Chris Suslowicz

WFTW Volume 2 shows it with WS19 (and WS19HP) in a Jeep installation. Also note the 4 large holes in those candlesticks, which are for the Aerial Base No.9 Mounting No.1 pillar. It's certainly pre-Larkspur, though the RAC may well have had their "New Range" on issue by then.:-D Chris.

My guess is that it's the bottom mount for an aerial mast on a jeep/champ/landrover bumper. From the stores cod it's late 1940s/early 1950s.... Scratch that: it's a "candlestick" mount for a vehicle side, as used on Jeep and Austin (no doubt other stuff), and takes a pole that supports a standard aerial base No.10 (or base No.9 with an adapter plate). Used with the WS19, WS31AFV, and probably lots of other things. The hex bolt at the bottom is almost certainly to retain the post that supports the aerial base. Photos in Wireless for the Warrior Volume 2, pages W.S.31 AFV - 14 and 15. Chris.

It should be SCC No.2 Brown, I think, which was merged into BS381 as 499 Service Brown. BUT it has to be matt finish, which makes it look a much lighter shade of brown than the shiny gloss version. You can (apparently) get matting agent that will mix with it for spraying or brush painting. A friend has used it to refinish WS22 cases and reckons it looks identical to the original "apart from having just come off the production line". Chris.

Just like the "impossible to ride" pushbike[1], except that they can't fall off. Chris [1] Geared steering so it works opposite to what you expect, just like that Ferret. (It is apparently possible to ride the bike by crossing your arms, so it might be possible to steer the Ferret by gripping the bottom of the wheel instead of the top... you may wish to invest in heavy-duty worry beads and serious prayer before trying it, though.)

Megger output voltage is nowhere near enough. I built a small Cockroft-Walton multiplier on a couple of strips of tagboard which worked quite well. (Admittedly with something of a "hissing" sound from corona discharge while testing.) Chris.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressed_Steel_Company See also "Fisher & Ludlow" which became "Pressed Steel Fisher" as part of BLMC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bromwich_Assembly Chris.

"Reichsbahndirektionen regret the late departure of the 1944 armoured train service to Berlin. This is due to a signal failure at Clapham Junction. Please listen for further announcements."

Very, very difficult. They were mostly stripped out for the silver wire by the surplus dealers and the parts discarded. This happened to a lot of equipment (WS22, 62, Aerial Coupling unit 'J', the Aerial Tuning Inductance for the WS19HP, and the ATU for the C12). Even if you get a replacement inductor, the knob for the front is impossible to find - I've been looking for one for about a decade to restore an ACU 'J'. Chris.

Unfortunately I was at work and unable to comment, otherwise there would have been a long explanation of how everything was constructed at a scale of two feet to the inch before being reduced by their secret shrink-ray and assembled. How else do you expect them to get the fit & finish that they consistently demonstrate? Far too late now, of course.

At least part of it will be the sending of visiting cards to the other officers of his mess. When did they abolish the rum ration? (Or was that just the RN?) Chris.

Blank pages headed "NOTES", because later manuals were not intended to be written in. Chris.

Which I seem to remember were the .30M2 carbine with infrared sight. Good luck trying to hit anything with that on full-auto. (And it always struck me as asking for trouble, fitting what is effectively a searchlight on top if your rifle....) Chris.

Aiee!:shocking:

This is stoat-ally unheard of! Has anyone tried it with a Weasel yet?

It's some kind of sensor with an audio output for the user. 1) Possible (but unlikely) to be an induction loop receiver as used by the artillery because there's no ear protection. 2) I'm wondering about the wearer having a "cap comforter" instead of a helmet... if it's a beacon receiver it's a very small one but it could be a compass of some sort - set the heading you need (somehow - those bits underneath) and get different tones when you're left, right or on track? 3) Infrared/radar detector for raiding parties? Would fit with the cap comforter in the photograph. Something to detect a terrain observation system (infra-red floodlighting or radar scanning of an area you are moving into) before you trip an alarm? Chris.

Some sort of audible compass or direction indicator? It looks as though it straps onto a helmet (otherwise the earpiece cable is too short), the spiky knob is a battery compartment cover, but I can't fathom the switch marked 3 and F.

The army (and also the RAF) made extensive use of underground cable from WW1 (to protect it from shellfire) onwards and much of it was based on GPO practice (and used identical equipment). There's an entire volume of the Signal Training series (hard to get, since it was classified as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "SECURITY" (I' forget which), though there are a couple of editions at Kew) dedicated to it. "Signal Training Volume VI - Fixed Signal Services", which is basically about the Defence Communications Network, harbour and coastal defence installations, etc. There was also a fair amount of personnel transfer between R. Sigs and the GPO during WW2 to deal with urgent work (this caused considerable unrest because the GPO paid considerably more than the Army rate, and also tended to quietly transfer the "loaned" personnel to other projects when nobody was looking). Basically the fixed infrastructure would use common equipment and practice and a large number of Signals presonnel would have been snapped up by the GPO when they were demobbed.[1] Chris. [1] It's still happening today, BT were certainly hiring ex-signals people as they returned from Germany and were being made redundant - they were very happy to get them, too. (All current skills including fiberoptic cable work.)

I think they're handholds for pushing the trailer across fields. They look very similar in shape to the handles on the WW2 Wireless Handcart. The trailer is probably for buried (lead covered, paper insulated) cable maintenance, so would have the usual digging implements plus soldering and sheet lead working tools, lineman's tent and so on. Ah... just looked in Signal Training Pamphlet No.4 Part V (1940), there's no mention of trailers but there is a big list of plumbers and jointers tools from "Baskets, Tool" by way of "pump for desiccating", "Tent, Jointers" to "wooden rod to fit sleeve"! It's Doc. 5065 on the WS19 group archive http://www.royalsignals.org.uk/signals.htm#UK if you want to know far too much about this sort of stuff. Chris.

They were up by the trade stands (usual position) but rather fewer vehicles and masts this year. Fair amount of radio gear for sale, WW2 stuff at the usual sort of prices, more modern kit rather more sensibly priced. Star prize for optimism was a modified BC-221-AJ post-WW2 wavemeter (AC mains psu and modern socket on front panel) priced at £295! I found a few useful items but was worn out after Wednesday and didn't go back (exhaustion and weather forecast). Chris.

I'd have thought just running it through a (big) set of bending rolls until you've got the correct curve on it, but a foundry ought to be able to cast curved stuff without too much difficulty and makers plates on curved surfaces are quite common. For a replica, how about using the "lost wax" casting process? Chris.

Meanwhile, on the computer front, there's this: http://www.sansbull****sans.com/ (Replace the four asterisks with the letters "s" "h" "i" and "t" for the link to work.) There are times when I really wish I could install this font on the systems at work. Chris

I was concerned about the use of carpet underlay, which is unlikely to evaporate before clearing the muzzle. Admittedly, this gnome is currently more used to firing pyrotechnic shells (up to 250mm/10" bore), that will cause death or serious injury if you have any part of your body in the way when they lift, not to mention having a bursting charge that will easily remove body parts or (in the larger sizes) turn you into geography than re-enactment blanks, but I am sufficiently (I hope) paranoid about explosives to try and reduce any risk to as near zero as practicable. ) I've shot .455 Webley wads through things in the past, and even thin card is remarkably resistant to being shot out of the end of a blank cartridge. A layer of sponge rubber with a woven jute backing sounded far too robust for use as wadding. Chris.

Being in the UK, the blanks will need to be on FAC (being more than 1" in diameter at the point of ignition). That said, using one of the modern "black powder substitutes" may well be (a) safer, and (b) avoid the need for any additional licence from HSE. (It also has the advantage that all the combustion products are water soluble.) (I would not like to use anything that will still be in one piece as it exits the muzzle as wadding, though.) Chris. (Rather out of practice with things that go Boom! due to cataract surgery ans a detached retina.)

It will be a camera simulator for use when testing the control systems that drive the camera. It's probably under guided missile maintenance because recent (in relative terms, 70mm film is dead) use of the F95 for reconnaissance work would have seen it fitted to RPVs and autonomous drones. It's a good service life considering the F95 was originally fitted to PR Spitfires! Chris.

Chuck it in the bin: £8.20 will get you four of them. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-x-Clansman-349-Battery-Cassettes-349-Radio-5246-Army-Radio-/271820453757 Chris. (Not the seller, and they're a very common item on eBay.)