M5Clive

What? And turn the heating on before the start of December?

Have you not seen the price of heating oil.......!

I don't want Amelia coming home and immediately becoming accustomed to a live of frivolous expenses - You haven't got a smaller fleece I could borrow as well have you?

I spoke to Adrian about this idea not six weeks ago and have also run the idea past Jack as a 'toe in the water' idea.

The principle has already been established in Ramsbury, Wiltshire and we proved that taking a column of WWII heavy armour into a village scenario and making a big noise commands a lot of attention and much admiration.........but you simply have to get the locals on side...........then all of a sudden doors simply open for you, instead of having to bash them down.

A location Adrian and I discussed is the Heritage Coast area of East Suffolk. Why? A sizeable amount of land over there is owned by a big collector of MV's and its historically significant to WWII British Armour - Adrian will be able to explain more on this front.

Of course it would need sponsorship and backing, but I raised about 11k to front Bolero and Keith (under my initial guidance and his Kennet Valley Area efforts) raised about 18K I think to front Route to Victory.

Its all possible. We can sit at home all day long and think of a hundred reasons why we couldn't, but actually you get a much greater buzz from achieving the unachievable.......Look how Jack keeps that truck of his on the road..........!

Must go - Got a date at the maternity ward this morning!

If your in Harleston, your just down the road from me.

We live in Brome, between Diss and Eye!

Welcome aboard!

Amelia Charlotte entered our wondeful world this afternoon at exactly 15.26, at Ipswich Hospital, Suffolk.

(Note she has inherited her fathers snappy dress style and colour co-ordination already!)

Due to a footling breech position, the delivery team deemed it unsafe for a natural delivery and therefore insisted on a C-Section. To my astonishment, I remained upright, breathing and lukewarm throughout the procedure and didn't end-up keeling-over! This photo above was taken about 5 minutes after the birth, even though I look like I have just baked 200 doughnuts!

Both mother and baby are doing fine and I'm feeling pretty excited too!

From a couple of very proud parents and an ecstatic 14 year old 'older sister' who's been waiting a long time for a soulmate and can't quite believe she's finally arrived!

I can relate to much of this having part restored my Stuart M5A1 over the past 9 years - Now featured in this months CMV magazine under the ownership of Phil Benham and shown at the Mons Tanks in Town event, with the nickname 'Happy Days!'

This M3A1 is truly an outstanding restoration and a total credit to its owner/restorer.

Undoubtedly a much admired piece of classic American War Metal.

First started helping to repaint a Saladin Armoured Car at Swindon TA Barracks (Royal Wiltshire Yeomanary) with my Dad in 1987/88 at 12 years old. (He was ex-RWY)

Bought my first GMC off of 'Deuceman' in 1993 at the grand age of 18, but didn't own a normal car until I was 23'ish! (Well I say normal, it was a Rover Metro!)

After that is was GMC 352 1/4 share, GMC 353 & Ben Hur, Dodge WC-51, GMC DUKW, GMC 352 with Set No. 7, M5A1 Stuart, Willys MB, Dodge WC-56, GMC 353 with Maxson AA, Chrysler Royal, GMC 353.

Sadly it was not financially viable to keep them all, so as one came, another invariably left. My old Dukw is now giving pleasure trips around Dublin's river Liffy and my old Stuart M5A1 is the subject of two photo's in this months CMV magazine at the Mons Tanks in Town event, now under the fine ownership of the Phil Benham Military Collection.

Time moves on. I look back and wish I could have kept them all, but I don't own an aircraft hangar! Its hard enough finding storage for three vehicles.

Brilliant front-piece article.

You just can't get that from a quarterly publication.

I well remember Richard Jefferies from the (then) Avon Area of the MVT chatting to me about his collection of Autocar vehicles and projects in the early 90's. It certainly isnt a secret as far as I'm aware, as its widely known he's owned them for many years.

I also remember a visit to Chris Goldings yard at Frampton Cottrell near Bristol in 1989 (to purchase a GMC oil filter!) where there was an International Harvester (similar design to the Autocar/Federal that we are discussing here) painted in desert tan colours. I do have a picture from that day - somewhere about! It was owned by Chris i believe, then another guy from that area with a big bushy beard. It was repainted green and turned up at one of the Castle Combe Circuit shows in either 1990 or 1991. I've never seen the vehicle since.

Richard and Jason Jefferies were both at 'Route to Victory' in May this year. Richard is more than approachable for any discussions about these types of vehicles, although I doubt he will want to part with much after all these years - especially with his son active in the hobbie with a tidy Diamond T 981 on the show circuit.

It was the tank drivers solid head protection in the form of the Frank Spencer berret that caused the confusion - "Ohhhhh Betty, someones just stood on my head!"

Morale was made even worse due to the fact that two days earlier, the 100th Bomb Group had already lost seven aircraft on a mission to the U-Boat pens at Bremen. Add this to the tally of lost aircraft on October 10th and it paints a very sobering picture.

I visited Thorpe Abbotts this morning just after 8am and sat on the original runway all by myself and thought about what had taken place 65 years earlier. Then this eveing I re-visited with the family in the Chrysler.

It was a day to remember.

Clive - next time you are down we will have to go and find the field....! Interestingly I can't find any mention of it on the list of plane crashes in Dorset - perhaps it isn't classed as a crash :???

One of my good friends is Stan Bishop, who lives locally to me and has written the two 'Bible' volumes on all the 8th & 9th USAAF crashes/incidents/write-off's that took place inthe Uk during WWII. What he doesn't know isn't worth knowing!

His interest was sparked (along with his brother Cliff Bishop - Author of 'Fortresses of the Big Triangle First' when as schoolboys, they would jump on their bicycles as soon as they heard the thrump of an aircraft crashing and race to the scene - often being the first to arrive and before the emergency services. You talk about shielding children today from things with health and safety...............What those children saw (along with countless others all across the Uk) would literally make your blood run cold.

I took both the Bishop brothers back to a B-24 & B-17 mid-air collision in rural Suffolk in July this year. Along with them came Bernard Forsdike from Ipswich, who some of you may remember from the visit to Leiston during Operation Bolero. They easily identified the exact spot where both aircraft ended-up, even disagreeing between them over a manner of 20 feet!

As we walked back to the Chrysler parked on the single track road, Cliff commented to Stan "Where Clive has parked the car was where they stacked the remains of the bodies-up and wrapped them in army blankets, Do you remember Stan?"

Just one crash (claiming the lives of 20 young American men) out of countless crashes, that was an everyday scenario throughout the skies and villages of East Anglia and the rest of the country for that matter. Did it effect those kids??? Well it certainly effected the Bishop brothers - so much so that they spent much of the subsequent peace-time years making efforts to memorialize what those guys went through during WWII and now both in their mid 70's, they are more active than ever in keeping the memory alive.

Three suffolk school-boys take a ride down memory lane - July 11th 2008

Stan Bishop reflect on his childhood memories of a suffolk field, 64 years previous.

Cliff Bishop deep in thought about that day, 64 years earlier

Stan Bishop picks-up a piece of twisted aluminium laying on the soil - The only reminded of the carnage that the field had witnessed decades before.

Another great set of pictures you've discovered Jack!

If you can wait until October 10th, I will try and do something along similar lines.

- bet he couldn't fix my GMC electrical problem though....:readpaper:

Flipping Heck Jack, he's a whiz with the PC - Not a dabbler in Black Magic!

I can clearly see I'm going to have to watch my back with such quality information as that Jack...................Do you want to take on the job of researcher for my next book project!?

Of note, the 384th Bomb Group were based at Grafton Underwood in Northants, and this was the airfield where the first B-17 Bombing Mission flown from England was undertaken from by Eighth Bomber Command on August 17th 1942 (or thereabouts.)

Interesting story Jack, particularly being so local to you.

That colour pic is absolutely excellent - there is enough material on this thread for a book in its own right!

I can see a trip up to Norfolk shortly to inspect this wagon-train NOS........! I'm really excited about this project - It really is going to be something truly unique - All credit to you for taking it on and to the contributors of this thread that have provided such a wealth of information.

Look what I stumbled across boys when I was watching a video of the B-17 flight at Bentwaters in July.

Its original colour archive film of the 78th Fighter Group at Duxford in WWII, but stick with in and see what vehicles make an appearance at the end - especially at time 5.48.

This truly is amazingly rare film. Not only is it obvious that is it Duxford, easily recognised by the hangars, some of which still remain today, but how often do USAAF Military vehicles ever feature (in any great numbers) on WWII colour film footage.

I would love to get hold of the original film, get it tidied-up, digitally enhanced and be able to see all the unit markings that are stencilled onto the vehicle bumpers. Interesting to see that all the Dodge Weapons Carriers and Command Car's are the non-winch varieties, something I have long believed to be true, as I have yet to see any photographs taken on 8th AF bases showing Command Car's with winches, which is why when I was looking for a Command Car, I made sure mine was the WC-56 - shown below!

http://www.vimeo.com/1712518

Great Pictures Jack.

Look at the Studenbaker Corp. stencilling on the wooden boxes that the radial engines are sat upon and also the MP in Enlisted mans overcoat patrolling the grounds (maybe for the camera!)

Do we know where exactly this scenario was happening? A similiar scenario happen just a handful of miles from here with a B-17 of the 91st Bomb Group. This event was captured in full colour and the pictures appeared in the 'Popular Science' magazine in the US shortly afterwards.

Flipping Brilliant!

You can see why they wont let photographs stand-up in court as evidence can't you!

"No Constable, I certainly wasn't driving a tractor in Norfolk on Sunday afternoon when the aircraft took off!"

Most definitely not!

The aircraft was destroyed on August 13th 1944 with 2nd Lt. Myer Winkleman at the controls over France.

He was assigned to the 339th Fighter Group, 504th Fighter Squadron, Eighth Air Force, flying bomber escort and fighter duties out of Fowlmere airfield in Cambridgeshire. (This airfield is literally a couple of miles due West of Duxford airfield - which was then assigned to the USAAF Fighter Command's 78th Fighter Group.)

Maurice purchased the wreckage over four years ago and set about restoring the aircraft to its former glory. That said, very very little of the aircraft is from that original airframe - probably less that 5%. He has however painted the aircraft to exactly represent the aircraft that Lt. Winkleman was flying that day - P-51 D Marinell.

None the less, it looks just like is has rolled-off the Inglewood, California production line, been shipped to the UK and just been assigned its unit identities and paintwork!

The link below takes you to a good video of the first flight on July 26th. Stick with it, because their is some good informative commentary towards the end. If nothing else, it will bring back good memories for those that attended Operation Bolero in 2006. (If you are quick, you can just see our Bolero Banner displayed in the hangar on the film)

Thats looks simply excellent - Its threads like this that make HMVF the site it is.

Who would ever have thought that an article about converting a Jeep to Flying Control would create such an interest!

About 18 months ago, we had a good thread on here about what clutter we keep in our sheds and as I was at the time (and currently still am) 'shed-less' - I posted a couple of pictures of my neighbours shed, not 1/2 a mile down the road revealing its rather unusual contents - see pictures below......

Well time quickly marched on to October/November last year when Maurice Hammond emptied his shed and transferred its contents to his airstrip at Hardwick in Norfolk, where I took the pictures below......

The official unveiling of the fuselage of P-51 D 'Marinell.'

Suzanne looks into the engine bay.

P-51 D 'Janie' looks down her nose at her new sister!

Racing forward to July 26th this year, P-51 D 'Marinell' took to the skies again for the very first time since August 1944 with Maurice Hammond at the controls of his latest marvel of flight! Now fully certificated by the CAA, I was invited to Hardwick on Sunday to watch him fly the aircraft which has literally just a hand-full hours on the clock. It was indeed a sight to behold and made for some good photographs with my 300mm Nikkon lense.

Kicking-up more dust that a Norfolk harvest!

Lift-off 1944 style! Shame about the Ferguson in the field!

'Off we go into the wild blue yonder!'

Ain't she pretty! MB provided by Kevin Pariette of Brantham, Essex.

You didn't seriously expect me to miss the photo opportunity now did you?

Enjoy and look-out for Marinell coming to an air-display near you!

Pretty Good from all accounts.

It wasn't too long or too controversial and everybody clapped at the end!

Ed warmed the crowd-up considerably with his speech beforehand, so I had it easy!

What do you mean normal? I could seriously take offense - or a gate!

What about this nice little number...........

Or this.................

The trouble is in our house is that you go to wear something and find someone else has already bleeding taken it!

Ike (assisted by Eleanor) dresses for the cooler weather - September 2008!

Some pictures from the Victory show.....

 

I can see why we let Jack drive his truck at events and not give him the position of event photographer - Not one of those pictures was in focus!

Quit the red wine old boy!

Unfortunately, because we are still not fully moved back into our house (having vacated it on April 12th this year for a virtual complete rebuild) I am unable to access all of my archive photographs that should really accompany the account of September 6th's mission for the 91st Bombardment Group.

Therefore, in the interests of not letting the Anniversary of the date slip-by, I chose to write the account none the less, but include some contemporary photographs to accompany it - rather than the archive ones, showing all the crew, the aircraft and the photograph taken by the Bexhill-on-Sea Observer newspaper back in 1943.

I hope you still feel the story worthy of inclusion, even without the crew pictures.

Whenever I'm having a bad day at work, I think back to the plight that the crew of 'Mizpah II' found themselves in 65 years ago and realise that my problems of the day seem pretty insignificant!