Spood

Well done Jack, huge achievment. Yourself and your team have put some serious work in and attracted an enthusiastic following. It all bodes well for the future.

Don

Oh good, thats three of us then :wink:

Seriously, things are looking good with entries still arriving daily, some from what I consider a long way off so that is hopefully promising for the future of the show.

I will probably be on the gate for a lot of the time so say hello.

Apparently the Sat night entertainment is going to be really good :wink:

Nearly there ---- War Wheels on 19th/20th Aug at Park Hall Showground Oswestry, anyone here booked in to attend? Things looking good for a well supported weekend, (nearly 200 vehicles last year) fingers crossed for good weather.

Golf eh, that would explain it then.

Makes sense I suppose as the word green is involved, could be misleading to some, glad I never got caught out.

(Eerie whistling of wind ...... bits of tumbleweed bouncing past) Seems very quiet here, is there something on this week? :wink:

Jack, I also thought that the huge metal pill-box contraption was fascinating, all those hits by AP shells would not have done the occupants hearing much good if they were at home at the time, it would be like sitting inside Big Ben :nut:. A lot of the museums have something of interest though. I get excited about a bit of concrete sticking out of a sand dune, how sad am I :oops:

Don

Went to the Azeville battery last year it really is excellent. As Degsy said the wrecks museum is also very good. Jack, the one at Omaha, is that the one with the landing craft outside? If so I agree, very good. I also quite like the Pegasus bridge one as well. Hoping to do that end of the coast this year, (again) only in more detail.

Don

Just how wet did Jnr and myself get on Sunday :-(, but a great show all the same. Happy man now I have seen the Tiger in motion :-D. Did see jack entering the arena but by this time water was running into unmentionable places and Jnr wanted out, can't say I blame him. He actually took twice as many photo's as I did :-o. Had a chat to Big Al jusyt before he started up the Crusader, what a sound, awesome.

Don

Hi Mark

I had a Jeep engine off him a few years ago and he seemed fine, I also rang him when I was looking for a trailer, he had some but he wasn't pushy about selling to me he just told me what condition they were in and said it was up to me to decide, which I thought was nice. Some people I know think he comes across as a bit of a wide boy but speak as you find, I thought he was ok.

Don

Myself and Spood jnr will be there in spectator mode only. Shall have to keep an eye out for the "Jackmobile".

The Port-en-Bessin apartment is booked and waiting for Mrs Spood and myself later in the year, a nice chill out after getting our War Wheels show over. I can't wait. First call the newly opened gun battery at Grandcamp Maisy.

Good point Mark I think this is the main worry for us over here because if Mr Bl .... sorry Bandwagon can see a chance to spoil the enjoyment of another minority he won't hesitate.

Don

Hi Al you'll have to ask cuz about the chilli, and yes I believe the band are booked

Thanks for the recommendation Degsy I will try to keep this thread updated from time to time.

If anyone wants to get in early there will be entry forms at Stoneleigh, on the MVT stand.

Cheers

Don

The cogs are grinding into action for the organising of War Wheels 2006, to be held this year on Sat and Sun 19th/20th of August. Nearly 200 military vehicles turned up over the weekend last year and we hope to make it bigger this year. As usual it will be held at the Park Hall Showground at Oswestry Shropshire. The show, organised by Shrops & Border Counties Area MVT is solely military based and is recognised by the national MVT. There will be militaria stalls and displays plus entertainment on Saturday night. Details shortly on Milweb and in CMV and MMI mags.

Watched a programme on Sky last night about the Graf Spee, as I said in my previous post dad was wounded in the battle there. There was some film of the Ajax firing her guns, just some stock footage, but did it make me feel odd, it was freaky knowing exactly where your dad was at the time. The Achillies was in the background so it must have been around the same time. When the presenter said about people being wounded when X turret was knocked out it really sent a shiver down my spine.

Dad was the gun layer and was sat right at the front of the turret, the shell from Graf Spee actually went in under the turret and exploded behind it killing the crew at the rear. He had an oxo cube sized piece of shrapnell between the shoulders, narrowly missing his spine. I can remember into the mid sixties that it still used to trouble him and he had to have it dressed from time to time due to infection.

I'll post some more when I have a few spare minutes.

Madman look at it this way, if your a soldier you know where you are and you probably know what to expect, imagine trying to get on with your life never knowing if you're going to get that knock on the door from some not very nice people. Their achievment is as great as anybodies.

My father followed his brother into the RM's in 1936, both ended up as gun crew on ships. Dad was on HMS Ajax for most of the war and managed to get himself wounded at the River Plate battle. After this he spent a long time in the Med, again getting burnt and wounded though not enough to get him sent home. On D-Day he was on the HMS Arethusa which was of Ouistreham bombarding targets in the Caan area, he came out in 1947 and always maintained that even with the war he would have joined up again if he had his time over. There are other places he served but these are the most well known events that he was involved in.

His brother was on HMS Rodney when they sank the Bismark, he had I think four battleships blown from underneath him during his stint and it effected him quite badly for the rest of his life.

Mum's brother was in France before the war with the R.Eng's and was evacuated at Dunkirk, returning again on D-Day. I still have a lot of things to find out about him yet. He was another one who was badly effected by his experiences and never really opened up about the war. Mum did tell me that when they were fleeing the Germans in France that he had crawled on his hands and knees for several miles never standing up once and he could see the enemy in the fields around him. He was also ordered to shoot two prisoners, basically in cold blood, and I think this is the one thing that really took its toll on him.

As centurion said this is a subject that one could go on about for ages but I will leave it at that for now.

I consider myself lucky in so much as the bloke who does my MOT's used to work for someone who did a bit of Jeep dealing back in the sixties and he has quite an in depth knowledge of the breed. When I first put mine on the road one of the younger testers at the garage failed it on several things so I complained and he retested it and passed it no problem, he was less than complimentary about his young protegee in the process. I think one of the phrases was " He must think it was built in 1994 not 1944". I always ask for him to do it now and I have had no problems, he's not a pushover, he'll always tell me if something will need addressing soon or won't last to the next test, an all round good egg.

Jack, when you go to get your train numbers be sure that your flask has the correct tartan on it and your pencil has the regulation length of eraser on the end. :wink:

Mrs Spood is busy carrying out festive duties around the house as I type. Fetched the Christmas kit from the attic after dinner. Next job - restock the drinks cabinet.

Back in the seventies a friend of mine who had a small holding just outside the village where I live found an unexploded incendiary bomb :shock: in the bottom of a dried up pool after doing some drainage. It was a well known fact locally that a German plane dropped a stick of bombs in that area during the war, probably while looking for the munitions factory at Hereford.

I thought it was b****y cold!!!! It also appeared to be a bit quieter than usual with a bit more elbow room. No bargains here, the only two things I was looking for (not for myself even) were nowhere to be seen. Did see a lot of friends though.

Let myself in for that one didn't I ----- D'oh :oops: I'll keep my eye out for you, I'll be the one one with no discernable form of recognition at all. :wink:

Last time I did that I suffered severe cuts from the broken mirror that I walked into. :wink:

What if we're so stunned by your dashing good looks that we miss the aformentioned blue RP. :wink: :?

I actually work on an a WW2 airfield, some of our buildings are built around the original hangars, so are buildings belonging to other companies on the site. Apart from the industrial estate there is also a commercial flying club and a helicopter training school, all based in original WW2 buildings. There are probably 5 or 6 of the hangars left, all in use. On top of this a fair amount of other buildings remain around the field as well as some that encroach on the village nearby, in particular the old water tower which is now a private house. Sadly the control tower has gone, demolished by the company that owned the site before ours, it had been used as their social club. To make it worse I believe it was either the only one of it's kind or it was 1 of 2, I'm not certain but I know it was a bit special. The airfield by the way is Shobdon in Herefordshire, it was mainly a glider training base during the war. On a personal note my Mum worked in the canteen during it's construction and her brother worked on the construction.