Snapper

Good stuff and good point about serjeant with a 'j'. Don't know whether this is fully given up. if you use CWGC search a lot you will always find it, but their online records do not go past the 1940s. I think the Serjeant at Arms in Parliament is still spelt with a J. I digress.... someone will know.

We have to do a HMVF jaunt to Saumur in 2008.

Hi Patrick, Good idea - aim high! Get an MTLB! Not sure how easy that is these days with so many being resold or cut up to meet treaty obligations. Welcome to HMVF. Vehicle ownership is no barrier here. Enjoy. Snapper.

We would definitely be interested in a Bergen and bits Karl - thank you. The boy returned today, covered in mud, scatches and blisters but he is all the better for it. He's learning. I wish I'd been doing that sort of stuff when I was his age. He's learning about caring for his feet, knows he has to get fitter and is learning not to be so finecky with his food. A good education. I salute him. Thanks to everyone for their support. You're right Neil, they do have girlies, too, these days. The squadron boss is a lady.

Hello folks, I am tasked with preparing a piece on Pinkies for CMV and hope to find one or more I can arrange to photograph in full bib and tucker including owners (or not) depending on their wishes and especially if they like to look the part. Equally as important I would like to get any recollections or stories about them, either in service or as preservation projects. I know there is a Pinkie junta on the forum so please get in touch. It may be we meet up at shows. Continuing the long standing bias towards anyone south of the Watford Gap I have to admit that, as a resident of Westcliff On Sea I cannot travel hundreds of miles to do this; which I hope does not seem churlish. Whatever happens I would like to include thoughts and stuff from as far afield as possible, even if this means chatting on the phone or by email. I will be at Beltring, Kelvedon and hopefully the Gunpowders Mills this year, very south-east-centric; but my fulltime job dictates this. Looking forward to hearing from you...!! Mark B

It looks like just a case from the photo. I've never handled one of those.

Welcome aboard, Mike. There is definitely space in the club car park for your carrier. Interesting choice.

No, no, no......only very empty shell cases. I wouldn't touch anything else whatsoever. On my last trip we saw live shrapnel shells, a German 77mm HE and several hand grenades. I photograph them and walk away very quickly. Empty cases and bits are safe to handle. But, I never sanction touching anything I have doubts about at all. No point. One other thing, I am not a fieldwalker. This was all stuff visible strolling around Trones Wood and up by Auchonvillers. The fieldwalkers are out with tools and long telescopic prods and suchlike and some have metal detectors. Here I am thinking metal detectors from Argos do not mix with 90 year old explosives.

Nice to see you are getting the Pig ready for our photoshoot, Paul. Sorry I can't join the paint team. Having enough trouble factoring in dates to replace the underseal on my Iltis and paint it. I've already decided to use rollers. The rule with the Iltis is to spray the bonnet (a bloody great thing like a margarine lid) and roller the rest. I digress.....

I want to come, but it clashes with an event I have attended every year since 1987. I can't imagine missing one; but given the nature of this I may have to! The Iltis should get there. M

Amazing. You need to open a museum for all your stuff.

As Stryker is Son of Snap I would like to thank you all on his behalf for the advice. I remembered enough to get him through - but we used advice from all of you. I agree that they are asked to carry far too much stuff. He is doing a "Falklands Competition" within his Squadron which is basically some sort of RiffRaff survival course with a nice tab at the end and a bit of shooting with old No8 .22s thrown in. He is over the moon to be doing this stuff - the local scouts were Sh1te. The Bergen was supplied and does not have any of the add on pockets, but he has managed to get his sleeping bag, changes of clothes, extra footwear, wash kit, grub, camera and waterproofs into it in a useful manner. All this for.....36 hours away. They learn. Southend ATC is a bloody good organisation.

Don't paint it. Take a wire brush to it and really clean it up. You might also use a small hammer and a chisel to "carefully"chip odd bits of heavy rust off. Then once it is fully clean, coat it in yachting varnish. Believe me, it will look superb. I have a WW1 18pdr shell done like this at home and it is a lovely ornament. I've got several other shells left plain which I cleaned up after bringing them home from the Somme last October. I'm thinking of treating a pick head to the varnish, but this belongs to Stryker. We used a wire brush,chisel and a centre punch to remove corosion from spent shell fuse caps and on some painted numerals or punched symbols were revealed - making the whole job very satisfying.

Dive in

The Canadian wing seems to be growing...

I've only got one MV and believe me one Dear Deidre is enough; I am the muppet looking after the pictures.

doesn't it clash with Gunpowder Mills?????

Amazing. I haven't got a tent, but I have got a shovel. No proper loos will scare my mrs off. Pix on the site of kids tied up hasn't exactly got her racing with excitement. So, I imagine the trip would be made by me and Stryker. Water can be brought - but a bowser would be wonderful. Takeaway food is fine by me. Note to organisers. Light is always a killer. In July it dies around 1800 hrs and this makes snaps flat and pretty useless. Noon-1400 hrs is ideal. So this is when the calendar pics would be done. My Iltis does 55mph (see this month's VW Driver magazine) - sixty at a push. I shouldn't have bought it - but if you're coming in a Militant then it is a pocket rocket. Note to anyone from Essex unable to bring a vehicle. I may have some space. But no promises yet. Time will tell. Well done Tony and Jack.

A typical mix and match. If my brother in law were not in Tennessee, he could add some info. I hope the owner keeps the livery. A true classic. Well spotted.

sounds like a job for Tony Hoare.

Just a personal note from me: On 16.02.1941 the minesweeper HMS Southsea hit a mine as she came into Tynemouth following a sweep. it was one o'clock in the afternoon. She settled in shallow water and was eventually beached and used as a breakwater. Declared "Constructive Total Loss" by the Admiralty, the little 825 ton paddle steamer had been a Southern Railway Isle of Wight ferry and had entered service in 1937. Seven crew died including my grandfather Lieutentant (E) Gordon Maurice Barnes RNR. He was 48 years old and was known as "Father" by his brother officers. Gordon was an ERA during WW1 and spent the inter war years getting his ticket before rising to second engineer on the Arandora Star and was engineer of the Northern Star, these were big names of the Blue Star Line fleet running people and beef from Sth America to the UK. (The line was owned by the Vestey family - also famous for the Dewhurst butchers chain). Gordon was at Dunkirk on HMS Caroline Moller an ocean going tug lost in 1942. He is buried in the military plot of Preston cemetery, North Shields, along with two of his shipmates. If anyone is passing, please pay your respects for me. The Southsea received a small amount of fame for shooting down a Dornier a few months before her loss and actually appeared in an Admiralty official history book for the early war years. cheers MB

Welcome to the party

Party on

Welcome Son of..... A junior section looks likely. My son/financial drain Stryker is already on board.

The wrens were going back to Colombo for it's re-instution as a HQ after the RN had cleared the Japs out of the Indian Ocean enough to safely assume there would be no invasion of Ceylon. Regarding ship losses, the Lancastria was far higher than 300, more like 3,000 and remains Britain's worst maritime disaster. Missing from the list is the Arandora Star which was carrying German and Italian POW/Internees to Canada. The grand old cruise liner, one of the very first of her kind; had been converted into a prison ship, painted slate grey and had barbed wire over all her decks to stop any hope of escape. She was sunk by a U Boat, I think it was Gunther Prien in June 1940 off the west of Ireland. 600 or more people died. Very nearly all the prisoner compliment were lost and there was allegedly a lot of panic. I've seen websites slating the crew and guards, but the captain and the senior engineering officer, among others, went down with the ship. It did not sink quickly - they were dignified decent men of their time. By coincidence with the Khedive Ismail's link to my father in law, I have links to the Arandora Star. My grandfather was second engineer in the prewar era of cruises round the Baltic and Med and was a good friend of the captain and chief engineer. I have many pictures of them and some ship souvenirs. They are treasured. We have a fine picture of her in our lounge. You can see the beautiful large model of the "great white whale" from the old Blue Star Line offices in the Science Museum.