Big ray

I forgot to mention the ferry crossing from Hull to Europort. Its an overnight crossing sailing at 9.00pm arriving about 7.00am. If you join Chris (Commanders) party, you will have a cabin thats very well equiped, like sailing really.... nothing like the Normandy ferry crossings. The ferry trip in its self is a very pleasant experience, entertainment, first class restaurants quite luxurious.......... give it a go, you will not be disappointed. Then you will have the drive in convoy from the ferry port to Arnhem, some twelve miles from the German border. I have always enjoyed that part of the trip. A couple of stops are made en-route, just to stretch the old legs, and check the motors........ all great fun, with a great bunch of folks.

Airborne Battle Wheels will keep you very busy in your Jeep, they cover lots of places of interest, I have done this site several times, and never get tired of doing it. You need a british para smock, red beret, b/d trousers and your Jeep, thats about it....... one word of caution, take a warm sleeping bag, it can get cool at night (September) The man to liase with over all aspects of this trip, and all things that you might require will be the "Commander" (Chris)........ If Chris had been around during WW11 he would have been Pattons go getter........ Once you have tried this trip, you will not want to do it any other way.

Great photographs, thanks for posting.

Excellent work, you have certainly set the standard for everyone else to follow, beautiful job.

Its looking fabulous, well done............ am I envious, you bet I am.

I have been talking with one of my old army buddies on Skype today, we have been discharged from the REME for 55 years now, guess what we were talking about.......... no prizes for guessing I`m afraid.

I have been in contact with the organiser, and it would appear that the information that I have given is correct, I will of course submit a new post if anything changes.

We tend to split our members, and do both.............. I have just e-mailed the organisers, waiting for a reply, will post the confirmation regarding the show and dates.

As usual, I stand corrected........ I do remember that all of the Commer trucks that I drove all proved to be reliable and well constructed, a nice solid truck.

I agree with you, actually they were a well built truck, quite nice to drive, I drove several of them, this was a civilian truck utilized by the military, several were used to tow the Queen Mary Trailers (RAF) and Navy. besides many used in the cargo version.

The proposed dates are 25/26 May 2013 with Monday the 27th optional at this stage. I know that its still in the planning stages at the moment, I will contact the organisers, and try to get these dates confirmed....... I hope that that helps for now....... some of our members have attended the last couple of shows and tell us that its a very good show, on a good site with good facilities.

Yes I believe that it will be on, organised this time by the Birmingham & West Midlands Area, MVT. I will see if I can get the dates............... As Arnie say`s....... I`ll be back.

I some times sit and think about the things that we cut up in the 1950s, at the time they were viewed as so much money per item, just scrap with no historical interest. Queen Mary trailers amongst the many items that we scrapped, they must be very rare now I suspect. Search lights, they were scrapped for the mercury in the refletor and the trailers sold on to agricultural engineers in the Lincolnshire area, everything had a market. Wheels, axles, engines and gearboxes, particularly Bedford were in great demand abroad in third world countries............ Tanks, well theres a whole story there.

Have you tried running the engine up to temperature before attempting removal???

Welcome in Jeff, thats a very comprehensive introduction, and a fine collection of vehicles that you have acquired. Spending time by the wood burner tinkering with motors seems like a nice way to pass the time.............. pics please.

Hi "T", welcome to the forum.

Welcome in........... very nice.

The MoD did not introduce the two letters, two numbers, two letters system until after WW11.

I think that you will find that ex-military vehicles bought for civilian use in the post war years were simply given a current registration number, normally three numbers and three letters, or the other way around. The Q plate was introduced later, and then it became possible to have a date related number supplied, if you could satisfy the criteria.

I have just acquired a new clock face for the speedo on my Harley (The original has faded) does anyone have any info on the procedure for changing the clock face ?? any help will be greatly appreciated, I would not want to mees up.

Welcome in, which years, and where with REME, workshops or LAD ?

Got up early this morning only to find that we had 6 inches of snow over night, we struggled to get to the motorway (M6) Things improved considerably on the journey, fixed the diorama (not me, our son Tony and the guys from the Birmingham and West Midlands Area.) I went looking for a new speedo for my Harley, (The face is fading) found a new face, so it proved to be a good day for me, I think that I have saved at least £100 on that deal......... back down again tomorrow (Sun)

Welcome in...........

Our group go to Arnhem every year with "Commander", We have the most fantastic time, his organizing is second to none. Suggest that you contact him a.s.a.p.

Hi Joe, welcome to the friendly forum.