic to unload it at my house, which with the benefit of hindsight i'm inclined to agree with him so it ended up at bob's yard in wigan where it was kept company by my centaur and cromwell (sorry bob) it's pretty much sat there being ignored until yesterday when i went over to bob's to start cleaning the hull ready for sand blasting and painting before it's finally moved to manchester where i can work on it ! before it's blasted i wanted to see if i could identify the wd number or any other unit markings that would help to identify it and these are the results. i can't make anything out other than 27/B at the end. does anyone else have an idea of what the numbers could be ?

hi chris you have a tank sight for vehicles equipped with the 95mm howitzer, these would be the centaur, churchill and cromwell (my cromwell was armed with 95mm howitzer). when you look thru the sight you will see 95mm how at the top with range markings for the main gun on the left and mg on the right. it should also have the numbers 1.9 or 3 after the no.48 these represent the magnification, x1.9 for the hull mg and x3 for the turret, the hull mg is marked up for the main gun so it can be used in the turret if the need arises. most sights sell for about £25 incase you think about selling it. rick

Don't forget your comms guys, now's the time to check it all works !

i had been told that they've stopped using concrete filled targets as there was a problem with spalling when the concrete was hit, in other words they don't want chunks of concrete flying round the range. which is great news for those amongst us that are daft enough to want to try and save a few old targets. whilst i'm on the subject does anyone know of a concrete filled target that has been restored rick

a good leader and a great man by the sound of it, the veterans of ww2 seem to sum up all that's best about being british. professional, modest and hard as nails

well done guys

shame it's cancelled i was looking forward to it myself. what kind of excuse is asbestos contamination anyway ? the health and safety brigade ruins another good day out

few more

you're right alastair they certainly knew how to build them, the trouble is they aren't supposed to be exquisite engineering masterpieces, they're just made to kill. the russians grasped that idea but at least 70 years on we can look back and appreciate all those efforts. as it happens i was thinking just the other day whilst working on the fuel system how many hours it would take to build a cromwell and at what expense when compared to the cost of an armour piercing 88 shell . a sobering thought ! anyway on a lighter note here are a few up to date pics. the control hydraulics are now sorted and are ready for use this includes the clutch, brakes and steering tillers. amazingly everything was in great condition even the resevoirs were full of clean oil, sometimes the condition of this tank amazes me. i certainly think of myself as being very lucky to have got hold of such a good tank (it could have been much worse.)

thanks but to be honest i've not done much, just buggered around playing at it, any praise should go to bob and the guys at his yard. i would have loved to have had the time but it's just not gonna happen and besides i've always been a great believer that "if in doubt sub it out" cheers rick

there's always the paint on the exterior to look at, you'd be surprised what appears with a bit of a rub down with an oily rag

hi robin you are right, however i can't tell you what was used in wartime but i know they still use hylomar or did do when i was in. infact everything got a good coat of hylomar before it was assembled. the tolerance for the block to crank housing mating surfaces is 3 thou which is crazy when you think how large the areas that come together are, real old school engineering infact the specialist merlin guy that rebuilt my meteor told me that they would be hard pushed to be able to match that level of accuracy today (but he could of just told me that because it still had a leak) incidentally the packard built merlins used gaskets and rollers on the tappets and were considered better than RR merlins but apparently weren't as strong on the bottom end. rick

unfortunately with steel tracks she wouldn't be able to drive on the roads for the convoy anyway but i'll still be there in the carrier a few pics of the oil cooler and fuel tank, interestingly the oil cooler was painted silver but underneath as you can see it's a gloss deep bronze green which i assume is how it was in wartime. (the silver paint probably being applied when it was converted to charioteer spec in the early 50's) the fuel tanks looked to be in great condition but on closer inspection were found to be full of pinholes at the same level all the way around (waterline) it was easy to repair with solder.