john_g_kearney

The photograph is one of a series taken by a member of an RAF Mobile Field Photographic Unit - this particular photograph shows some of the unit's vehicles camped overnight near Bir Hacheim. John.

This print has degraded in an unfortunate place, but this Bedford OY in the Western Desert in 1942 appears to have light-coloured stripe over cab roof and bonnet. John.

Just arrived on my desk - another view of trailer I.4. The tractor seems to be a different one to that in the previous photograph, as this one is marked I.3. Any thoughts please on the significance of the 'I' and the type of trailer on the Fordson's loadbed? Does the 'I' indicate a section in the relevant Mobile Field Photographic Unit? I have not found out which MFPU was on campaign in the Western Desert in 1942. John.

Yes, leaf springs. John.

Many thanks, Ted. John.

Can anybody ID this RAF trailer please - in use in the Western Desert circa 1942, possibly by a detachment from the Photographic Section. John.

Many thanks to Stu, his team, and all those who brought vehicles, weaponry, kit etc. An innovation this year was 'tank rides' - in a Scorpion and an APC. It was a splendid weekend; the weather was great too. (The dust raised by the vehicles was not so great...) A few photos here of British and Soviet armour. John.

I reckon that there is good reading in CMV. Tim Gosling's First World War and James Kinnear's Soviet articles are always interesting. The monthly museum slot is useful too - I would not have thought to revisit the air museum in Sunderland without a prod from CMV. John.

In defence of MV magazine editors everywhere, I suggest that they have only a modest influence over the content of their magazines. The commercial magazines don't seem to employ a large staff of authors, and must therefore rely to a significant extent on contributors. Editors do not normally have the time to write articles themselves - though JC's account in his early issues of Windscreen of his Jeep trip to the north African desert was fascinating. I reckon that if recent issues of CMV have been full of Land Rover buying guides, it is because the supply of articles from contributors has dried up and the editor has nothing better to hand. Note that Windscreen, being a club magazine, does not pay contributors at all; CMV pays a modest sum that barely covers a contributor's costs. Contributors to both have to do it for the love of the hobby, and must to a greater or lesser extent subsidise the production of the magazines. My pet hate is museums that charge an enormous sum for publication of their photographs. I mention no names, but in the railway field a normal repro fee that I am asked to pay for use in a book is £75 per image. The same sort of sum pertains in the MV field. A noble exception here is the US Library of Congress; the images on their website are for the most part free to use, which is why you are currently seeing their images in issues of Windscreen. If British museums and archives had the same policy, or even charged only a fiver or so per image, then the quality of content in CMV would improve overnight as contributors would not have to pay more in repro fees than they get back in payment by the magazine. Museums and archives would benefit too, as at the moment hardly anybody can afford to use their images. John.

Looking forward to next year, Stu... John.

Are the rails in the roof for meat hooks? John.

Yes, a grand day out - indeed, we went both Saturday and Sunday. Many thanks to Stuart and all his team. We were pleased to see that the Diamond T and its Rogers trailer (plus Sherman load) was eventually hauled off the battle arena. When two Diamond Ts attached to the front failed to shift it, we expected to see it again next year, planted with flowers and made into a landscape feature. Did the Chieftain make it off the arena. Or are the flowers on order? John.

A couple of photos for our American friends: Rolling Thunder M35 and M151. John.

Thanks in particular, Al, for bringing the Valentine. It was wonderful to see it running in the arena. In fact, I saw it running twice. By chance, for a time I was directly behind you in the queue for the exit on Sunday afternoon. And as the rain lashed down, I gave serious consideration to abandoning the Land Rover and climbing aboard Al's version of Noah's Ark... John.

The storm on Sunday did at least provide a dramatic end to the weekend... It was a fantastic show; many thanks to all concerned. John.

It is coming on very well, Martyn, well done! Interesting to see the photographs of the well-shaped chassis members, and to hear of NOS being available in Holland. John.

Well spotted re the location of the Bedfords, Richard... John.

You did what you could, Stu... John.

Was the yard at Armley, Stu, on Tong Road? If so I can't work out where the Bedfords were lined up. The last time I looked into the yard was some 15 years ago, when I last visited PRB Services. It was a lot fuller then, though I don't recall any ex-military vehicles. Perhaps I didn't look hard enough... If anybody wants to visit the yard before Stu went there with his low-loader, either find a TARDIS or go to Google Earth. Co-ordinates are 53 degrees 47 minutes N, 1 degrees 6 minutes W. John.

It was a good thing that you heard about the scrapyard at all, Stu... John.

Hi Stu, If you find yourself at leisure, could you tell us a bit more about the scrapyard itself please? John.

The writing on the fuel tank (in Russian, not Ukrainian) says 'To Lvov' - which is in the far west of Ukraine. John.

Many thanks, Scott - I'll seek it out again. I had it once but seem to have lost it... John.

Yes, a splendid show - many thanks to all concerned. So, suggested improvements for next year? Not much to say here really as all the basic arrangements are in place and (from a day visitor's point of view) working very well. (1) tighten up timings in the main arena. (2) replace the somewhat tedious infantry demonstrations with more vehicle runs. Re the latter, it would have been nice to see more lorries (QLs, Stalwarts, US 6x6s etc) running in the main arena. I appreciate that it is a constant worry for the organisers to have vehicles moving through the public areas. A solution would be to have the limited number of lorries (and the AFVs too?) that were due to run in the arena parked in the axis camp field. They could still be seen there by visitors, but access to the arena from there can be more easily cordoned off from the public when required. If I remember correctly, there are already two gates from the axis field into the arena; no reason for the public to even approach the far one for the duration of the event. If the farmer can be persuaded to cut a third gate entering the arena in its far corner, then the bottom end of the axis field could be permanently cordoned off from the public; vehicles could reverse into it out of the display line and then drive in and out of the arena in perfect safety. Looking forward to next year, John.

Interesting links, many thanks. The photograph of the A13 being used for an exercise in connection with Operation Sealion was particularly interesting. It can't have been much of a morale-booster for Panzer crews to discover that they were to be issued with second-hand A13s... John.