Maverick Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Hi All, Over the years I expect you have all seen my Wanted Adverts for 155mm Howitzer items as well as general Artillery equipment? Well I thought it was time for you to see what I do with all the stuff I collect. Please see below some photos from my Vietnam Artillery Display held at the 2012 War and Peace Show. This years display was dedicated to Mr Larry tesh of The 1/92nd Field Artillery who served during the Vietnam War. The unit sign in the photos is copied from one of his orignal photographs taken at Fort Bragg, North Carolina the year before he was deployed to Vietnam. I hope you enjoy them As always I'm still on the look out for anything related to the US 155mm Howitzer to make my displays bigger and better. These items can be tools, canvas items, equipment, cleaning brushes etc etc. Do any of our members know any Artillery dealers or have items for sale themselves ??? They can be from WW2 , Korea and Vietnam Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
private mw Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 wow what a collection and display great pics like how those guys stand so still for the pictures ! :cheesy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happydayz123 Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Outstanding collection !! Well done. Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Always a great Display... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 wow what a collection and display great pics like how those guys stand so still for the pictures ! :cheesy: Thank you all for the kind words. I did ask my friends to do it if i payed them in Beer, the trouble is they would drink too much beer and fall over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shane.c Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Very good display, :cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I remember this display - it was impressive!! Never realized it one of HMVF's own responsible for it though. Congratulations!! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Cubed Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Very good, do like the display lots. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_bish Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Impressive as always! You should post some pictures of the whole lot hooked up to your truck, equally impressive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 I remember this display - it was impressive!! Never realized it one of HMVF's own responsible for it though. Congratulations!! :-D You never know who's lurking around at the shows, I expect we passed each other a few times at War and Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Impressive as always! You should post some pictures of the whole lot hooked up to your truck, equally impressive I did plan on doing that at War and Peace 2012 but the mud and poor weather put a stop to that. Will try again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 You never know who's lurking around at the shows, I expect we passed each other a few times at War and Peace Yes - I think my OT was based just down the way from you at W&P this year! It was opposite the Red ball group and I think you were a little way up nearer the bridge end of the arena exit way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Yes - I think my OT was based just down the way from you at W&P this year! It was opposite the Red ball group and I think you were a little way up nearer the bridge end of the arena exit way. Yes that sounds about right, think you did a few mock battles on your pitch and if i remember there was alot of poking around under the engine cover on the OT on one of the days ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow_wolf Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 wow, just the shells on there own must have taken quite some time to collect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Yes that sounds about right, think you did a few mock battles on your pitch and if i remember there was alot of poking around under the engine cover on the OT on one of the days ??? There were a couple of mock battles in the arena - other than that it was the everyday life in a VDV encampment! :-) Engine decks were up one day - one of the chaps from the Barmy Army brought a Czech guy over who also owned one - I let him run it around the arena and he said it was lacking power so up went the decks and he had the fuel regulator apart, increasing the fuel flow slightly. Definitely made a difference...... I did toy, originally, with the idea of getting a D30 howitzer - there are a few about - and doing something similar to you. The D30 needs a Zil or a Ural to tug it though and none of those were built pre 1960. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hall Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Seeing those 155mm HE shells takes me back to Iraq and trying squeeze 120 of them into Warriors, the crew really, really wern't to happy about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 wow, just the shells on there own must have taken quite some time to collect. i was lucky really, A contact I have found 14 of them in Belguim, then some were brought at military fairs over time. I'll let you into a little secret, not all of them are real, i had some made out of fibreglass, I bet you cant tell which ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 Seeing those 155mm HE shells takes me back to Iraq and trying squeeze 120 of them into Warriors, the crew really, really wern't to happy about it! Doesn't sound like my kind of fun either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 i was lucky really, A contact I have found 14 of them in Belguim, then some were brought at military fairs over time. I'll let you into a little secret, not all of them are real, i had some made out of fibreglass, I bet you cant tell which ones Interesting - there's a couple of us getting fibreglass 105mm ones made up for our Abbots. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow_wolf Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 i was lucky really, A contact I have found 14 of them in Belguim, then some were brought at military fairs over time. I'll let you into a little secret, not all of them are real, i had some made out of fibreglass, I bet you cant tell which ones The ones marked 'Gas' do not seem to be as heavy as the others. The other shells look like they are weighing down the pallets that they are standing on, where as the Gas shells don't seem to be pushing the pallet in to the ground. Am I correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_bish Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I did plan on doing that at War and Peace 2012 but the mud and poor weather put a stop to that. Will try again It was a touch moist wasn't it! Lets hope the new site has some amazing drainage going on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hall Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Doesn't sound like my kind of fun either It was a triring job, the Iraqi Fire Brigade had a recovered stockpile of 155mm and 120mm shells at their Barracks in Al Amarah town. We were sent to collect them and a couple of dozen AK47s/74s. The Aks were nowhere to be found (Funny thing) but in the courtyard, strewn everywhere, were the shells. We started to load a few into a Warrior and then I noticed the weight of one appeared to shift and when i rocked it (Yes it was heavy) I could feal a liquid sloshing around. We checked all the shells and seperated into piles. Pretty much all the 120mm Grey rounds sloshed, none of the 120mm Green rounds sloshed and neither did the 155mm. So, we tried to determine what the Grey 120mm shells were but as the markings had all gone, we couldn't be sure. The decision was made that if they were suspect (We were begining to think they were chemical shells) we would leave them, come up with a plan of action, and return for them. In total there were 120 155mm HE shells and 200 120mm Shells of HE and unknown contents, we returned to base and the RLC IED Officer that shared the 'House' with us did some research and came back with an idea that they may be Phos shells and that the extreme heat had caused them to liquidise. He suggested that we should return in the early hours of the morning and see if they still sloshed, and that if they didn't, the early morning would also make it easier on the troops as 2 people had already gone down with heat exhaustion. We returned at 4 a.m. with 4 Warriors and managed to remove about 1/2 the shells (The Warriors were full). We used the 155 HE to boost the detonation on what was confirmed as being 120mm shells (Alot of relieved people) and the resulting day break dem was probably the best I've witnessed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 The ones marked 'Gas' do not seem to be as heavy as the others. The other shells look like they are weighing down the pallets that they are standing on, where as the Gas shells don't seem to be pushing the pallet in to the ground. Am I correct? Your close, lets say your half correct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 It was a triring job, the Iraqi Fire Brigade had a recovered stockpile of 155mm and 120mm shells at their Barracks in Al Amarah town. We were sent to collect them and a couple of dozen AK47s/74s. The Aks were nowhere to be found (Funny thing) but in the courtyard, strewn everywhere, were the shells. We started to load a few into a Warrior and then I noticed the weight of one appeared to shift and when i rocked it (Yes it was heavy) I could feal a liquid sloshing around. We checked all the shells and seperated into piles. Pretty much all the 120mm Grey rounds sloshed, none of the 120mm Green rounds sloshed and neither did the 155mm. So, we tried to determine what the Grey 120mm shells were but as the markings had all gone, we couldn't be sure. The decision was made that if they were suspect (We were begining to think they were chemical shells) we would leave them, come up with a plan of action, and return for them. In total there were 120 155mm HE shells and 200 120mm Shells of HE and unknown contents, we returned to base and the RLC IED Officer that shared the 'House' with us did some research and came back with an idea that they may be Phos shells and that the extreme heat had caused them to liquidise. He suggested that we should return in the early hours of the morning and see if they still sloshed, and that if they didn't, the early morning would also make it easier on the troops as 2 people had already gone down with heat exhaustion. We returned at 4 a.m. with 4 Warriors and managed to remove about 1/2 the shells (The Warriors were full). We used the 155 HE to boost the detonation on what was confirmed as being 120mm shells (Alot of relieved people) and the resulting day break dem was probably the best I've witnessed. Now thats sounds like a lot of hard work especially with the heat as well. I expect the idea of moving Chemical shells around in the back of a warrior upset the crew even more than HE rounds. Your braver then me, I'll stick to my inert rounds thanks. I'll check the youtube link out Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 (edited) I suspect nearly all the shells are repro, real ones are bloomin' heavy..... The M110 chemical certainly are because they have M107 driving bands, the real M110 band is much wider. Nice collection of stuff Stuart! Edited January 13, 2013 by Adrian Barrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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