andreadavide

I was going to suggest the same source. Some pictures are really sad.... Andrea

It's not the JW, it's the Mormons who believe that salvation can be obtained for each of your ancestors. They are doing a terrific job of digitising all the genealogic informations in public and church records in many countries. Regardless of the religious purpose, their work is made with strict scientific and archivistic criteria that has led even some Roman Catholic dioceses to allow them to reproduce the Parishes' historic archives. All this is done for free, too. Andrea

There are so many of them still here. Especially Mussolini's quotes are abundant and in some times even restored. The most famous was "Credere. Obbedire. Combattere" (Believe, obey, fight). Andrea

Not striclty military, but the Green goddesses lasted quite some time. On a different note, many of the trolleycars in Milan are in service since 1928... Andrea

I have just read that the Rev Leslie Hardman passed away on October 7. He was the British Army Jewish Chaplain who was present at the liberation of the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen. Andrea

1987, I was given a Munga and a special driving license... I used to make the fuel mix with the used oil from ambulances (petrol ones, changed every three months) filtered. Lots of blue smoke, usually with people telling me that I had a ring or valvles problem. Then I explained that the car was two strokes... Two years after I was given a Guzzi Nuovo Falcone, but when I was caught surfing on the petrol tank on the parade ground they wanted my license back. Anyway I had just got my commission and I had a driver.... Then in 1999 I got FOC a wonderful UAZ469B but, having had a sudden beer tokens scarcity I had to give it away. Now I have three Land Rovers, one ex-MOD and one ex-NATO, the remaining one is a DiscoII for the family.

IIRC just the engine was made by Ducati, the remaining part were made or acquired by the Swiss maker. Answering ro Britaxcooper: all of them survived their military service. The Swiss army is really Swiss in its care for equipment... Andrea

There has never been (and never will be) any sense of logic in an Army, when cheap labour (i.e. conscription) i available. Here in Italy until the end of National service all the barracks had impressive surveillance services with sentries doing 24/7 armed surveillance. It has been calculated that at any given moment there were at leas 10,000 soldiers with a rifle in their hands defending the barracks. Now we are more or les ata war, but since a few years thare are only professional soldiers... barracks have CCTV surveillance. Using soldiers for their skills was another funny issues. Usually cooks were sent to the vehicle repair dept and mechanics to the kitchen... Andrea

where did you get the Condor? I am after the engine of one for my 350 Scrambler. Andrea

Best solution is a mix of marble powder, soap powder and pepper powder. They smell pepper, then sneeze. By doing this they loose equilibrium and slip over the soap powder. Hit with head the marble powder and die.... 8-) Andrea

Uh... and I forgot that IVECO now owns Santana. They are still making a Series Nth Land Rover..... Leafsprung part time 4x4... Andrea

IVECO stands for Industrial Vehicles Corporation and is formed of Magirus Deutz (Germany) Unic (France) FIAT, OM, Lancia Veicoli speciali (Italia) All owned by FIAT Andrea

It was Corporal “Radar” Walter O’Reilly who sent a Jeep back home from Korea using the U.S: Mail. Andrea Sometimes M.A.S.H. anorak.... (maybe because I'm in the Medical Corp?)

Imagine us Italians fighting three wars in one: 1940-1943 With the Germans and Japanes against The Rest Of The World 1943-1945 Southern Italy pretending to fight together with The Rest Of The World against the Germans 1943-1945 Northern Italy pretending to fight together with the Germans against The Rest Of The World... Andrea

Perhaps she provided also this German gardener: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/21/a2120121.shtml 8-) Andrea

Ciao Stefano, Next time I'll cross the Cisa Pass, time allowing, I'll come to meet you (I'm in Pisa). Andrea

I cannot but agree 100% with Stefano, having started my service in the Italian Army at the end of the Nuovo Falcone era. The Falcone wasn't that bad, with a few tricks and modifications we used it for "acrobatic figures" due to its stability, while the V7 was really monumental (see this one of the guard of honour of the Presidente, don't be fooled by the Corazzieri, they are selected among the Carabinieri and must be taller than 2 metres, this is why the bikes look small) however it's mighty heavy and when I was in the process of buying one from an ex military motorbikes dealer he let me try to raise one fallen on its side. A nearly impossilbe task for me (1.60 metres). There are a few V50 from the Dutch army around that are modern enough to be enjoyed. Andrea

We have the same in Italy (it's a n-European thing, please hurry up in asking for a referendum, here we cannot) only thing is that if you had a "lorry driving license" the certificate was issued automatically, but you had to apply. New drivers need to attend courses. Andrea

I am fluent in Italian, if this may be of some help sometimes.... Andrea

I suspect that the card was filled a few years after the DIS. If you look at the tiny printing at the bottom of the card you may see the "part number" code for the card and the batch print date. The card itself seems to have been printed in February 1968. I suspect that the card was a transcript from a previous one, therefore, after all, maybe the vehicle was used between 1963 and 1967, just they omitted to copy all the previous passages on the card. July 1963 may have been the contract date. I can be assured about this because Land Rover Traceability sent me a reproduction of the factory records. My vehicle is the last one, built in September 1963 and sent to CVD Marchington Who did use the vehicle before 101 Provost Company RMP BAOR will remain a mistery.... Andrea

Well, sometimes here we get a Brit one.... http://corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it/campania/cronache/articoli/2008/09_Settembre/09/bomba_salerno.shtml Andrea

Here is a nice souvenir from the Brazilian Forces in Italy. It's inside the hall of an ancient palace in Italia Street, Pisa: Andrea

Just received from the RLC Museum the card of my Land Rover, but now I have to understand its meaning. My land rover was built "on or about 13th September 1963" , then, after four years she started service with the 101 Provost company RMP, then a few BVD (whatever this means) before being sent to Belgium and finally disposed. Could anyone be so kind to explain the meaning of the abbreviations? The vehicle was "class 2" from 7/67 to 7/69, what does this mean? Finally, It seems that 67EK91 was used for just five years, and this may explain why she has never been repainted while in service..... Andrea

My 109" is called "The Scoutmobile" because is usually infested by a Scout troop. Name for the 88" is still to be decided. The Civilian Discovery Series II is called "culona" that, translated from Italian, would sound "Big arsed lady" Andrea

One grand-grandfather, born in 1887, was a sergeant in the Alpini (Italian mountain corps) during the first world war. His unit was on the Carso, where mass attacks were quite common. Usefulness and results close to nil. Just thousands of soldiers mowed by machine guns and shrapnels and no advance. Then the Regio Esercito established an "autocentro", a cenrtal vehicle depot and manteinance unit back from the front in Padua, and started collecting the very few exhisting at that time drivers and mechanics from the various units and corps. My grand-dranddad was one of those. He used to tell that is commandant wasn't happy with him leaving the unit, but in the end agreed that he could have been more useful with a spanner than with a rifle. My grand-grand father was the only survivor of his unit. In WW II he was too old for the regula army so he joined with his old rank (he had been promoted to warrant officier) the Anti Aircraft Milizia. I don't know if he was able to down any allied plane but he came back home again in one piece. No medals this time because the Milizia was an organisation of the Fascist Party and after the war this was a bit unpopular. As soon as I get the records with all the correct dates I'll post about my grandfather who managed to spend WWII in three different armies.... Andrea