Jack

We have been capped on the amount of vehicles we can take to Weymouth - as the guys there are at max capacity (around 80 mvs). Some would rather drive on the Sunday and not join the Weymouth parade- Adrian in his M10 for example - so will be heading up Convoy 2 on the Sunday.

Ok folks, as promised here is the itinerary for the weekend - of course times may will change but this is the format. “Basecamp” is the village of Broadmayne in Dorset and we will be staying on the historic campsite of Camp D5. The trees are still covered with the names and markings of men from the USA who were waiting for D-Day. Camp D5 was one of many marshalling areas on the South Coast in preparation for OPERATION NEPTUNE, the Naval Invasion of the Normandy beaches on D-Day and part of the wider OPERATION OVERLORD, the battle for Normandy. These camps, also known as sausage camps because of their shape on maps, were chosen based upon certain requirements. Most obviously, they had to be a short distance from the embarkation points - at Camp D5, this was the ports of Weymouth and Portland, roughly 7 and 13 miles away. Wooded areas were often chosen as they provided concealment from aerial surveillance, which was important to keep the movement of men, vehicles and machinery in preparation for the Channel crossing as low-key as possible. The camps at Broadmayne and West Knighton, whilst made out of canvas tents in fields, were surrounded by trees, making them a good strategic choice. As with other marshalling areas, the US troops straightened, widened and improved the roads with tarmac to carry their vehicles. Evidence of this is still visible on Chalky Road just outside the village boundaries, where the original route of the road is visible between the trees. Hard standings and temporary Nissen huts were also put up to house vehicles and equipment, whilst the lower ranks lived in their canvas tents and the officers were billeted at Broadmayne House on Osmington Drove. These camps were erected along the sides of the existing roads, which were used to load and unload men and supplies and so were within easy reach of the troops. The roads themselves were closed for public traffic. The schedule for the weekend Please note, that times are approximate and can change if we have breakdowns or traffic issues. Friday 17th June 2016 Most of the vehicles will arrive at basecamp ready for the weekend. We will be taking a small amount of vehicles to the local school for educational purposes and for the children to ask the crews questions and to look at the historic vehicles. We will not know until the day what those vehicles will be as some crews will be ready for it and some will only have just arrived. An armored vehicle, Jeep and motorbike would be perfect. The aim is to be at the school for 11 am and we will be there for a maximum of one hour. We will then return to basecamp. The rest of the day will be booking in the vehicles and crews as they arrive. Friday night there will be a drivers and crew briefing from me and the team. The evening is free for people to relax in the village pub or around camp fires. Saturday 18th June 2016 10 am. Leave basecamp in full convoy and travel to the Tank Museum (12 miles) for 13:00 for the awaiting members of the public. The convoy will do a circuit of the show ring and commentary will be given by the Tank Museum. The whole tank and vehicle convoy will then park up so that members of the public can come and see the vehicles and talk with the crews. The Museum will be providing catering trailers/vans so that the crews can buy their lunch and coffee – refreshments. The crews will also have access to the museum so that they can have a look around. 15:00. We will then leave in full convoy and travel to the county town of Dorchester (12 miles) and plan to get there at 17:00 and to park up for the public to come and see the vehicles. 17:00. To lead the Dorchester Carnival procession in a full circuit of the town, the streets will be lined with people. 18:00. Once we have done the circuit we will say goodbye to the town and head back to basecamp (5 miles). That is the day’s convoys over. There will be a hog roast for all of those that are part of the event and press guys. 20:00. The villagers are holding a 40’s dance in the village hall. Those that want to, can attend. For the rest, the evening is free to do as they please, maintenance checks on their tanks and sit around the camp fires...sleep. Sunday 19th June 2016 The convoy will be split in two. Convoy 1, will be made up of a maximum of 10 tanks. Convoy 2 will be the remaining 30 vehicles, which will consist of armour – halftracks, Bren Gun Carriers, M20 scout cars and heavy and light vehicles – MAC No’s, GMC’s, Jeeps, Dodges, High Speed Tractors, Diamond T’s. Both convoys will have an accompanying numbers of motorbike outriders to marshal the traffic and get both convoys safely to their destination. Convoy 1 08:30. Convoy 1 will leave basecamp and travel to Weymouth (6 miles) to take part in the Weymouth’s Veterans Parade. We will marshal up in Littlemore’s carpark at 09:30 along with 80 other military vehicles from around the UK (we have to be there for this time as after 09:30 the Police shut off the roads to all traffic). There is a café there for breakfast, coffee etc. 11:00 am. All the 90 vehicles will leave the carpark together and form up on the main road. Once all the marching veterans and bands have finished, the whole convoy will then drive down and long Weymouth seafront (1 mile) which will be lined with thousands of flag waving people. We will give our nod/salute to the Mayor as we pass the VIP stand. We will then park up behind the Weymouth pavilion and wait for the crowds to disperse. 13:00. Our convoy of 10 tanks will leave and head towards the rendezvous point and meet up with Convoy 2 for lunch (we have yet to decide where that will be but we may be asked back into Dorchester town). 15:00. Both convoys head back to basecamp (6 miles) and that will then be the end of Armour and Embarkation 2016. Convoy 2 11:00. Will leave basecamp and travel to local pub (within 10 miles) for lunch and to await the arrival of Convoy 1 from Weymouth. We are limited on numbers as we have a lot of armour coming this year. There will be a cost to cover all the expenses - we are just awaiting some final figures as we are having to undertake some 'highway' maintenance to get you guys with the low loaders into basecamp efficiently and a stack of other costs, so please be prepared for upto £40/head to cover everything. The event, as you can imagine is over subscribed all ready and we haven't opened for bookings yet. It is primarily an armour event so once we know for sure what we have coming, then we can take some softskins too (mans trucks etc etc). If you are coming with armour or softskins, please be prepared to share' a sit or two with the press - looks like we will have a massive press presence this year. Jeep guys, would love to designate a Jeep and driver to some of the press teams - we would really appreciate any help with that, the same for the GMC drivers :-) More to come and any questions then please just ask!!! Kind regards, Jack!

Thanks Maurice :-)

:wow: Those vehicles would have to go very cheap to make these vehicles attractive. Any guesses on what the Sherman could make?

Maybe, they aren't aware of HMVF.......

Don't think you are being cynical Baz. It's crazy to be staging the biggest show of it's kind on the planet and have next to zero engagement with your customers. It's the quickest way to lose market share. Complacency, kills. There are enough great shows in the UK that would love to have you. If us Brits are finding it hard to understand the new charges and rules then spare a thought for our European cousins.....

CMV doesn't really have the circulation these days - so I hope their social media strategy is extensive :-)

100% agree. You should take all opportunities to get your 'message' out there. The event is only 6 months away, their first year at it - you need ALL the goodwill you can get. That said, there are other shows available.

Stunning work Rob.

Hi chums! Just a quick one to say sorry for the radio silence. All is good and we have been busy behind the scenes. Will post up the full schedule of what is happening at A&E 2016 within the next week :-) Cheers, Jack.

In theory no - as it's not and event for re-enactors but for armour. That said, they tend to have big barrels on the front of them.......... As always, there so much 'information' out there that it is a nightmare to even know what to start with regards to deacts. Last I was told was that the old spec deacts would have to be brought up to the new deacts spec - no moving parts.

I hope they get back to everyone with answers as it is important for everyone to have some clarity. Personally, I was amazed that someone took the show on.

Hi Al - no it its going to be at Broadmayne - D5 Marshalling Camp. Big Red 1 carvings are still on the trees............. http://broadmayne1944.wix.com/broadmayne1944#!broadmayne-d5/c1k5m

Hi chums! Just a shout out to every who attend A&E 2010 and 2012 with armoured vehicles. The reason being is that we would like to invite all the armour that attended previously back again for 2016. The issue is that I no longer have that intel as I didn't keep any of the paper work as I hadn't planned on doing it again. So, if you could spread the world then that would be great. If you came and have read this, could you add your name and what you brought last time. Sorry for the long winded message! Cheers, Jack.

Panther coming along nicely - some really great news to come from there and it's history. We were there last year (seems like yesterday) and you can see the report and pictures in the link below. The engine is due to go in soon so should see it driving next year - we will be covering that too: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/articles/panthers-progress-leicestershire-2014-mark-barnes.html

And some more :-)

Mark (Snapper) and I were back up to Wheatcrofts yesterday working on some projects and 'stuff' with Kevin and the collection. We have just partnered up with Kevin with regards to War History Online and there are some pretty amazing stories and content we are working on. Anyway, we went over to Donington Park where some of the collection is starting to be shown. With my major skills of a photographer and a smartphone - here are some bits and bobs of collection up there.. But first, it went like this........... Me - how many Shermans do you have Kev? Kevin - don't really know, if you included all the variants, I would say around 20... Me - k.

Oh, good call! Updated :-) Gary - stop being disruptive in class. Detention in the making.

We don't know................:whistle: - but it is an amazing story:D

I am so going to this. Booked tickets for Goodwood!

Thought this would make you laugh!!!

Chums, As you may know, HBO is making a mini series (Band of Brothers style) on the Mighty 8th. I know they will be filming a lot in the UK. Does anyone know any more details of where and when? If you do, could you be as kind as to drop me a PM. Many thanks, Jack!

Should see HMVF's Mark Barnes (Snapper) in this series. He was up there with the chaps doing some stuff for War History Online when they were filming some of the Hetzer stuff. We have some cool news coming from Bruce soon - have to keep a lid on it for now but one hell of a find :-)

Folks, Adrian, Jim and I have been bashing around some figures for the amount of vehicles that are attending A&E 2016. As you can imagine, we are going to blow our figure of 40 vehicles only. We are trying to keep everyone happy but we do, as you will appreciate, have to have a cap as the logistic just become a nightmare and unworkable. We aren't taking any vehicle bookings at the moment - apart from the tanks that the chaps already have sorted - but we would like to gauge the interest in who would like to attend A&E 2016. So two questions: What vehicle would like to bring? How many people in your 'group'? Many thanks from us!

Folks - here is a link to a post we published on War History Online yesterday - images from 2010 and 2012! https://www.warhistoryonline.com/military-vehicle-news/uks-wwii-tank-event-armour-embarkation-very-image-heavy.html