Snapper

I took my copy with me in the hope I'd get him to sign it for the lad. But I completely forgot about it amid the mud, the blood and the beer.

I've just seen a thread listed as HMVF Bar Tread Disco. Is this the new nightspot Jack has been planning? Wow! Will it be as rowdy as Ginger's? Or will it match the madness of the Bolero beer tent that night I made a buttocks of myself. Joris - are you in charge of the bar? Who is going to clear up the mess? We'll need lots of new members to keep things tidy.

I agree. His is almost a classic immigrants story. Whether he earned the right to stay here by having half his head shot off is a moot point. Compare his story to the shelf-load of footballer biographies clogging the shelves. Kicked ball - earned a million. Kicked a ball - earned another million. Had relations with a model. Kicked model. Earned a million. Bought a Bentley....and so on. Not to criticise soccer players specifically. They takes their chances like the rest of us and what they do matters to an awful lot of people. Ian Porterfield, who died this week; scored a goal that shook the football world in 1973. God bless him. Real men come in different guises. Mr Beharry's immortality may appear more significant. But show his picture to some people and they'll ask you who he plays for. Whether 'What Johnson Did Next' merits a rewrite five years hence is another matter (he'll always be a star in my book). Perhaps he needs to sign for Southend United. MB

Got to get these. Don't know how I've missed them so far but I seem to know them vicariously. Sassoon was not anti-war as Tony rightly says, he WAS anti the profiteers and politicians and establishment who gained from it. He loved his troops and thought some monuments like the Menin Gate insulted them. He chucked his MC ribbon in the Mersey in 1917 when he made his famous Statement against the war. He was more or less goaded into doing it by the upper class twits he hung round with who never did a thing for the war effort themselves but loaded the guns for others to complain about it. Sassoon was an odd man, a repressed homosexual, a bad tempered man, he just wanted peace. He was a bad picker of boyfriends and not very good to all his close friends. But they were stunning times. He was a close friend of Graves and Blunden and was devoted to the fatherly Thomas Hardy. He knew Wells and so many others. His friendship with Wilfred Owen and influence on the younger man's work is much picked over. He was a bloody brave and daring soldier and of course, he was a great poet and writer plus an accomplished cricketer. The books Tony recommends are written in a semi-autobiographical way with names and places changed. One of the villages he recalls cycling through as a lad in happy times is.......Beltring. Thanks for the pointer Tony. An old/classic books guide is something I would like to see built up here.

We had a gibbon in the office yesterday. It was not funky. Poor thing looked drugged.

Nice to have someone from the Athens of the North. Many's the time the wife and i enjoyed getting the bus out to see our outlaws living in Silverknowes or over in Costorphine and Drumbrae. Sadly, they are mostly all gone - but we've still got a few hanging on around Leith and friends over in Dalgety Bay. One of them had a setter that could eat through walls. Lovely dog, always smiling. Good times going out for ice cream in Musselburgh at Lucas and out to North Berwick or East Fortune to look at the planes. Good times. Welcomne to the forum. Nothing wrong with engines... MB

The cracks are starting to appear. The conspiracy is working....after a fashion. I worked with a lady once who was happy to sit on the photocopier after the odd lunchtime snifter. Horrible wet thing it was, the ink used to go everywhere....made by Gestetner of Tottenham. Long gone.

When he says 'pics' - he means of your vehicles. Don't be alarmed. Even in the wilds of Aberdeenshire you do not escape clubhouse cleaning duties. Keep your Sultan off the dahlias. Jack does his nut when his hardy perennials get squished. Welcome aboard.

HMVF Gastrobattletours starts here. I agree, the Jupiler is lovely. Nicer than Wifebeater. But I'm still a fan of that bear Joris had at Bolero. Yellow can - forgotten the name - sorry Joris. M

The cook is useless - puts sugar in porridge and don't even talk about the black pudding. There's no hope of decent haggis and the blighter cannot cook an egg. I'd sack him - but Jack's in charge of that sort of stuff. I just do the talking. Thank god for the local pizza parlour.

Welcome aboard Kevin. You can use the ARRV to shunt in the beer and vol-au-vents for this years Christmas Party. It is a black tie event. All the usual jokes apply. Seeing Jack in clothes is bad enough, but just in a black tie. Thank God the CF card crashed or this site would look like something else entirely and would probably get a lot more hits. Now there's a thought, Jack. Calendar girls was a success - who would play you in the film of the HMVF calendar blokes?? I could just about hide my modesty behind a MkIII helmet - or one of those old Swiss ones that cost either a tenner, or £150 quid depending on the muppet salesman. BTW Kevin. The clubhouse cleaning rota is being discussed by the moderators and you will be given a task before the winter solstice. It was nice to see Jack wants you to keep off the pansies. I thought we were in for some litigation before you'd hardly started - he likes a barney. Blame it on his country ways, He used to be Catweazle.

The whole concept of it all still chills me to the bone.

Good points. Tyne Cot is a must for the first time visitor. I like the museum at Hooge because it is not too huge and has briliant atmosphere. Sanctuary Wood is interesting, but the place has something about it that I don't like. I won't say what here because I don't want to be in court - but people who've been may know. All the same it is a good site. I have never been to Hill 60; it's on the list. Esssex Farm is a heatbreaker and for the adventurous a walk into Ploegsteert Woods is great fun - but bring your anti-midge/mossie stuff. Hyde Park Corner is dramatic.This year I went to Kemmel and to Bayernwald for the first time. We had a good look round. The peace pool and adjacent cemetery are lovely as well. In Ypres, the In Flanders Fields museum cum war experience is very moving. The Menin Gate and Last Post is a must. Polygon Wood is really interesting and the museum at Zillebeke in the chateau is great. The point is, as Tony B is well aware, none of this stuff is a massive distance apart. There is no way you can do it all, even in a few years- I've got a long list of places I want to see. But to give a taster would be cool. I think we need to see where we could stay if we did a two dayer. Money talks. I also need to arrange the bodies my end, but if Tony is coming, too, then we will have enough guided between us methinks. But I never pass up additional advice or info. This could be a good trip. I'm told the 48 quid or whatever it is lasts for two days, so that keeps costs down. When do people think the best time would be??? I'm easy going.

Got the Iltis going again, but lumbered with the nightshift this weekend. Really sorry - fancied a day out leaving a dried Beltring mud trail...

What colour is the jeep on the cover of Bart's MV bible? - the one with the pilot standing on it.

Good stuff Steve.. Thanks a million

I haven't been to Yorkshire Trench for a while. Is this it. Don't recognise the background???????

I haven't heard back from the bleeder. But I'll try again. I think Martin was an artillery officer.

No probs. The cemeteries are my favourite places. Sounds odd, but every one is a book and every grave is a page. I'll be on the Somme at half term continuing my pilgrimage. I joined the WFA this year and really can't imagine what I was doing before my first visit to the WW1 battlefields. Divisional cemetery is a typically small location. We always like to see if the cows are grazing in the fields behind - an image of life continuing. There are many I haven't been to, and I plan to see as many as I can before I snuff it. cheers M

It's the only WW2 motor I want.

Best thread in ages. More please. Nice to see Essex Farm again; one of my favourite places in the Salient. Maybe it should be on the intended HMVF itinerary for 2008. Thanks to everyone, MB

There are some of you lurking in front of it. I'll add you to my list.

I think he should get an Antar. It's always a size issue with him.

Show offs. I have made this post so I can appear to be adding my five bobs worth in every branch of the forum. Moderators get everywhere! Seriously, this is an amazing job thus far. Crack on!

Indeed It's Tommy this and Tommy that and "chuck him out, the brute"; But he's the saviour of his nation When the Guns begin to shoot. Amen