LarryH57

"For my two bobs worth I would say that most of us would if we could go back in time change things but we ca'nt, so it should be left as it is and he did a bloody good job." We can only wonder how things would be if that British Soldier in the First World War had shot Adolf Hitler a second time! According to accounts I have read he did not kill him as he loathed to shot wounded men! Sadly in this particular case his compassion was misplaced

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My mate who works as a civi fitter for the Army says that several of his TA Signals unit's Bedford 4 tonners had been converted in to mobile homes with bunk beds and other facilities in them as to quote the men in that unit - 'we don't like camping out in 9x9s any more!' Much to their annoyance the fittings had to be stripped out when the vehicles went in for a major service at another location. But no doubt someone will try to recreate this type of vehicle in a few years time using a Bedford with a soft top GS body!

How strange - I was only thinking the other day while watching one of those 'Rescue' programs on TV that the Fire Brigade would have a real problem cutting in to a Sarecen, Fox or Ferret if it was in a bad accident!

..."an event based on music and lots of alcohol, can't see the comparison with w+p." Oh yes I can - this is exactly the problem and it's what goes on after the public have left that needs to change - or some innocent family is going to get crushed to death in their tent by some p**s head at the wheel of their MV! Shame the W & P staff can't sort out some form of segregation and have a quiet camping area well away from the 'all night' brigade and have staff properly on duty at night to sort out the trouble makers. No other MV show I know of lets such bad behaviour go unchecked. As for people who have never been to W & P do come along - as during the day it's great. Just make sure you can drive home on Sunday with out falling asleep at the wheel.

This year's show was definately the worst, with far more quads and green lawn mower tractors than before. I will go there next year (no doubt for the last time) and take my camcorder to film what goes on - not so much for 'You've been Framed' but for the Heath & Safety Executive at the local town hall! Now I wonder what can be done about the noisy parties still going on till 4am? Probably nothing as its private land. I tried calling the incident manager at 3am but nothing was done about it! Other gripes: Arrived Friday but could not find a pitch and yet acres of space was roped off for other owners - who never turned up anyway! Luckily EMLRA made room for us! Exhibitors with white camper vans parked next to MVs with no thought what so ever for photographers wanting to take clear shots such as Compton Collection. On a similar matter there always seemed to be a portaloo in every shot in every field! RIP War & Noise Show - let's not all go anymore

Mark, I think you will need a squad of RAF Regt to guard that lot, especially at some of the shows like W & P as they're a theaving bunch who visit and sometimes come as exhibitors too!

From the description of the output it would be used for powering an Army radar set. Have you got any photos of it?

Thanks for all your replies - they are very interesting. Like you Richard I wished I had kept the boxes of carbon rods that were thrown out by my unit! And by the way it was nice to meet you at W & P though you may not remember. I was taking to you about Richard Beddell's QLs.

Perhaps an explanation of a needle gun is required here in case it is confused with something in a tattoo parlour. So how is it different from sand blasting?

Did the best in show go to the guys from the Compton Collection, who had a good selection of white camper vans and caravans and portaloos - oh and an Sd Kfz 7 and 88mm gun

The carbon arc rods are 2 cm approx in diameter and about 30 cms long, though I suspect the measurements would be imperial rather than metric. They were made by GEC (the British GEC that is). Two versions are needed; one which is pointed like a pencil and one without a point. Half the time the light was shinning at ground level but at least he did move the searchlight when I was up there with him on his truck, when we spotted an airliner near the beam, on its way to Gatwick. As for a Licence I forgot to mention this to Mark in the excitement of seeing a 70 year old bit of kit working as it should.

While at W&P I had a good chat with Mark Gillatt who owns the Tilling Stevens equipped with an operational 90 cm British Searchlight, as I used to operate these lights many years ago. As you may know these lights are carbon arc lights and the carbon rods are burnt up in the process of running them. Mark is despirate to get hold of some more of these rods - so if any of you know of any let me know. Incidentally Mark like many other MV owners I met was not aware of HMVF forums so I think we need to get some stickers / leaflets together with the web address to get the message across.

I thought this years W & P was all war and definitely no peace - certainly not at night, with those people setting up their very own night clubs next to the Arlon Highway, which pumped out noise till around 4.30AM on Sunday Morning!! Tuff Sh** if you had kids or needed your sleep to drive home to Scotland on Sunday! I also heard gun fire around 3 AM in the woods near the Americas Field. It makes me sound like an old grump complaining. I'm all in favour of a bit of fun but once it goes on after 12.30 AM its too much.

The CGT is was used for Chevrolet built vehicles but there were also very similar versions by Ford as the FGT. I presume you are interested only in Chevrolet versions? Chevrolet made ealy versions with sloping rear bodies and late war versions with straight backed bodies that mirror the changes to Field Artillery Tractors made by Morris Commercial for the British Army. The Australians also made their own versions too. They had a GMC 6 cylinder 85 bhp engine. Yes they are now rare in preservation. There are probably less than ten Canadian built Field Artillery Tractors left in working order (both Ford and Chevs together).

So has anyone got any shots of gray bridge plate in colour photos?

Mike thanks for your PM Any info and opinions on Saumur Tank Museum greatfully received.

This thread seems to be bashing a lot of Land Rover owners in places but other vehicle owners are just as bad. My pet hate is the over stowage of kit on the SIDE of vehicles used in European area - every squaddie knows that if you did this your kit would get ripped off and lost! Regarding yellow bridging plates on Land Rovers, the British Army order to change them to gray was given circa 1977 and yet my TA unit did not get rid of the yellow until early 1981 by which time they were painted NATO green - I know this as I have photographic proof. In fact when I stripped many layers of green off the bridge plate on my 1980 Lightweight it was also yellow, so perhaps the factory never got the the notification - and for the above reasons I have retained the yellow! Other than that my 12v GS is devoid of add on bits Incidentally I cannot say I have ever seen a gray bridge plate in colour photos from that time (1977-80)

I know the Dutch living in the north of Holland had to wait a long time to be liberated and I know they were grateful for the food drops from Allied aircraft. I met a Dutch lady a few years ago at the RAF Museum who came over to help keep the Lancaster in good shape. She said she wanted to help in memory of the crews who risked their lives dropping food in day light over Holland. Incidentally which month was Amsterdam liberated?

I may get the chance to go to Saumur soon. Has anyone been there recently. Is it as good as people say? Have any of you stayed in the area? I'm wondering what the town is like. Also I have not driven in France for many years and wonder if the French driving has improved!

It has a 'made out of VW Beetle bits' look about it though so it may be a kit car- but good looking and with the right wheels could be good for film work.

In recognition of the fact that the BoB Hall at the RAF Museum has been ruined by turning the lights off - I hear that the BoB Hall will soon be having one of its side walls removed to be replaced with glass! At last you will be able to see the exhibits. Now all they need to do is get rid of the seating area for the short film they show every half hour and employ some lively staff (like those at Cosford who know about the aircraft on display)

In some ways I think we should ignore such export licences if we are just taking our MV for a quick nip over to France or Holland for a few days. The more you entertain such stupid laws the more they will make your life a missery by 'creeping rule changes' (as we know has happened with VCR). My Lightweight Land Rover is described as a Land Rover Estate on the DVLA V5 so do they really care and would the one guy with his hands in his pockets in charge of UK Customs at Dover know what to look for. I wonder how many of our EU friends coming to War & Peace will have the correct documents- or is it only the UK that follows the rules! On the other hand I do like the idea of inundating the system with export licences. How about applying for every item carried in our MVs so that the Civil Service could not cope and if they say a licence is not required then you should write back saying that it is required, according to your interpretation of the rules and when they write back saying this and that is exempt keep the letter as proof and that they never intended to target collectors of old vehicles! As one blog on the EU stated - 'No, nobody meant for something quite so stupidly amusing (or enraging, to taste) to happen. But it reveals the fault at the heart of the entire project. It simply isn't possible to write a rule book for 450 million people from the centre without such idiocies occuring. It doesn't matter how much the planners and bureaucrats try to avoid such things, doesn't matter whether they mean well or not. Such things will always happen. Which is, of course, why such things should never be planned at all.'

Have you referred to British Military Markings 1939-45 by Peter Hodges and Michael D Taylor - Cannon Publications 1994 ISBN 1 899695 001 Your library may be able to get it for you. According to the above book 'three number unit serials' were for Army Group units and not those in lower formations such as a Corps or Division so I am note sure about 320. Could it be T2C which is an RA tactical marking? Incidentally do you mean REME LAA as in Light Anti Aircraft or LAD as in Light Aid Detachment? I will do more digging