Adam Elsdon

Ted, this does indeed look like the Ascension Island Donkey killer! Not only did it kill a donkey, but then there there was the resulting death by sniper, donkey genocide follow up! But theres more! not long after the donkeys got it in the neck for being oversized vermin, it was decided that the RAF Police should get a speed gun! Now nobody on the island knew they had it, until one day they pulled over just about every single service person in a vehicle going to and from the camp up to Travellers hill. Obviously the RAF Police thought this was great, everybody else thought they were ars***les! Anyway they were having great fun with this thing for a few weeks, until one of them dropped it! They brought it around to our Comms section very worried, apparently they had borrowed it as a favour from a camp in the UK, and it was meant to go back fairly soon, in the condition it was sent ! We took it in and told them we would let them know, one of the lads opened it up and a battery wire had broke from the shock of the landing when dropped, been a good airman he soldered it back on, and hey presto a working speed gun! after dicking around with it outside for a bit, the decision was made by a couple of the lads (who had been caught) to put it back to its unserviceable state......permanently, and hooked it up to a variable power supply ,cranked up the wiggly amps and waited until some of the capacitors finished shrieking by going bang and blowing their guts out! Theres a moral to the story in there somewhere, probably if your a fireman driving a Range Rover TACR dont speed and hit Donkeys, the resulting fallout isnt good!

Im hoping to get some more Aden pics shortly, so watch this space!

It just amazes me people pay that sort of money for that type of stuff, after all its pretty personal to the individual. For example VC's, people pay huge for them, even if the holder of the VC is alive, which is weird, as it isnt the medal its the individuals act that counts, if i was Pvt Beharry, i would be out flogging it for as much as i could get, and wear a good copy, he is still the original winner of it. Its like the owner gains a certain cache, or becomes the moral guardian from ownership, or hopes some of it rubs off or something. Fools and their money! Anybody wanting to buy my gongs for vast amounts, please P.M. me!!:-D

Cheers guys, was also trying to work out the regiment the Pig in the photo belongs to, if you look at the rear, bottom right corner you can make out a Tac sign with 39 underneath it, cant make out the 3 letters above it, i did think RHA but not sure.

Alan Turner posted this in the Humber Pig Pictures thread, but i dont know what sort of Gun it is, looks a bit smaller than a 25 Pdr. Anybody any info on type and use etc

I tend to find society committee meetings something to avoid, headed by people who dont like change.....unless it was their idea, so you'll need to filter that one in to them slowly! Good that you have the pictures, if nothing else, much appreciated here. Schliesser92, the Green Archer system was towed by Humber Pigs, somewhere in this thread is a photo of such a beast, i have also read accounts from other regimental old boys that the Pigs went when the 432's turned up, so it may of depended on which Regiments had which vehicles, my father was Coldstream Guards and he doesnt recall having Pigs but has alot of time in driving Saracens, the Green Howards (Light Infantry) seemed to have alot of Pigs and no Saracens, the SCLI had Pigs and Unimogs pulling MOBAT anti tank weapons. The more photographs that come out the better, it paints an interesting history for Pigs.

Wow! thats an interesting photo, im not up on artillery pieces, but it is unusual to have pictures of pigs towing stuff. I have often wondered if they were used for towing Arty about. Must of been taken just before the Pig was pensioned off, possibly Germany circa 1967 as there is an FV432 Lurking in the shed behind it. Always thought the uses intended for (mK1) Pigs in Germany BAOR to be interesting. Great pic Alan. Do you have a link for the site, i will go have a look (Im off work, coughing and dribbling, nothing better to do!)

Dont let the locals hear you calling them Englans, they will string you up by your marracas, they rustle sheep and do unspeakable things to them, our local airport even has BAA Aberdeen in big lights on it, they are sheep obsessed, they are too busy to be messing with the Pig. Thank you Bart for the info, Pass on my regards to the wives.

Theyll flog off a heap of Mastifs, and then buy them back again at a higher price, they have plenty of previous for that!

Hello Brat, may i call you by the shorter version of your name, my name is Adam, but you can call me Adam. Welcome to the HMVF, i dont know how the clubhouse rules deal with the travelling community, i for one look forward to any form of "ramedies" for my Gipsy, it has alot of problems and will probably need a bit of Visa application before it works.

Smiler, whatever you get, try and keep it authentic and in period for its age. You should be able to find something in that price range, WW2 stuff is generally alot more money, the last decade has seen that periods stuff just go up and up, as with most vehicle related pastimes the speculators moved in and drove prices through the roof. Postwar 50's trucks can be had very cheaply, apparently the lack of a WW2 history makes them less desirable, even though the development and materials used in the construction is way beyond that of WW2 vehicles. And we were involved in a number of bust ups since, Suez, Malaya, Aden, Northern Ireland the Falklands, the cold war and the BAOR in Germany, so there is no shortage of history if thats your thing. So for the MV enthusiast there is a heap of interesting mechanical marvels still available at reasonable prices, you just need to keep your ear to the ground. Here is a rough list of what you could look out for: Landrovers Bedford RL Commer Q4 Austin K9 Humber 1 ton Truck/Pig variants Bedford MJ/MK Morris MRA1 Austin Champ Austin Gipsy Green Goddess If you fancy a really big challenge! Martian Militant Scammell Explorer (Croc is living proof!) And thats just the British stuff, there is a load of European and Russian kit on the market as well, so its all out there.

I was just looking at his website : http://www.ljacksonandco.com/ I dont know how his incarceration will be viewed by the MOD for any future disposal contracts, not too well i should imagine.

Clive, most of the miscellaneous tins of goo i have knocking around the shed were from RAF lossiemouth, which would explain the RAF DMC numbering. Once it had expired it was disposed of, although i have had a number of tins of paint long past it alleged expiry, which have been absolutely fine, although that probably isnt always the case i suspect.

Richard, i dont suppose you know what "Aluminium cream" was used for? i have a couple of tins still sealed and wrapped in Poly as they were despatched from stores, it comes in two tins and is mixed in a two pack format, unfortunately i dont have them to hand for reference. I should start a thread, "Tins of weird Mil spec goo, what was it used for" I have a few tins which would fall under that banner!

The stuff i have is called "Rylard marine finishes Duralac Jointing Compound" which inhibits electrolytic corrosion between dissimiliar metals. The MOD Stock ref no on the stuff i have is 33/H2202110 although this was back in 1994!

I think thats the stuff i have, its a strange greeny yellow colour if i remember correctly.

I had some of that phosphoric acid type stuff you add to water for the de-rusting of steel parts, what i did find is, used in a stronger mix, it just ate through aluminium oxide in no time at all, leaving the base metal, although if left on too long it starts eating that as well, the piece i tried it on was an aluminium alloy fan, that was heavily corroded, and it stripped all of the white powder corrosion clean off, i then primed it with Hammerites non ferrous metal primer, some of the pitting i filled with chemical metal. If you are putting Birmabright/alloy back on to a steel frame, or if it is in contact with another metal, you can get a compound you paint on the surface before joining which prevents disimiliar metal corrosion, i have a tin of it somewhere, i will dig it out and find the name/supplier if you are interested.

So the question is, How much stuff is sat in Jacksons yard, and how much of it will be impounded and then sold off as "Proceeds of crime" as the £5000 fine doesnt amount to squat. And if he has made £500,000 out of the deal to Sudan, thats alot of kit to auction to raise that kind of money, nobody with half a brain is going to overbid for items on behalf of Customs and Excise.

I spent a year down on Ascension Island, everything was either sun bleached, semi sand blasted or corroded with the humid sea air. I remember the Fire section had a vehicle which didnt last long, but it wasnt the climate. They were driving from the airfield up to the camp on the longest stretch of straight road on the island, at slightly faster than the 30 Mph island limit in the Range Rover TACR......and a feral donkey stepped out in front of it, which re-arranged the front end and left a vague donkey shaped impression in what was left of the front end. The donkeys were descendants from Napoleonic times, Royal Marines were stationed on the Island, with a Royal Navy ship and crew, Ascension is North of the next island in line, St Helena, which is where Napoleon Bonaparte was prisoned by the British, the detachment on Ascension were an early warning and strike force to prevent the French from springing old Boney, which never happened. The donkeys were introduced as transport by the Royal Marines, and therefore were early Military Vehicles, and pure wild bred from the original articles. Not that we were misty eyed about the bas***ds! they used to raid the camp at night, stealing everything and chewing it up, or go and trash the bins all over the floors, a bit like marines after a few sherbets infact! In the end they decided to have a cull and reduce numbers and brought in a sniper from the Falklands, so we took great delight to point out the best donkey hang outs. A really interesting place, and i would love to go back!

As per your own definition!! Rain drops form by condensing out of a cloud. They have not formed under a tap or a leaky gutter for eaxample, they are drops which never have been drips. Whether you can call water molecules been smashed together by sound waves from an air raid siren "Condensing" is of course the potential subject of another fascinating thread ! :yawn:

I think it is a refreshing change to have pictures of this type posted on an enthusiasts web site for open viewing, as often happens with anything historic these days, some people horde stuff and an unrealistic value is put on them, and it lands up benefitting nobody including themselves.

I was looking up Air Raid Sirens and came across this, its a Chrysler Air Raid Siren, built in the fifties, its powered by a Chrysler Hemi V8 Firepower engine producing 180 bhp at 4000 RPM and produces 138 dB of noise equivalent to 30,000 watts output at 100 feet. To put that into perspective a Military jet on full reheat puts out a similar level at 75 feet. The recommended safety clear zone in front of the horns (Minimum safe distance) extends to 320 feet when running at full revs. Apparently they can be heard up to 25 miles away, and the sound output clears fog turning it into rain drops! Would make an amusing alternative to the usual stationary engines seen at vintage rallies all three tons of it!

Hats off to Mr Charles Elliot, very good pictures, and thanks to you Alan for getting them into digital format, alot of work but much appreciated, not just on this but the other threads you have posted, i am sure there are others in agreement with this sentiment.

Sounds a bit like "Non dairy whitener" in british rat packs, for your tea or coffee, if its not mlk based what is it.....chalk? i used to view it with suspicion and drink my tea black, much nicer.

I like the picture of the shop floor showing the armoured bodies in panel form, the chap appears to be working on the inner engine bay panels, with the cutouts for the bolt on access panels. And to his right are the rear side body panels in flat and then bent form, showing them with the hatch holes cut, and half a wheel arch cut in them. There are stacks of recognisable panel bits when you start looking!