Snapper

Great news.... Hope it leads to something permanent. MB

Looks like great fun, Adrian. Very nice pix. MB

Looks like a lot of fun. I was out there in those days, and will have to see if I ever snapped them.

Absolutely fantastic. What lens do you use for these? I'd love to have a bash at this sort of snapping. MB

Thank heavens for photography....no lies there, ever..:cool2:

I think I recall his name from magazine articles. ...but, as you might expect, I could be wrong. The name rings a bell. Perhaps he's in my pub darts team where I always score a double top blindfold with my hands tied behind my back, or I remember him from my time driving custard cream air drops for the Flying Tigers. Just the facts, ma'am.... etc

Fantastic looking bit of kit. Thanks for sharing the snaps. MB

Agreed. Fantastic to see something different. Really nice. MB

This is fantastic. Well done all round. MB

This neighbourhood is getting rougher, so we've beefed up the patrol fleet.

Thanks a million. This makes complete sense. The original caption sheet refers to a stretcher party depot and I didn't twig it. Therefore the individual parties had numbered helmets. There were so many variations of these helmets, which are now all very collectable. I know many civil defence examples were made of a mild steel unlike the combat versions and they even made some from composite materials in the same shape. I will look for the article. Mark

I'm in the process of restoring some old pix at work and one shows a first aid drill in Croydon with a stretcher party putting a "casualty" into an ambulance. The bearers are all wearing helmets with SP7 on them. I am assuming 7 is the district and 'S' might be for Surrey. The party is led by a St John Ambulance man - his helmet is white with two stripes -so I know he is senior. But I'd like to know what this SP7 does signify for captioning purposes. I am sorry, I am unable to show you the pics due to copyright restrictions. Any firm leads? I am aware there is no book on British helmets...which is a shame. I also know these are mild steel versions of the MkII. MB

This is one for Olaf. I have never seen one and would imagine they are not very common. To my knowledge they were only used by the USN. I have no idea on colour but would suggest the usual drab green we all know by the look of the snap provided.

Explaining the leap to the GSMkVI modern type introduced in time for the late eighties into the Gulf War period...used until recently. Thanks a million for the education. MB

The badge on the collar of the 'On War Service' image looks like the badge given to soldiers who had become unfit for war service to wear to keep the white feather lot away. A lot of Air Mech 2 were used to do radio work and if you visit the cemeteries of the Western Front you will find many who were killed working as communications operatives on the ground to planes in the air. Dangerous front line work. A lot depends on where the good man served, but being in the Eastern hospital Cambridge points to the strong likelihood he came back from the Western Front in a poor state of health from wounds or disease - or even the dreaded Spanish flu and subsequently died.

Vespa Microcars....classic. Thanks for the info - never heard of them before. This is why France is so great: the motors you see here and there. A friend of mine's father in law lives in Vichy and he's got a shed full of Panhard CT24 air cooled cars and bits. I digress.... I'd love a SUMB, being a Francophile I am easily pleased.

The sad news is that Bill Millin, the famous piper with Lord Lovat's commandos on D-Day;has died, aged 88. God Bless him.

My apologies. I was absolutely exhausted on sunday morning from the previous day's toil. I did not wake up til late. I had one can of wifebeater on saturday night - so it wasn't the hops water. MB

Can we take a step back on this one, please?

I can only say I saw thousands of vehicles over the week and a lot of happy people saying it was the best W & P in a long time. Last year was grey and flat for me. This year I had a good one. I digress. I agree with Joris, we have turned this one over before. But why not, this is a forum. Degsy and Mike, I support your right not to attend as much as anyone who does want to go. The hobby needs variety and having been on Bolero and A & E I agree these events are VERY special. But there can only be so many. W & P has grown into a monster in the years since I first went in 1998. I consider myself a newcomer to this hobby. Whether is is a cancerous nasty monster or a benign one is a matter of personal choice. As a member of the press team, I get free entry for my MV and a red shirt. I get meals and beverages of a non alcoholic nature. I got free entry for my son James who is my kit sherpa. Therefore I can be perceived to have a vested interest. I work my ass off at W & P for barely any gain. I sell no pix to the established magazines and the trip cost me £200 in living expenses and gasoline for my vehicle - a drop in the ocean compared to some, I know. I bought two steel helmets for the sum total of £17.50. I wouldn't miss it for the world. It is mad, bad and can, as we have seen on other threads, be dangerous. I hate the facilities and aspects of the organisation. The dust this year wrecked my main use Nikon camera. More expense. But the friendships and experiences I've built up over the years are priceless. If I object to notions of profiteering and so on, I suspect it is because anyone would - especially in Britain. This argument will run and run. Business is business. A man once said: "It is what it is". I have no problem with discussing it on this forum - and keep it going. The power of our mutual association is our variety. We are not sheep. Go, or don't go. Relish the freedom of choice. MB

OK - I agree with Martin about caution. Lets be very careful, please, with this one and leave it to the authorities. It is my personal understanding that this incident has no connection of an official nature with Rolling Thunder who were hosts - planned or otherwise - of the helicopter, and not the authors of it's arrival or departure. We can all see that what happened was frightening to say the very least and the management of the Hop Farm, W & P, the police and the CAA and the helicopter's owner/operator are the people to address it. So there is little point, in my opinion, in trading comments on it or any other hypothetical situations which can only lead to unnecessary friction between members of this forum for no collective gain whatsoever.

That'll be a night to remember - but don't tell my mrs....she'll want to know where the lady has tethered her labrador.

I didn't think you'd been in the Bangkok Hilton.

I can confirm that knickers do not taste like chicken.

Thats one big beer keg for the War & Peace show!