M5Clive

Convoy Participants booked in as of July 1st 2011 Dave Griffin (Essex) - Diamond T 981 Grey Radley (Essex) - White M3 Half Track Dave Wright (Suffolk) - Dodge WC-62 Jimmy Snowling (Suffolk) - Dodge WC-51 Dan Snowling (Suffolk) - GMC 352 Peter Snowling (Suffolk) - Dodge Carryall Roy Baker (Suffolk) - Autocar U7144T - Follow the restoration thread on HMVF. Tony Butt (Suffolk) - Dodge WC-63 Jerry Hill (Suffolk) - Morris Commercial Kevin Goodwin (Suffolk) - Bedford QL (GS) Andy Dickinson & crew (Shropshire) - Harley Davidson WLA x 2 Brian Slingsby (Yorkshire) - Willys MB Lindsey Smith (Suffolk) - Willys MB Howard Wade (Suffolk) - Dodge Carryall Me (Suffolk) - GMC 353 'Sticky Six' Me (Suffolk) - GMC 353 Me (Suffolk) - 41 Chrysler Staff Car Kevin Gant (Suffolk) - GMC 353 Tony Goff (Suffolk) - GMC 353 (Engine rebuild now completed!) / Clarket Malcolm Holland (Wiltshire) - WC-51 Kevin Taylor (Wiltshire) - Willys MB Jack Beckett (Dorset) - 1997 3 Man pup tent with mahogany poles & winter lashing straps Joris (Mod) (Netherlands) - 1974 Millets 4 man bivouac tent with extended porch awning, and stainless steel pegs Hugh Saunders (Norfolk) - GMC 353 Eric Hemmings (Essex) - Ford GPW Eric Elmer (Essex) - Willys MB & Trailer Richard Taylor (Suffolk) - GMC 353 / Dodge Ambulance Wyn Davies (Clwyd) - GMC 353 Wyn Davies Mate (Clwyd) - GMC 353 Wyn Davies Mate (Clwyd) - Dodge WC-52 Mick & Gaynor Bavin (Bedfordshire) - GMC 353 Nick Pennistan (Lincs) - Cushman Package Kar and Cushman 53 Mike Davies (Essex) - White M3 Half Track Richard (Cubed) Rixon (Hampshire) - GMC 352 (Will the little-ends have stopped knocking?) and 105 Howitzer Bill Bourne (Suffolk) - GMC 353 DUKW Rick Salmon (Suffolk) - GMC 353 Derek Estlea (Suffolk) - Willys MB Beans Means (David) Hines (Norfolk) - Willys MB Tom Watts (Suffolk) - GMC 353 Paul Hopwood (Shropshire) - Willys MB Bodge Deep (Cumbria) - Ford GPW Sarah Bond (Norfolk) - Willys MB D Fulton (Norfolk) - Willys MB Malcolm Weale (Norfolk) - Ford GPW Simon Roberts (Yorks) - Willys MB Steve Dobson (Yorks) - Willys MB Fred Astbury (London) - Ford GPW Dave Austin (Suffolk) - GMC 353 Tom Abbott (Essex) - WIllys MB Ed Abbott (Essex) - Matchless GL3 Alan Roper (Suffolk) - WC-56 Doug Brown (Suffolk) - GMC 353

Sounds like 'Our Little Friends' at Hardwick in a couple of weeks will be its debut event Tony!

Hi Tom The dance tickets are £12.00 each. Tell me how many you want and i'll settle up with you at the Suffolk Area meeting next month. No problems running back to Hardwick in convoy. Had a meeting with Ed yesterday to work out the best route and via Bacton and Finningham looks favorite, arriving down Woolpit hill into Rattlesden and weaving our way through the village and up to the aerodrome past the memorial.

You will remember in 2007 Suzanne and I came up with the simple design for a Operation Bolero T-Shirt - See below! (This was the very limited edition one including the date!!!) Now I thought it might be nice to do another 'exclusive design' that you can wow your friends with at Beltring the following week and let them know you belong to an 'exclusive club!' If you want an 'Our Little Friends' T-shirt, please reply on this thread stating how many you want and the sizes you want. Last time we had small, medium, large, XL, and Pavarotti ! From memory they were about £10 in 2007 but we did have a shed-load printed as the lottery money cushioned the blow. This time I'm stumping up the funds, so we wont be quite so foot-loose with the quantity being ordered. I'm guessing they will be around £12 - £14 dependent on numbers printed. The more we buy, the cheaper they'll be.

Sorry Tony - Over two months later and i've just noticed your comment - Very good! Reminds me of the sketch in Dads Army where Private Godfrey comes into the Church Hall with his rubber ring that the doctor has recommended and he is complaining that nobody wraps things up any more. As Corporal Jones says "They could have put a bit of paper around it Mr. Godfrey - its a disgrace that you should have to walk down the street carrying that!"

Hi Tom! Glad you got here in the end..........Its a long way from darkest deepest Rattlesden! Of course anyone going on the 'Our Little Friends' convoy weekend in a few weeks time will get well acquainted with Rattlesden airfield as the convoy will be visiting there on Saturday 16th July. BTW, don't forget to mention your debut into the film business last weekend......he he

WARNING - Only to be read and digested if your not planning on going out for the evening! To all event participants (and one or two fence sitters!) Well despite very little feedback from myself in recent weeks (GMC restorations and work keep getting in the way of things) I am pleased to announce that the event planning is going very much to schedule. From the many phone calls, e-mails and chit-chat at recent shows, it seems that other than a couple of far-flung enthusiastic attendees, the vast majority of people will arrive on Friday 15th - Which suits me well. If their is enough interest and sufficient numbers have arrived by lunchtime, we can easily run a couple of Jimmy's on a route to visit some of the local WWII USAAF crash sites in the locality if anyone is up for that. Of course much will depend upon the weather and also whether people have got their encampments all set-up suitably. Ultimately, the day can be whatever people want it to be - A lazy afternoon with light hearted banta or simply help Jack fix the alternator on his car..............He's already gearing up for the trip cos he's bought another car especially!! (Don't tell him I said anything though.) Friday evening will be a full-on presentation in the warbird hangar, detailing the history of the USAAF in the East Anglia, using archive photographs, original 8mm colour movie film and veterans interviews. A coffee bar will be available. If you have a passion for what the weekend event is all about and what it represents historically, don't miss this one - It has taken me literally hours and hours and hours to put this presentation together, which is why I haven't been on HMVF much. Saturday morning the convoy (which by my calculation will be approx. 50 vehicles including people who will just turn up on the day unannounced) will depart Topcroft at approx 9.00am. I have a meeting with Ed Abbott tomorrow to review the finer details of the convoy and exact route, which will be published beforehand for those wanting to watch us trundle past. We will motor from South Norfolk to South Suffolk (approx. 35 miles of picturesque country roads) to participate and somewhat dominate the 447th Bomb Group reunion at Rattlesden Airfield. Rattlesden Airfield is owned by a longstanding Suffolk MVT member and we will be assured an extremely warm welcome. Also a few local MV vehicle owners who are too tight to participate in the vehicle convoy will also join us at Rattlesden, swelling the ranks of Allied war metal even further. (If we behave ourselves, one or two have said they 'might' convoy back with us a few miles when we leave in the afternoon.............last of the big spenders............!! Whilst at Rattlesden, you will have the opportunity to chat with the Veterans of the 447th BG (Heavy) and hear the stories of their combat missions flown from Suffolk soil. Also look around the many displays and many original buildings still surviving and watch the Glider Club activities. We will return to Topcroft (Hardwick) in good time to allow participants to unwind a little after a heavy day behind the wheel and to allow time for a change of clothes before the evening bash. The Wartime Hangar Dance (kicking off at 19.30) is admission by ticket. We have had 500 printed and it looks like we are going to need some more! The tickets are £12.00 each and Maurice Hammond has politely requested that all adult participants at the weekend event buy a ticket as a means of supporting the charitable cause behind the weekend. I have so far received ticket orders from many of you and have dispatched many tickets by post. I am trusting that this situation will meet with your approval and you will enter into the spirit of the things. Having watched the Big Band perform a couple of weeks ago at Maurice Hammond's wedding anniversary bash, I don't think you'll be disappointed with either the quality or the sound of the performers. And if (like me) your not really into dancing, you'll be in good company, because I would estimate that half the people going are there for the atmosphere and not to dance, but of course plenty of people will (and can) dance. Your are very welcome to dress appropriately in 1940's garb, but it is not mandatory. It is my intention at about 20.30 hours (for those that want to participate) to quietly sneak our vehicles out the back entrance of the airfield around dusk and to form up a convoy off site. (We are going to have a one-way system in operation for the evening) I will then telephone Maurice to tell him we are in position and he will have an announcement made over the PA that a Supply Convoy is due through shortly and that all music must stop. As everyone gathers outside, we will appear in the distance with headlights on and approach the event at suitable speed and drive straight through without stopping. If it all goes to plan, it should work out magic and give all concerned a real buzz. We will then loop-around and return to the Dance and form up our vehicles in echelon alongside the aircraft right outside the hangar and dance. I know some of you will want to drink and that is why participation in the twilight supply convoy is entirely optional. (It will only however involve driving approx. 3 miles in total) Sunday will be primarily a static display with WWII aircraft coming in and out of the field during the day, but I rather get the impression that their will be so many cars of the general to park-up, that it will not be easy for us to move around very much. That said, if the Supply Convoy spectacle works really well on the Saturday night, their is no reason why we cannot do it again during the open day on the Sunday, providing their is sufficient access for the big vehicles. A case of suck it and see on the day, but primarily Sunday will be a lazy day for participants. You will be free to go Sunday afternoon at whatever time suits you best depending on the distance you need to travel. For those who want to stay on until Monday, this will not be a problem as long as I am advised accordingly. Sticky Wickets As far as I see it, we have a couple of issue's that may compromise the weekends events and I want to let you know about these before hand. Firstly, let me make it totally clear how the organisation of this event is being funded, because that will allow you to draw your own conclusions and opinions as to how you feel about the sticking points. Well to be blunt, the event isn't being funded at all and neither Suffolk MVT or the MVT Council of Management have put up any funds. Why you ask yourself? Well, I haven't asked anybody! Although I am treasurer of Suffolk MVT this isn't an event that is open to all members vehicles (due to the age eligibility to attend) and therefore I did not feel comfortable asking for funding under these conditions, esp. from the CoM who I know would certainly have frowned at such restrictions. Therefore, it was a lot easier just to fund the odds and sods out of my own pocket in the hope that we can keep expenses to a minimum and all have a fun weekend, which is ultimately what the event is all about. Having taken that on board, I must also stress again that this is a charity event and that all proceeds from the dance and the Sunday Open Day will go directly towards this cause. It is no secret that Maurice Hammond's wife Diane had a bad run-in with Cancer a few years ago, and although fit again now, it was this family situation that ultimately focussed his interest in the Cancer fund raising, which both myself and Ed Abbott also fully endorse. Through the good nature of the land owners at Topcroft and the good relations both Maurice Hammond and myself have with the Woodrow family, we have been able to organise this event without having to pay any fee to use the site. Maurice Hammond has also personally paid for the toilet hire for the weekend out of his own pocket and extended the hire to include Friday solely for our benefit. Now in my opinion, the one thing that lets the event down is the poor site we have for our camping and this has been playing on my mind constantly, but I honestly cannot think of better solution. Space at Airfield farm in mid July is limited. If the event was after the harvest it would be different altogether, but it isn't. Therefore, we are camping on an area of set-aside up against a tree line, with the pig sheds behind the trees. (I can't glam this up however I try, so I'm just telling you like it is!) Yes, its a compromise. If we travelled a few miles off-site we could probably get a nicely cut meadow, but certainly not without charge and then we would have the hassle of 'commuting' on and off site all weekend. I happen to think that being camped in the thick of it, where we can hear the Merlin engines running-up when we are in our tents and being just a few minutes walk from the dance in the evening on a site which we are not having to pay for out-weights the shortcomings of the facilities. I am hoping that this decision is a correct one and that you will make allowances based upon the above details. The other consideration you guys need to take onboard is food. We are really out in the sticks at Topcroft (nearest civilisation is approx. 5 miles away at Harleston) so you need to make adequate food provision for your stay. BBQ's will be allowed (within reason) but at this stage, I don't envisage food being available on site for purchase. Just something you need to be aware of so that you can prepare accordingly. We do plan to have some form of hot food available for purchase at Rattlesden on the Saturday, either a BBQ, chip van etc. We are also going to try and have a small fuel supply available on-site for those that need to purchase fuel prior to the Saturday convoy. In an ideal world, you will all be splendidly well organised and be ready at 09.00am on Saturday with your tanks brimming, but having organised these type of events since 1990, I know this not to be the case. But it would help us greatly if you could be self sufficient prior to departure. Convoy route maps and drivers notes will be issued beforehand on Friday evening at the talk in the hangar. And finally. For those of you that came on Operation Bolero in 2007 (Four years ago can you believe it!) I had successfully landed a £10k lottery grant to stage the event. This time we have virtually nothing other than a lot of good will. This is why I have purposely not promoted this event at Bolero 2, although that will come in due course and with a lot more paperwork and forward planning and a date more that one weekend away from Beltring! I have to say, I have been somewhat taken-aback with the high level of interest in this new event, especially considering its close proximity to Beltring and I never envisaged more than about 25 vehicles, let alone participants supporting the event from North Wales, Yorkshire, Hampshire, Surrey etc etc. We will do our upmost level best from this end to ensure that your faith in us as organisers has not been misplaced and that you go home wanted to come back again at a later date to support a future event. Its all about having a lot of fun with like-minded people, learning a bit about history and also and more importantly paying our respects to the memory of the men and women who had to do it for real. Its only a few weeks away now - I'm excited and it should be a blast. Tell me if I've forgotten anything and call me if you have concerns - 07799 476169

I can see that i am going to have to bring this topic back on line by announcing something radical............. Dave, Jack has offered to pay your fuel expenses for the weekend.......I did say radical ! Update due imminently on the event BTW.

When Dad first came up with the idea of our first 'Red Ball Express' heavy haulage MV Convoy in 1990 in Wiltshire, Chris Davies was exceptionally helpful with advice for the novice event organisers (ourselves) and also gave us much inside information on how we should approach and sell the event to Wiltshire Constabulary! I'm not even sure that he didn't write a letter to the local Traffic section giving us greater credibility in the eyes of the law that we were much more proficient at running convoys than we really were! As others have said, he did an awful lot for the MVT/MVCG and I have attended a number of COM meetings and AGM's over the years where he took a leading role. He was also a very nice guy and I remember around 1999, he would often pop around to Andy Jones (Windscreen Editor's) house in Whitely for a cup of coffee in his 'company transport,' which always used to make the neighbours curtains twitch! Much missed.

Spoke to one of our East Anglian resident GMC experts up here today (man and boy) and he say's its pretty unusual for a GMC to have little ends knocking....so keep your options open.

Surely you mean a three-way switch !

Not sure who you spoke to Chris but the information was incorrect. His daughter Leah (who also fly's the Harvard) had her baby probably 6 months ago now and the other daughter is not pregnant to my knowledge!! Moreso, I have never known the P-51's leave the stable unless the head-man is with them - He only allows two other pilots to fly them, Dave Evans (A CAA employee and good friend of Maurice and the former owner of Big Beautiful Doll, Rob Davies MBE.) When he buzzed mine on Sunday PM if was definitely him behind the stick! Why not come along to the 'Do' that Maurice and I are organising in July - Our Little Friends at Hardwick. Its right up your alley and NOS will be on hand with his GMC - providing the engine is in less pieces than it was when I was at his house this morning!

Nice pictures Chris. On Sunday afternoon we had just got back from a camping weekend away in the caravan when I heard the throb of merlin engines in the distance. Maurice's two 51's came over from the South West heading back to his strip in Norfolk and as they overflew Eye airfield, Maurice peeled off in Marinell and came down low to buzz his (and our) house. We all stood out in the garden and as he screeched across at low level, he put the aircraft on its side and waggled his wings as he over flew our chimney pot. A great end to a good weekend!

They are back home now. I got a text to say they were 10 minutes away from buzzing Ramsbury airfield at midday after a 1 hour 20 minute crossing from The D-Day Beaches to Kemble in Glos. They hit low cloud around Andover and he said the last part of the flight from the Hampshire/Wiltshire Border up to Ramsbury and back to Kemble was pretty lumpy and poor visibility. But what a trip eh ? No doubt a full report will appear somewhere along with some photographs in the fullness of time.

Just spoke to Neil from his hotel room in Caen - Its 23.00 here in Suffolk. What an amazing day he has had........... Took off from Kemble in the resident 9th Troop Carrier Command, 439th Troop Carrier Group veteran C-47 and flew direct to Upottery, Devon - where the aircraft was based in 1944 and from where it flew the original D-Day mission. From Upottery, along the coast (passing Jack's stable) over Dorchester to Poole Harbour and across Swanage Bay. They wanted to fly from Portland Bill (but apparently it was restricted airspace), so across the channel following Neil's original D-Day Mission map donated to him by a Navigator Veteran in the 437th TCG. They slowed down to 85 knots at the drop zone to observe the location of where the Parartroopers jumped back in June 44, and then returned to normal operational power settings and proceeded to buzz St Mere Eglise a number of times before flying the length of the beaches, performing a tribute flypast over the US Cemetery at Coleville and onto Pegasus Bridge. After buzzing the bridge a number of times they flew up to Orne Canal and landed in at Caen. Later in the day they took off again for an air to air sortie with a Uk based Spitfire and then a full 20 minute display over Arromanches, which he describes as absolutely breath-taking and almost total stomach emptying! He has been taking HD video of the trip and has uploaded some of todays flying onto his Facebook page (Neil Stevens Newark, Notts) but i'm not sure if just anyone can view it. That said, it will be available in the fullness of time on his YouTube homepage no doubt. Am I jealous? - You Bet, but I can think of no-one who has done more to perpetuate the memory of the men of 9th Troop Carrier Command whilst stationed in England during WWII that him, so I do genuinely think that this trip of an absolute lifetime is a worthy reward for countless years of time and effort, an awful lot of which has been done firmly out of the limelight where others have basked. As he said to me this evening on the phone "I wasn't alone in the aircraft today when we flew over the cemetery at Coleville" and I know he wasn't referring to the flight crew. More displays and parades to buzz tomorrow morning then back home in the afternoon breaking land at Southampton and North to (hopefully Ramsbury Airfield 7 miles due East of Marlborough, Wilts to perform their own tribute to the men of the 437th Troop Carrier Group) and then back into Kemble. Sadly due to the economic climate the owner has decided to sell the aircraft this summer and it is imaged that it will sell overseas in the US, so this is one of the very last trips the aircraft will do before leaving the European theatre. But what a way to go out.................

This thread has really got me giggling out loud..................Some great comments!

A couple of points to consider from me - for what its worth! An MVT National Show based right on the South Coast is nowhere near central for the rest of the country and as a result, is inevitably going to suffer in attendee numbers. Considering the astronomical costs of fueling our wagons (I never take my Jimmy's into a petrol station forecourt for less than a £50.00 fill, which for many typical MV enthusiasts represents a noticeable chunk of their weekly income), traveling 150 mile+ around-trip to attend the shows like we used to on Southsea Common back in the 80's and 90's is now for many people, cost prohibitive. Sadly, when an event suffers bad weather (which is nobody's fault) over consecutive years which results in attendee's leaving early and empty rally fields, the shows (wherever they are) gain a reputation for A) miserable weather and B) poor attendance - and this ultimately effects the level of vehicle entree's at future shows. On a personal note, the advertising for the 'Trucks & Troops' shows doesn't actually really appeal to me to drive my WWII trucks the 400 mile around trip to attend the event (with or without an MV), choosing to support events much closer to home and this I think, is a sign of the times. As I have said before, static shows do little for me, although I notice from the above comments that the highlight of the event from at least one person was the convoy. Interestingly enough, convoy events are what I have chosen to specialise in when it comes to organising events and I think they offer the entrant a different level of participation rather than just a static show. The fact that many MVT events are now publicised as 'including road run' indicates the keen interest their is for MV convoys - something I realised in 1991 when we organised our first 'Red Ball Express' bash in Wiltshire. I also think that leaving a sensible gap between shows also improves attendance. I have been totally taken aback with the level of interest in the 'Our Little Friends Wartime Weekend' we are putting together in July up here on the Eastern fringe of the country. With the show taking place the weekend before Beltring, I never expected it to attract the level of interest that it has, but then it was 2007 when we did the last WWII convoy (Operation Bolero) here in Suffolk - Time Flies. I think the success of an event is all about listening to what people want and reacting to there input. I have been critical of myself over certain decision that were made about Bolero in 2007, and as the co-organiser, I have to take these points on board, listen to peoples constructive criticism and try and improve on things for subsequent events. Whenever I plan an event, I put myself behind the wheel of a GMC on a Friday night and I am arriving at the show in the rain. I have been on the road for a few hours, the kids are complaining and I just want everything I need upon arrival to be on-hand. As a show organiser you can't help the weather, but you can make provision for it. Every person that books into a show that has my name at the top is demonstrating a leap of faith in both their time commitment and their wallet - The last thing I want to do is let those people who have put their trust in me down and I wont rest until I consider that I have done everything I can to make their participation in the event wholly worthwhile. This can only be achieved by being motivation by passion. If an event organiser is motivated in other areas, this will effect the overall result of the show. Just for the record, I have never been to the MVT National 'Truck and Troops' show so I cannot pass any judgement myself on either the event or the organising committee. My comments above are just my humble opinion on event organising in general and do not reflect on the MVT per say or their National Show(s). That said, I know my parents went to one of the first Beaulie MVT shows and had a thoroughly enjoyable time over the course of the weekend!

Yes but you don't just dream - you spend!

All GMC CCKW trucks have the ability to double-up the front wheels for increased traction in difficult driving conditions, and they do look very impressive when the extra front wheels are fitted, but I imagine the steering is pretty heavy also!

http://www.milweb.net/webverts/57548/ Where do these people actually dream up such ideas and prices? I bought one of the finest GMC's I've owned (and I've had 11 over the years) back in March for around 1/3 of the price this guy is asking and it came with a new set of the correct tires, a new canvas and almost enough spares in the back to build another, and these were not via 'separate negotiation' either. Mind you, in fairness, I didn't have two telegraph poles strapped to the side and some Austin Maxi velour seats................which probably makes all the difference! That said, if he gets nearly 17k for "a unique opportunity to aquire probably one of the finest G.M.C.s currently available" then all credit to him and who am I to pass judgement? Picture included however to show what can be purchased in recent weeks for a realistic price, but it is certainly not 'currently available!' Sticky Six is unloaded upon arrival in East Anglia - Easter 2011

What is very often not documented is that after returning The Belle to the States and doing the War Bond Tour, Robert Morgan was re-assigned/volunteered to fly B-29 Super Fortresses' in the Pacific Theatre. When I met him again in 1997, he was alongside The Queen and Charlton Heston in the rain and unveiling the new American Air Museum at Duxford. He had aged in four years quite noticeably, and interestingly, was wearing both an 8th AF patch and a 20th AF patch on the Class A uniform he was wearing - He was proud of his service with the Eighth AF in England but equally proud of his service in the Pacific.

Just had a looky and as you say, it clearly says the crew flew 29 missions. I can only assume that some of these raids were not credited to the crew (aborts) because in early 1943, crews were still only required to do the magical 25. Somewhere I have all the daily load listings for the 91st for the duration of the war, but it takes an absolute age to cross reference all the material and then you find that different crew members flew different missions (and missed others), which makes things even more complicated ! Yes Robert Knight Morgan came back in 1993 (the entire surviving crew members came back when they were filming the documentary to accompany the 1989 film also) but I met up with him at a pub near Steeple Morden, near to Royston one Friday evening in May 1993. He was the guest of honour at a public showing of the original documentary in Hitchin town hall, and my brother and I met up with him and his wife prior to this engagement. It was a little bit (surreal) to sit in that packed out town hall watching the screen and all the famous shots showing him, co-pilot Jim Verenis and the rest of the crew in glorious 1943 colour film, and there he was in the same room sitting three seats away from me! I had just finished making a 1/48 scale model of the Belle and when we were in the pub, he signed the wing for me and also some of my 8th AF books. What a night! Sadly he died around 2002/2003 (from memory) in hospital in the US. He lived in Ashville, North Carolina and tripped up a kerb stone at the airport and when he fell, (again from memory) he paralyzed himself from the waste down and died in hospital as a result of his injuries. I do have some letters from him dating back to around 1992/93 and I had an open invitation from both him and Linda to visit them, but unfortunately on my epic US trip of 1993 (for a strapped 18 year old student) our schedules did not co-incide, and I didn't have sufficient funds to retrace my steps when they were back in residence. Another regret ! Whatever, thanks for rekindling some great memories on a dismal Wednesday night!

Wednesday 25th May (next week) We will be running a beaver tail unit (will take about 4.5 tons legally) from Suffolk, East Anglia to Leek in Staffordshire empty and returning the same day with a Military load. If anyone needs anything sensible transporting from the 'East to the West' that isn't going to involve going miles and miles out of our way, then send me a PM or respond on this thread and we can chew it over.

I suppose I'm going to have to spend all winter tarting both engines up now!

Seriously? I didn't know that and the pilot Robert Morgan never mentioned it when I met with him and his wife Linda in 1993 for the 50th Anniversary of their Combat Tour at Bassingbourn? I wonder how they ended up doing an additional 4 missions? I know that Lt. Red Cliburn pilot of 'The Bad Penny' was closest on the heels of 'The Belle' and somewhat controversially, felt he was being held back a little so that The Belle could be the first. William Wyler's film crew had been closely following The Belle, and its attractive Tony Starcer nose art and name made it a far better story in the eyes of Hollywood!