Lauren Child

I did a bit of googling around this a while ago. Prestone anti-freeze was different to the normal stuff used at the time (one was alcohol based I think, but dont quote me on that). The marking is a) showing that it's got antifreeze (and which year it was put in), and b) showing that it's prestone anti-freeze and not the other kind so nobody tops it up with the wrong stuff.

A bit late in the day, but here are a few photos

Theres a paper on it's history here - http://www.warsawuprising.com/paper/kubus.htm I've also attached a photo of the museum placard that had been translated

Unfortunately I don't read (or speak) Croatian, and the board next to the submarine was one of a handful that hadn't been translated into English. It could be a rescue device, but somehow it doesnt look big enough.

A couple of photos from the Technical Museum in Zagreb. It's more of a museum of engineering, but it has a couple of military exhibits. Below is - a 1939 (If I remember right) Opel Blitz fire engine. - a 1935 Fiat Ansaldo L35 Italian tank. - a 1943 CB-20 Italian Submarine - A float with a telephone that I think must have floated above it, allowing communication with the surface.

No probs - glad you like them

Some highlights of the inside of the museum. The museum has a large display of medeivel swords, armour and sheilds. This is darkended, and I hadn't been able to read the (Polish) sign saying no flash photography. I got a couple of photos before it was explained to me. There is also a significant display of what I would call napoleonic era uniforms and militaria, but I didnt get many photos of this. There is a large WW2 display. Shown here are some Polish resistance artifacts (inluding intelligence on the V1 and V2 rockets, and what I assume is a Polish workshop for making Sten guns), and an interesting uniform that appears to be Allied, but uses the german style helmets. If you are planning on visiting, I can highly recommend it, but wait a couple of months as the signage is just being converted to show English as well. This should illuminate some truly unique exhibits to those of us who don't speak/read Polish.

More photos. The T-55's are both the Polish variants - first the T-55AMS, and then the T-55U. The OT-64 is the SKOT variant developed jointly by Poland and Czechoslovakia. The DUKW is not actually a DUKW, but instead a BAV (Zil 485). The structure at the bottom is a Nebelwerfer.

More photos from the outside of the museum

It seems fate smiled on me. Having found out I was going to miss War and Peace as work had scheduled me to be out of the country, I thought I was going to miss out. The day before heading home however, I found out that the hotel I'd been booked into was 10 minutes walk away from the Polish Army Museum. The museum charts the history of the Polish military from swords and suits of armour all the way to both sides of WW2. Here are some photos from my visit. Note : The "Kubus" is an armoured car made by locals in August 1944 for the Warsaw Uprising. It transported 8-12 men with two machine guns. Underneath it's a Chevrolet truck 157. It was deployed along with a captured APC to sieze the University of Warsaw.

nice to see its been given a new home I really should pop down to the East of England museum again - it's a great place.

I spoke to some of the volunteers there a year or so ago. The removal of the MT wing is regarded by them as a big mistake. While selling off the land/buildings put money in the pot, the vehicles were a big crowd puller. I think its under new management now, but unfortunately the buildings are now in other hands, so there's not the space to bring it back.

Peculiar

extra pic here - http://www.warandpeaceshow.co.uk/component/option,com_gallery2/Itemid,19/?g2_itemId=59969

That looks like the IWM Duxford spitfire mock-up. It was damaged last year when it was caught by high winds and rolled over on the airfield. As such it's had lots of practice at embedding itself in the ground. The last time I saw it, it was in pieces in one of the small shelters, but I had heard it had been fixed up.

This has just appered on the website -

Rule 26 There is no queue for the ladies loo. There is a long queue for the gents. All is right with the world. Rule 27 When a nervous gent with a look of sheer concentration dashes across to the (empty) ladies portaloo, do not enter afterwards.

You may find that not everyone counts as competent to interpret the legislation. With some of the safety legislation, you can query and appeal, but you can't interpret something as being within the rules or not unless you are recognised as qualified to do so (or you can end up in hot water). I hit this issue with electrical safety, and while I can read a passage in the rulebook, I'm not allowed to say something is or isn't compliant because I'm not qualified to do so. I can however say "my understanding is...", or "that's confusing, how do you interpret x?" when I think somebody's made a mistake and needs to rethink. From what I've read in this thread, it sounds like MOT's work the same way. It's very frustrating for everyone.

I think I'm right in saying that the four crayon like tubes on each side of the wings are solid fuel rockets to get it airborne and up to speed, at which point the jet engines would be able to sustain flight. A chap I met on a training course had been working on one of the last batteries to be decommissioned. A cold, wet, place where it was "difficult to keep the blue touch-paper dry".

That explains the propulsion now that he's lost the outboard. Don't stand downwind.

Theres a video of a similar one here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NohIFiGIEDc

Isn't this where the difference between a long ton (British Imperial), short ton (American Imperial), and tonne (Metric) comes into play? I thought the DVLA rules were in Metric tonnes, but the nomenclature of "3/4 ton truck" was in American Imperial short tons. I'm no expert though, so maybe I've got it wrong. Theres a wikipedia entry on the different forms of ton/tonne/tun here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ton

You have to wonder what all of that metal was used for, but I'm betting the value gained from it's re-use were far greater than the value of a museum piece these days. It's sad to say from a restoration point of view, but at the time that much metal was probably worth a lot more in terms of getting civilian life running again.

I get those emails all the time. Some kind of kit that you could send off for, along with herbal viagra. I'd ignore it if I were you... :coffee:.

Thats it! Blimey, it's a single wheel at the back.