river6

That's Great! Well done and terrific in the 1/35 scale. Is it plastic from the kit or a metal model from scratch built? I have the 1/48 Tamiya plastic kit version of the Traction Avant 11CV with Luftwaffe Markings. These are a great subject and there's one marked up in FFI Scheme I'd like to have a go at. Keep up the good work!:-):-)

Hi, Try Steve Rivers at Dallas Autos near Newbury. Dallas has a Website and advertise in Windscreen.:-D

Fantastic! What a survival and what a great project. What are the plans to preserve it and how are you going to do it. Any arrangements for interested individuals / groups to come and have a look?:-D

Hi, Yes the US had a number of Spitfire squadrons. The one in this photograph is in Sicily. When the US 8th Air Force first arrived in Britain in late '42 they lacked fighter aircraft and the US were allocated Spitfires under reverse lease lend. They also used them for Photo Recon. When US and British forces invaded North Africa (Torch) in November '42, US Spitfire squadrons went with them. They used them during the campaign in Tunisia and then for the invasion of Sicily in July '43 (Husky). They continued to use Spits in the Italian campaign. Back in UK the US 7th Photo Recon Group flew a squadron of Spit XI's right up to the end of the war. Don't forget it was the Packard built R R Merlin that turned the P51 Mustang into an aircraft instead of a Turkey!! Let's hear it for the Spitfire and the R R Merlin!!!

Hello and Welcome! Talk to some of the 'lads' in North Oxfordshire and Cotswold MVT (Oxcot). There are a couple of WOT2's under restoration by group members. Bill:-D

Any chance of having one of those single ended rat-tailed tapered handle spanners please? I need one for my Anderson Shelter restoration project. One of those came with the Anderson Shelter kit the rat tailed end was used to align the holes in the overlapping corrugated iron sheets before inserting the bolts which held them together.If OK pleases PM me with price and postage to Wiltshire.:nut:

Fantastic stuff. Great piece of research. It's unlikely that she was a 'decoy' but something like the Van Dyck would have been a plumb target for the Stuka's as she would have had very little in the way of AA armament.

I have the same trouble for my SOE / Aux Units demo materials. I've made most of my Dynamite sticks, TNT, C3 and C4 stuff from brown greaseproof paper wrapped wooden blocks. You can find lists/descriptions/photographs/dimensions of the various packs in the US TM 9-1946 a reprint of which is available and you might try for it on Amazon books. It covers everything including Cap blasting machines, Bangalore Torpedo's and shaped charges. There's also a great source in US FM 5-25 which has been reprinted as 'U.S. ARMY EXPLOSIVES AND DEMOLITIONS HANDBOOK' available via Amazon books at about £10. PM me as I have a US Engineer Galvanometer 'surplus to requirements' which you might like for a small sum. river6 over and out.

Thanks for the photographs Tim. Only another 48 weeks and we can have another go, still lots to see around the area. How many vehicles will we get out next time I wonder

Great looking piece of kit, that looks like a really good buy. I have a US 1943 one. Do you have a battery? If so, is it the the one which plugs in to the bottom of the set and where can I get one???:nut:

Me Too! Still buying the kits and making the models. Like others I've collected or built models of all the vehicles I've ever owned. I've got loads of back issues of 'Airfix Magazine' going back to 1970. Lots of scratchbuilding ideas and mods from the mags incorporated into the models - Vehicles, Aircraft and Ships. I'm looking at a display case here which has about 60 models all painted up in the different schemes. Learned how to research the colour schemes and unit markings from the box art and Almark books. How many hours have they occupied I wonder. All the names from yesteryear - Airfix, Matchbox, Monogram, Revell, Tamiya, Italieri. What a great education they provided.

Great loss to the Vintage Military Vehicle scene. RIP Tony.

Try the US they have a lot of 57mm - their version of the 6Pdr and looks identical. They come up quite regularly for sale on US re-enactment sites.

Ah Yes Pete, '12 O'clock High' . For me the sequence on the runway of the old airfield and the sound of engine start-up!! Oh Boy it tugs the heart strings and takes me to deserted airfields all over the country - the ghosts are there, I've felt them and spoken to them. I have one of the Highwayman Toby Jugs - one of 100 made specially for the film in a place of honour where I see it every day.:nut::nut:

Of course its not really the vehicles is it .......... Its all that long lost (mis-spent ??) youth and the times they represent. Ahhh Philosophy!:(:(

I don't know how they got that photograph - what was the result when it landed??? US 37mm was roughly the equivalent of the British 2Pdr which was a 40mm piece. Pre WW2 most of the major nations had this sort of calibre AT weapon. The Germans had a 37mm piece. Unfortunately the pace of AFV development quickly outstripped the capability of these weapons and even by 1940 heavier armour had rendered them all but obsolete. The Germans found that their 37mm PAK just bounced off the Matilda II at any range The US hadn't got anything except the 37mm when they landed in North Africa and they had to use the British 6Pdr (produced to US dimensions and finishing up as 57mm).The British fought most of the Desert campaign using the 2pdr but found it was useless against the Panzer III at anything greater than 400 yards. The 6Pdr helped but production difficulties slowed its introduction and it was virtually obsolete by the time it reached the combat units. Enter the 17Pdr!!!!!!

How about 'Went the Day Well?' or 'The Boys from Company 'C' (US Vietnam), 'The sea shall not have them', 'The Way Ahead', 'The Cruel Sea', 'Angels One Five' 'Pork Chop Hill' (US Korea). I'll go along with the others to include 'The Longest Day', 'The Battle of Britain and 'The Dam Busters'........... Over and Out.

My 1934 Austin Light 12 Open Tourer (Harriet) sold when I moved to a job in Scotland from southern England, couldn't find anywhere to store her. Where did she go to? My 1958 4 wheeled Isetta (Hermann). I did over 50,000 miles and moved house in that. Gone but not forgotten!! My 1938 Hillman Minx Convertible (Clementine) did some great 'courting' in that one. :-(:-(:-(

Wow that's what I call service!!. Thanks Big Red I'll get stuck in to that straight away. Best regards, Bill

Thanks Ian, T hat's useful. I have an adaptor which takes two 'D' cells which runs the heater circuits but it's the large ones I can't duplicate. I'll have a look at Piero's site to see if he can produce some for me.

Does anyone know of a source for batteries for the BC611 Handie Talkie. These are the long 'stick' ones which operate at 108 volts. I've tried building some out of 12 PP3 9 volt Batts in a stck but no dice. I've heard that there is someone in West Coast USA producing an adaptor but can't find a link. Any Help out there

Thanks for the info. Wonder if they'll be able to restore it, not like what happened to the Halifax they recovered from the Nowegien Fiord back in the late 70's

Hi, I agree with you. I visited with a pre-arranged group visit. What a fantastic atmosphere to stand where Churchill stood and asked 'What reserves have you' and the answer was 'None!! They're all up'. Be British and Be Proud!!!!!

Hi, My name is Bill. Amongst other things I'm a Military Historian. I've written articles for 'After the Battle' magazine and have contributed to their books 'D-Day Then and Now', 'Market Garden - Then and Now' and 'Glenn Miller in Britain - Then and Now'. I've also contributed to the book 'With Britain in Mortal Danger' about the British Resistance Movement - the Auxiliary Units. My focus is mainly on Clandestine warfare and on Airborne and Special Forces units but am interested in all aspects of Britain's military history. I do talks for special interest groups and for local history groups and societies on about a dozen topics. I'm a member of the Military Vehicle Trust and have a 1943 Willys Jeep and Trailer which were restored from the ground up over a three year period and have 2 x BSA Parabikes and a 1947 Brockhouse Corgi (Welbike lookalike). We're currently trying to restore a 1958 'Frogeye' Sprite Mk1. Anyway I can help with members questions - Please ask.