Hello to everyone at the forum my name is Andy and i have signed up to the forum in the hope that it might in some way help fill in a few grey areas i have in along running research project concerning a ww2 and post ww2 operation that my father was involved in .as i said " long running" far to long.. I have spent half a life time smelling of diesel as a mechanic /engineer have worked on just about evrything that was powered by an internal combustion engine whether or not it had wheels or tracks at the age of 72 retirment is not an option and work longer hours than i did when i was 30 couldnt stop if i wanted to !! Historic armoured vehicles i have not owned , as youngster i lived next to a REME wks and seeing them was an everyday occurance ,had been in a few back then driven by my father who spent most of his life in the army . Did drive a scamell explorer for a couple of years doing heavy recovery ..pull anything ,did things with that machine you would be hung for nowdays, she and i did a lot of rescue work in the Guildford floods of the late 60s,, I suppose i am one of those who saw doing away with the starting handle was a step backwards although the v8 Pilot i owned bit me on a number of occasions along with a list of tractors i worked on in my apprentice days , I live within fume distance of the M25 in the Weybrige area of Surrey .The project i refer to is very much armoured vehicle related but at the moment is still work in progress so i am not inclined to go into detail as yet ..none of this is much of the true picture because as an agricultural engineer there is no warm workshop no tea machine and rarely a thank you for working the impossible in Siberian conditions .but that life ..
