Richard Farrant

Mick, You should have seen the Jagdpanther before they restored it, the welds on the hull had split open and it had been shot at.

That is a good point about "horror bikes", in the course of my work, I came across one, it involved a lot of effort to put it right. You are best to find one that is running and rideable. Mismatched engine and frame / chassis numbers are a fact of life with any WD vehicle, be it armoured car, lorry or bike.

Boy, you're sharp tonight.....................Nope !!

A bit like a CVR(T) Sturgeon, then? As an aside, can anyone tell me how this CVR(T) derivative got its name?

Thanks, Clive, I waited no end of time trying to find out what "Samson tanks" were : Now you say it was all a fantasy :dunno:

Richard, It is clamped to the choke cable near to the carb.

Andy, I agree with you, no digging intended, just something that should be given some thought. You have to look at it from other drivers perspective. On British WW2 vehicles, there were no stop lamps and only one rear lamp which was about one inch diameter....also no reflectors. So a fresh approach has to be given to those vehicles and I set them up as a modern vehicle.

Pulses............do you get them at health food shops?

Andy, Something that worries me, with US vehicles, is the retention of the original rear lamp units. Back when the vehicles were new, the speed limits (in UK at least) was 30 mph and 20 mph for lorries. These lights are not large enough for modern day use. When I restore vehicles, I pay particular attention to the size and position of rear/stop lights and indicators. Accepted that they may not look authentic........but on the road, self-preservation is utmost. It would appear in this case, from what has been said, that one of the vehicles must have stopped quick and the Chev C60 could not stop in time. It gives us all food for thought.

Due to Defence cuts, the Army cannot afford ammo, so dummy guns are fitted :whistle:

Your brother could not do better than go for a BSA WM20. The parts are available, not difficult to maintain and not too bad a ride.

Clive, I am now going for the Soviet forces, possibly in the 1950's, my clues here, are 89 RL Regt equipped with 24 x 132mm rocket launchers and 90 MC Regt which had 23 x "Samson tanks". This could be a NATO designation as I can find no reference to it, the only Samson that I know, is the CVR(T) ARV, and this is not it! The size of these Corps also leads me to look towards the East. Am I getting warm, Clive?

Hi Fred, Thanks for posting the photos of your Dad and his QL. Always nice to see these snaps as they often show details of markings, etc. which was removed on official photos. regards, Richard

Hmmm.........Me thinks Alein is a bit off beam here, on his timescale :whistle: Looking at the titles of some of the units, we have, for example; LAA Bty (don't think they had Light Anti Aircraft Batteries in WW1) Hy Tk Bn (Heavy Tank Battalion) A Tk Bty ( Anti Tank Battery) I am going for a stab in the dark and saying this is Indian Army in the 1938 to 1945 era

That was what I was thinking, John. It is supposed to be a holiday, now they want us up early for a photoshoot :dunno: That means stowing all the kit away else it will be spread around the wagon by the time we reach the arena, better bring the alarm clock,

Thanks Fred, In my eyes it is a true British army lorry and a beauty to drive. The photo was taken in 1996 (not 2004), just East of Arromanches. Look forward to seeing a pic of your father's QL.

Richard, To add to Clive's message, the switch has a little button that locates in a hole in the side of the choke cable (delving back in my memory here). It may be that the switch has become twisted on the cable and the button is held in (button in - light on), or that the button is sticking.

This thing has been bugging me as well. I seem to get sidetracked over the German WW2 experiments, but since Clive mentioned this thing is dated the same year as Orange William, that has sent me Googling again and Eureka !!!!! I think I have cracked it. Cannonball D-40 An anti tank guided missile, developed by Applied Physics Laboratory under a US Navy contract. It was spherical, about 24 inches diam., disadvantaged by weight at 300 pounds, also its radio control system was vulnerable to enemy countermeasures. Later versions were lightened and control altered.

Ah the brakeshoes, that was the deliberate mistake to see if you knew :whistle: I have attached a photo of my QL, not recent, but taken on Asnelles beach on D-Day 2004

Maybe these spheres are not actually weapons, but an experiment on the mechanics of guided missiles, using gyroscopes and steerable thrust vanes. With the style of illustrations and typeface, I would suggest we are talking about 50-60 years ago.

Alien, You are right, but I was not aware of it having the same name, evidently Kugelblitz means "ball lightning" or similar, which could well describe Clive's mystery object. The first reference I found to Kugelblitz was a fiery sphere that could be remote controled by direction, when I did another search, the tracked AA system came up.

Lee, That is what I was describing, sounds remarkably like Clive's sphere, espcially when he hinted that it was remote controlled.

Foo Fighters, remote control jet powered spheres developed by Germany, possibly also used by Japan during WW2, used to ram or disorient aircraft, often mistaken as UFO's.

Dave, I think it is Golden Yellow, no doubt Clive will confirm, and give you the BS number.

Would it be a Kugelblitz ("round lightning") ? An explosive gas weapon using a 50:50 mix of butane and propane, with gyroscopic stabilisation, I believe designed to intercept bombers. Possibly with remote control and was being developed at late part of WW2 by the Germans, in Italy.