LarryH57

I think another good to have at an MV show is re-enactors and have them sited in an appropriate setting. At some shows of old there have been front lines set up in woods opposite the 'enemy' with a realistic gap between but accessable to the public. When my son was yound he enjoyed being invited down in to a trench to handle the weapons and talk to the re-enactors and this was more enjoyable for his day out than some where there seems to be a policy of keep out and keep away! Perhaps its the modern world where everyone worries about accidents or theft! Incidentally I never got to go to the new WPR at Beltring last year, but when it was there originally the German re-enactors were just behind the arena which I thought was not the best site for them at all. As for vehicle rides I remember going to Duxford in 1980s and talking to an owner of a CMP F30 who said - jump in if you want a ride round the arena, which I accepted which obviously made my day. I guess inviting dad and his kids in to a halftrack or Jeep for a ride in this day and age might be too scary for owners!

I was at Capel last year; Where was that RC Tank rifle range! Must have missed it but not to worry I'll see you again this summer!

Wishful thinking I know and no cost spared! Lets assume that good weather, good toilets and showers are a given! In no particular order other ideas; For me a good show needs a rural setting and be far enough away from homes not to disturb anyone and yet good access expecially for MV's of all shapes and sizes. When the public attend in their cars they need to be able to park first and pay later, as a kiosk a few paces from the road will create a mother of all traffic jams, and this will putting people off from coming back next year. Free entry for exhibitors and a welcome pack perhaps with a voucher for discounts or complimentary item. IMHO fun fares should be removed from MV shows as I don't think they go with such events! Perhaps I'm getting old but they never seem to be so essential to even the most bored kid in town! The space taken should be occupied by loads of food vendors to give a bit more choice and of course the beer tent far enough away from the camping area so as not to disturb those who like to go to bed early especially on the last night as they have a 300 mile drive home in the morning! For the arena this needs to be a grass covered arena with woods on one or more sides and big enough so that the Axis forces could crash out of the woods far off in to the distance and advance towards the Allied Forces near the crowd, as apposed to the battle being confined to half a football pitch. Apart from arena events staged with MVs and re-enactors thought should be given to marching military bands perhaps in a small arena with band stand seating. Perhaps this could be staged later in the evening in a setting that could be lit by searchlight or film type lighting. Who remembers Wembley Stadium Military Band Extravaganzas? As for the MVs I hate these being parked so close together you cannot photogragh them and equally I don't like it when owners put up an enormous history display board in front of or on their MV to and get arsey if ask to move it for one quick photo. One show i went to many years ago had the vehicles entering the arena along a track next to a hedge with a barrier down the public side of the track which allowed perfect photos to be taken without things in the back ground to distract from the shot. So a good spacing for MVs is essential . I do like green camping but often the interpretation of this gets a bit blurred with civi style green camo tents out of keeping with the vehicles age. Still this is better than portaloos, white van and civi tentage surrounding an MV to such extent that a military vehicle enthusiast feels too intimidated to get near the MV as they feel they are intruding in to someones living space. Apart from numerous stalls, it would be good to encourage owners of vehicle collections such as Wheatcroft to display a section of vehicles in a static park or for museums etc to have tents to show off their exhibits. With 2020 being the 75th anniversary of the end of WW2, it would been great to see an exhibition of vehicles, uniforms and equipment of the Britsh Army as at Sept 1939 and again as at 1945, and possibly so for German Forces too, so as to see how much changed in a few short years; Matilda Mk I compared to a Comet tank? Going back to arena events it would be good to perhaps make use of those large RC aircraft and perhaps make some kind of choreographed aerial attack on RC tanks perhaps with a bit of pyrotechnics thrown in too. Combining RC aircraft with shot gun 'flak' has been done and might look good but may endanger the public when the RC planes crash and burn! On a similar destructive theme every young boy and his dad loves destroying things so an air rifle range to shoot at and stop moving RC tanks being driven over an undulating terrain by someone else might be a great hit with the mostly male public. Driven in and out of 'cover' a 1/16th scale RC tank is still hard to hit 25 metres away! More suggestions to follow!

Okay - so is it better in the winter months for me to just take my Lwt for a long drive every two weeks and leave it at that. The battery has a little green indicator light and in winter it glows much less bright than in summer. The vehicle still starts in winter though once this winter when it was very cold I used a booster (similar to those carried by the AA / RAC) as i thought it would HELP the battery!

And what does CCA stand for as a check?

Someone once said to me that batteries in a vehicle prefer to be charged by the vehicle alternator rather than a trickle charge in the garage! Do batteries care? Does it make any difference to the battery life?

Someone once said to me that batteries in a vehicle prefer to be charged by the vehicle alternator rather than a trickle charge in the garage! Do batteries care? Does it make any difference to the battery life?

Are these RN guys in a vehicle?

Could there be the possibility that the deceased was a civilian working with the RAF in Hong Kong such as a Doctor ? Also I guess the few potential list of casualties must be a small selection, as I got the impression many ex-Japanese POWs were too weak to be repatriated immediately and many died after liberation.

I'll vote for number 3 because many thousands of B&W prints were made in WW2 and most blokes didn't care or probably had not seen a colour photo before being sent out to the far east! All that mattered was having a last photo of poor old 'Taffy' who went all through the war only to die in late 1945.

A real photo for sure but extensively colourised, in the same way that 'WW1 in Colour' on TV has been achieved. Notice too that some of the green on the drainpipe has flowed on to the ground

His address was 925 Price Street, Dickson, Pennsylvania, rather than Dickinson

My wife was going through some old papers for her late mother and found a US V-Mail letter dated 4th Dec 1944 from Sgt Eddie David, HQ V Corps Artillery US Army. He gives his US Army number as 33357806. I wonder if it is possible to trace whether he survived WW2 as his unit was in the think of it during the Battle of the Bulge. His address in USA was given as 925 Price (or Prince) Street, Dickinson, Pennsylvania

Ted, what country was your photo above taken in? It looks a bit like Tunisia.

Thanks Ted; I hope you find the photo.

Ted I think you mistook my post - my description of the vehicle in my post above was the one I posted, that despite looking like a horsebox has similar looks to the front end of an RAF Albion Refueller

Ted, I think it was just down to the RAF clerk who typed up the orders, so I guess it was a Hillman Tilley . Incidentally I have noted that the SDF had an impressed Albion so I wonder if that is the one I'm trying to identify. The engine compartment looks similar to those on the Albion Refueller & Ambulance which had a hood shape that was horizontal from the side rather than sloping down towards he front. Albions like this also had fairly simple and small mudguards at the front, compared say to a Fordson Sussex, which seem to be the case with this 'horsebox'.

Bryan, as mentioned above I wonder if the exact RAF vehicle types can be established from the registrations I have in my archives: Albion Ambulance; PMP 654 Albion 30 cwt; EXB 197 Ford Van; PMT 659 (used by Clerks & carried Stationery) Hillman Tender; JMV 936 Vauxhall Staff Car; PMT 805 Amazingly they also had the ex-RAF Northolt Fordson Fire Tender; RMX 969, a picture of which is attached on another thread on here!

This is the original photo

Same with me so I re-attached mine!

Looking at the photo I posted it seems there is a row of small windows along the side of the body, very much like the photo in this link, so I am inclined to think it is an impressed civi horsebox similar to this!

I'm not convinced that the front end is a DB Tractor as it appears to have a mudguard. Also if that is a caravan isn't the wheel supposed to be centrally placed to give a better centre of gravity. Incidentally I have somewhere the civilian registrations of the RAF vehicles from this unit, listed in a movement order. I wonder if Bryan (RAFMT) knows whether the RAFM can say what the vehicles are from their registrations. Perhaps there is another archive that lists them?

What a shame; I wonder why RAF Abingdon was chosen if there was a threat of cancellation. How about Kemble; there were some good shows there once!

I think Wheels & Tracks covered these Armoured Cars but the one shown was the only one of the batch that had a 6pdr gun.

It is a Hudson!