RattlesnakeBob

An awesome bit of British ingenuity.....maybe a little 'Heath Robinson' in appearance....and I can just imagine Major Hobart trying to sell the idea.. "so what I propose is ...we'll have a ruddy great big set of chains whirring around at 100mph on the front right.....and they'll batter the hellfire out of the mines ...ok?" ....... .but........... by crikey ...........didn't they ever work

being honest ...having seen what the Ferret fetched :undecided:....then the Scorpion thingymajig... (20 GRAND!!!!) :undecided: :undecided: and then :shocked:!! Christamighty ! !!! :shocked::shocked: !!! ...the extremely battered Stalwart.... with no front wheels and looking just about ready for the gas lamp:shocked::nut::shocked:........ .....the only thing I was vaguely interested in was the V8 LPG Landrover Discovery with the blown headgasket but..... we skedaddled in fear of catching the obviously rampant 'auction fever' that was afflicting many other folk there...... .....what did that make ?...

Just back from a day out to Bristol to the auction with a few tanks and other interesting bits in.... .and no:cry:........there's nothing new on my driveway.... ....Just wondered who else may have been there????? Prices were very strong from what I saw before wandering off... try.....£5800 for the Ferret..running...but in well used 'corporate' condition... ....amongst other lots were some running but right tatty little Quad bikes all making between 400 and 600 quid...like I said.....not for me at that kinda money thanks... ...hopefully the auctioneers will post the usual results up on their website but it certainly seemed to me that Mr Money Bags and his entire family was out for the day and were determined not to carry all that heavy money home again......

Probably wandering well 'off topic' and I apologise for that but.. ..... do the Police/Home Office etc ever release any figures available to accurately say how many 'reactivated' weapons are actually used in crime lately?....... ....Only asking because it's pretty obvious that it's relatively simple to smuggle massive quantities of Heroin/Cocaine etc into this country...so it can't be that hard to smuggle guns in either can it?....and there is an absolutely massive quantity of weapons available on the continent especially the former Eastern Bloc so .... if I was of a 'criminal mind'.... wouldn't it be a darn sight easier to buy a 'proper' fully functioning modern weapon than messing about trying to get a dodgy 50 or 60 year old Browning or something similar to fire again???? .....so is 're-activation' of collector type weapons a big problem here even???

where are you and does he give any other info that you can check up on elsewhere locally ?.. such as... was there an army base /depot near you or in the area? who buried it ? authorities? private individual?... dependent on what you find.......next stop .. a metal detector and ....... your local Plant Hire Company to hire a small excavator ........and finally ......you better check to make sure he doesn't mean a water tank ! hahahahaha!

agree all the way with you there Ferretfixer........ I have a mate who has lived just outside of Limoges for nearly 10 years now....he is absolutely fluent in french and works as an electrician in commercial construction and obviously gets to work alongside of and be mates with many 'proper' French fellas....... .......he said he's always the butt of a lot of jokes off all the blokes he works with due to the UKs seemingly dogged determination to follow every single twist and turn of law that the EEC throws at us........he told me years ago that one chap had said to him (in a good natured manner) something along the lines of this : " you English just don't get it do you ? WE run the EEC ...and we make up any **** we want to just to get a laugh over watching you stupid English try and jump through all the hoops" When Mike took him to task over one particular issue, (the then oncoming smoking in bars ban) saying to them "well you lot gotta comply with this as well!" ......... Mike said they absolutely fell about laughing at him.... the fellas reply was something along the lines of " well yeah... ...we'll say we're complying ....but we won't.........it's as easy as that... " .........and from what I have seen thats how they have handled it.....they may well have followed 'the law' in perhaps the more cosmopolitan areas such as cities... ............ but out in 'real' France?...not a chance. PS: .. ...It's the same with dogs in bars and resturants.....a few years ago I was over in Normandy again with my dog and noticed that French folk would take their dog in every bar and cafe etc they wanted to....so... I asked a waiter chap if it was ok for my dog to sit by me in a cafe whilst I ate?.. I got the distinct impression he was more than a bit mystified as to why I should even bother to ask....... with much Gallic gesturing I got the impression that the answer was " of course you can ...what d'you bother asking for ???? tsk!....theeeeese Engleeese! zey make me wonder zometimes!"

having just read an awesome book covering the war on the Eastern Front in WW2..... .... my vote goes to an obscure Russian film called 'Come and See'....... .......horrific but very very good.

..and it's as well worth bearing in mind that not all WW2 weapons in this country have been 'de-acted' anyways..... a good few years ago I was invited to a select gathering of folk to have a look at their weapons collections...there were some truly awesome pieces on show ...now ..understand here, that I am NOT an expert on any weapons but I also do not consider myself a numpty.... in other words....I had a good idea of what I was looking at ..... ...holding a Thompson M1 SMG I slid the bolt backwards and had a look at the breech and then through the barrel and worked the mechanism..... ... "It's in lovely condition" I said to the fella... "the pin assembly and bolt looks complete and undamaged and the barrel is clear....hows this one been deactivated then?"..... ..the fella took it back off me and said very quietly ..."mmmmhh....well...mmmmhhh ...it isn't " I'd not long returned from an extended trip to the Normandy region and had actually been shown a few weapons whilst there by private individuals that were also still very much 'live'.......This chap said that he'd purchased the Thompson in France in the 1970s and had brought it back to the UK tucked away in his caravan........ I don't know how easy it would be to do that nowadays as the last few times I've come back in from France I've either been proper unlucky or they really don't like the look of me because I've had vehicles pretty comprehensively searched on every occasion ...the only time they haven't recently is when I was on my motorbike ( yes you could still hide something I guess if you so wished )..........but.....what I am saying is.... this can't be the only example...they are out there.......

Just a suggestion....to me it looks similar to the accumulator / battery trolleys used to start up WW2 era fighters ? .. .....sure I've seen similar carts in groundcrew/airfield WW2 photos???

Just came across this... ....yeah I know the purists amongst you will gnash your teeth and wail such things as "sacrilegious!" and "why? / what for ? " at the top of your voices but.... A:...not everyone can afford 10 or 15 grand for a 'proper' WL ....... .... and B:.......... it is very nicely done and looks great ! :cheesy: http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2010/08/26/warboy-883-xwl-a-sportster-883-in-wl-clothing/

that's a clear requirement for clean underpants I reckon...

it really is amazing there mate.....Last time we were in Cartahena area we spent most of everyday up there..the weather was incredible so ...she'd find herself a little spot and get on with the serious business of sunbathing whilst I mooched the entire place.....get back to her for a bit of dinner and a bottle of wine then a bit more mooching in the afternoon!. hahah..that's my idea of a Spanish sun holiday mate..... and it has to be admitted...she enjoyed the privacy and piece and quiet being up there way more than sat on an overcrowded beach ! PS: there's another battery on the other side of the Cartahena Bay but I've never had the time to visit that one.....the main guns and installations are the same size as this one which is Cabo Tinoso Battery

Another thread on here has prompted me to put this up..... ....I've put the link below on here to a report on the http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk website regarding an awesome gun emplacement still to be seen in Spain....... ...I first visited the place in 2001 and last in 2006 and back then it was still pretty much intact so I hope it is still now.......if there's any interest I will find the photos and upload a load of mine but for now..........here's another fellas report on his visit posted on Derelict Places........ http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=20127 and here's the sort of 'official' website for them http://mazarron.co.uk/Places-To-Visit/Mazarrons-Big-Guns .... .there are a few other websites if you have a look around the net.......also plenty of info to be found as well.....briefly speaking...it was abandoned by the Spanish Military around 1980 and it's almost like they just walked out and left it one day..... also because of how remote it is it hasn't really suffered too much from the usual UK type vandalism or scrap metal thieving either....... now if you ever find yourself in that bottom corner of Spain make this an absolute definite day trip .you won't regret a bit of detour to find it believe me........ it's a truly spectacular place.... ...you can wander in and out of all the gun emplacements , barracks , canteens , offices , workshops etc to your hearts content...........just make sure you take a damn good torch because there is helluva lot to see and loads of it is underground..... ...take a picnic and enjoy yourself.:-D ..by the way .........if you find your way up through the underground workings actually up into the massive turrets.....(it's easy enough to do but you will probably get totally smot up in grease and oil .well ...I managed to....!).......... take a close look at the gun breechs...... ...stamped on them for all to see........manufactured in good old Great Britain !

I'm sure many of you have been over there but a good few weeks mooching all the V weapons sites and especially the massive underground one near Mimoyecques......plus a good long mooch along the coast taking in the cross channel gun sites makes for a cracking holiday.........well..I thought it did....... mind you ..... ......my missus and her kids didn't seem as impressed as I thought they should have been

Can anyone tell me why .... .....on those LRDG Jeeps they cut great big pieces out of the steel radiator 'grill'??. .. ...A normal radiator grill on a Jeep surely wouldn't have impeded the airflow at all from a cooling point of view and cutting the grill like that surely exposed more of the radiator to possible damage ......so...........what was the point of doing it?? baffled I is.............:-) PS: I can see you might wanna cut those out on the passenger side to fit the condenser can in but why hack the others out?...... ???? and double PS: .....I see on the wartime Jeeps the condenser can was just lashed to the front of the grill ....so there was no need to cut the grill to fit a condenser anyway..... proper baffled now !

hey scruffs.......... you may do better joining and then posting it on something like http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk ..........that's one of those 'urban exploration' ( I know ...ridiculously pretentious thing to call 'having a mooch around disused buildings' but there you go :cool2:).....those lads and lass's find their way pretty much all over the country

Never tried a roller but why not?....also... ....a good few years ago you could buy a paint called 'Re-Paint' which could be applied with a brush and was especially formulated somehow to not leave brush marks at all..:-D ..I used it many times to do Landrovers and also my 2 lorries were done with it more than once over the years and it always did a cracking job :-D PS: I just Googled it and you can still buy it but it's a tad expensive ....but as I said...it is cracking stuff.... http://prorust.com/Re-Paint.co.uk/re-paint_index.htm

Cheers Alex..... also.........:-D....the info says its a M4A3E9?......but I'm confused...(yeah yeah...easy enough I know:-)) ...can anyone shed any light on this for me ??? ..........how come the M4A3E8 had the much more efficient (and better looking IMHO) 'Horizontal' suspension ...and yet this one.. ... with what appears to me to be a 'later' type or model number of M4A3E9 still has the older style 'vertical' suspension?... ... or am I once again way up the wrong creek with a broken paddle??... or.....is it that even after they went over to the more modern 'horizontal suspension' they still made some following models with the older 'vertical' type of suspension? many thanks in advance anyways:)

cracking link !!!!! what a yard to find hey?....... the Sherman on the first page of photos....... ..why are the drive sprockets / tracks 'set' out so far from the hull?.looks almost looks she should have a lot wider tracks but is it as simple as that ???? :cheesy:

well to be fair I guess they are a fair size lump to have sat in the middle of your cornfield and I can understand why a farmer would want them out of the way ......but having said that... .I totally agree with you that they shouldn't be able to demolish them at all... ..I think there is a well good enough historical argument to say that all pillboxs and WW2 fortifications , wherever they are, should be protected under some kind of heritage status......after all no one in their right mind would even think of knocking down a castle ....... and in their own way they're just as important to our history...

I love them.... whenever I'm out and about I'm always looking over hedges for them...:laugh:.... I'm always amazed at just how fast they were conceived , planned and positioned across the country , constructed and in use.......most of them easily within 12 months.. ..an incredible undertaking and now?... .. folk must often wander past one in a meadow and think "why's that there?" and in probably less than the next 50 years time...with the way history is taught these days.... 95% of people won't have a clue what they were even built for :-(

now that sounds like a proper trip :-) looking forward to pictures!

fetch it out of there ...:-) certainly looks like a gun of some sorts to me....and a well vintage one too........

Cracking recovery job...:-).. .especially when about halfway through the video you realise it was in the marsh upside down...:-).....

Hey up and welcome from deep in the backwoods :-D