This posting is in memory of a good work friend and colleague, Norman Yeomans of Stafford. Norman was the stores manager at the catering company I worked for and was known affectionately by all as ‘Norman the Storeman’. His joke was that he loaded up the food and drink onto the lorries to go to the various corporate hospitality events, to give them ‘a ride around the country’. We got talking about army things one day and the next day he brought in an album of photos showing his time doing National Service in the Army in Germany 1946. I was able to take copies of them and although they aren’t fantastically clear photos, I thought you may like to see them nevertheless. Sadly, Norman passed away a few months after I’d left the company, after a short illness.
These are for you Norman, old friend.
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 24 AUGUST 2009
Well welcome once again to Miliblog and this weeks’ newsletter.
Miliblog have just returned from a fantastic day out at the Severnside MVT Area’s 3 day show at Kemble Airport not far from Cirencester in Gloucestershire. Based on an ex-RAF airfield and next to Kemble Airport, the location is excellent with lots of grass and ex-runways to have a drive around on. My wife packed me off early with sandwiches and a flask of coffee and after two hours we arrived. Our digital camera had a memory card that was still full of stuff from previous shows and so I bought a new 4gb card that would give me loads of capacity for the show with hundreds of vehicles promised. First shot was to be a nice Jeep in the carpark, so I switched on the camera and…..nothing ! A faulty memory card and dispite a call to the shop I’d bought it from, I’m sad to say that I couldn’t take one photograh at all ! I’m soory to the ATC lads who were manning the entrance from the carpark because they learnt a few new Ango-Saxon words that day ! It was like being on a waiting list for a top restaurant all year to finally turn up and you’d forgotten your knife and fork !
Still we enjoyed a fantastic day out on the first day of the show, The weather was good and halfway through the day were treated to an airshow from an all-black Hawker Hunter, and the guy certainly knew how to fly ! Even with 1950′s technology, the rate of climb looked amazing ! Met some great people there including Mick Dent who, with his charming assistant, was running the MVT Clubshop. If you’re reading this Mick, I hope you find a photo of some of the vehicles you’ve owned over the years. Lots of great vehicles and uniforms there including three SAS Pink Panther Landies, an unusual AEC Militant with an Office Body that had the sides extended out, which was quite amazing. Not all a disaster though as we managed to buy from one of the stalls some really nice photos, which I’ll be sharing with you soon. In fact I’ve shown three of them below. Really a highly recommended show and we will be back there next year with a camera that works !!!
New photos this week have been a few Leyland Daf Refuellers of the RAF and Royal Navy, some Scammell Explorers, including one from Central Garage in Kyle in Scotland. Does anyone know if it’s still there ?Also a Land Rover S2 109 Station Wagon belonging to the Commanding Officer of the 44 Division. We have ten more videos to share including a brilliant original wartime one on the theory of Reconnaissance which shows Daimlers Dingos and Humber Armoured Cars. See if you agree with the method and wonder, like me, what the enemy forces are doing while it’s going on ! Still it’s very enjoyable to watch, including the command of ‘Driver, Advance !’
With over 3,300 photos on Miliblog, it’s so difficult to categorise them to ensure you all can find the items you are looking for. A soldier standing by a car for example. Since it was during the lates 1950′s and show the car and the driver, we’ve listed it under Orginal Post War Photos and then British National Service. Then the tab for Army. There are sub-sections, and more sub-sub-sections for most of the categories on Miliblog, otherwise it would be difficult to split down all the items.
Finally just received the latest edition of Windscreen. the club magazine of the Military Vehicle Trust. It is superb as ever and if you are into MV’s and in the UK then I highly recommend you join. The club details are posted on the Links page under Military Vehicle Clubs.
Have a great week !
Cheerio !
Simon
TA Detachment of Austin Champs for The Coronation 1953
Ford C15 and WOT2 15cwts in North Africa
AEC Matador Dorchester Armoured Command Vehicle
Scammell Explorer 10Ton Recovery Tractor (SJS 920 M)
Land Rover S2 109 Station Wagon (25 CL 51)
Humber Armoured Car, The Theory of Reconnaissance (WW2 Training Film)
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 17 AUGUST 2009
Hello again and welcome to this week’s newsletter on Miliblog.
Looks like another quiet week with many away on holiday or even out and about in their military vehicles. There’s nothing better on a warm sunny day than a drive round with the top down and wind in your hair !
Last week we featured a superb SAS Pink Panther Landy from the Kington Show. Like many things in life, we often assume everyone knows the same as we do ourselves, but the thought occurred to me if you all knew why these SAS Landies were painted pink. Back in the 1970′s a crashed ex-RAF Mosquito aircraft was discovered in the desert in North Africa. Made with a wooden frame, the canvas over the years had been blown away revealing the wood which had been painted in a pink preservative paint, which used to be very common in woodworking. Although the plane could be seen from the ground, the shade of pink had weathered slightly to blend in with the desert sand and so couldn’t be seen from aircraft. Hence the SAS Landies patroling the desert were painted this shade of dirty pink. Also in the 1970′s, and showing my age, was a television cartoon character called ‘The Pink Panther’ and so the Landies adopted this name.
I’m sorry to say we’ve been a bit lazy this week and not added many photos at all ! However one we have added is one of my favourites as it was sent to me back in 1998 from Beverley Madege, who’s Bedford RL was the love of her life. I think whatever military vehicle we own, we all feel really passionate about it and have great fun with them, that is until they go wrong !
So have a great week and soon coming is the Severnside MVT branch’s show at Kemble over the weekend of August 29-31, which miliblog will be visiting.
Cheerio !
Simon
Bedford RL 3 Ton Home Office (SXF 288)(Courtesy of Beverley Madege)
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 10 AUGUST 2009
Hi there again and welcome to this week’s newsletter.
A bit late this week as I’ve been catching up on stuff to put on in the future months. Only a few more photos this week but neverless some nice ones including the Bedford RL Light Recovery shown below. Don’t forget that the search tab at the top not only searches registration numbers of vehicles but also the vehicle types as well, such as Bedford QL etc.
This week Miliblog ventured out for th whole day down to sunny and beautiful contryside of Herefordshire to the town of Kington for their annual Vintage Show. Please visit our show report for more details, but to say it was well worth the drive to see the green machines as well as many other old classic cars, trucks and tractors. Highly recommended for next August.
I’ve had an email from Brian who asks why can does he see photos showing twice on the lastest images tab ? Had I made errors and listed them twice ? Well no Brian, not exactly. Where I’ve taken a photo of an Austin Champ for example at a show, I’ve added it to the show report to show what vehicles were there and then since we didn’t have a photo of that individual Champ in the Austin Champ section, it’s been added. Next time we see that particular Champ ata show, we’ll just add it to the show report. Below are a couple of samples from the show including a superb SAS Pink Panther Landy.
So back to the albums and find some nice goodies for the next few weeks !
Have a great week !
Cheerio !
Simon
Bedford RL 3Ton 4x4 Wrecker (00 DL 97)
Austin Champ (ORE 145 F)(83 BE 29)
Land Rover S2 109 SAS Pink Panther (10 FG 57)
Daimler Mk1 Armoured Car – External Details (WW2 Training Film)
Daimler Mk1 Armoured Car – External Details (WW2 Training Film)
Daimler Mk1 Armoured Car – Engine & Transmission (WW2 Training Film)
Humber Armoured Car, The Theory of Reconnaissance (WW2 Training Film)
Humber Armoured Car (WW2 Training Film)
Humber Armoured Car – Engine & Transmission (WW2 Training Film)
1942 Dingo Scout Car – Driving and Walkaround
Held in the charming town of Kington, this annual show was cancelled last year due to heavy rain and flooding, and so the organisers of the show needed good weather to keep the club in funds. After all the cold and rainy weather of recent weeks effecting many shows up and down the country, the organisers must have been relieved when the weekend was dry and sunny and sometimes quite warm as well.
Held over two days, on the 15th and 16th of August, the show caters for all types of classic vehicles. Kington is situated approx 15 miles East of Leominster in Herefordshire on the A44. At Trimpley show a couple of weeks earlier we’d been recommended that the Kington Show was good but we hadn’t been prepared for the number of vehicles on show. There must have been about 200 classic cars from not only the 1950′s, 60′s, 70′s and 80′s but also some superb pre-war cars as well, including a couple of wonderful Sunbeams. Lots, probably over 100, of other stuff from trucks, buses, tractors and steam traction engines. Another highly recommended show and we must congratulate the organisers for a wonderful day out. Put it in your diary for next year.
Ok now down to the green stuff. Miliblog attended on the Sunday and below you can see the lovely vehicles that were there. One Willys MB Jeep I recognised right away was EJW 816, which was the Jeep featured on the cover of the Brooklands Books Collection No1 book published in 1983. The book’s a collection of articles and photos of Jeeps from 1942-1954. The Wye Valley branch of the MVT were there and with my wife happily reading the Sunday Times along with a coffee, I was able to have a chat with a couple of similar enthusaiats from the club. One opened up his S3 Lightweight so we could get the army registration number for us and the other turned out to be the Chairman of the branch itself. Apologies for not getting your names, but we enjoyed a chat on shows and vehicles which is what it’s all about ! Now we’ve able to fix the link to the Wye Valley website on our Links page so you can also meet the guys !
Definitely one for the diary for next year !
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 3 AUGUST 2009
Hi everyone and welcome to this week’s whats’s new on Miliblog newsletter.
Lots of new photos this week, from Leyland Hippo Tankers, Alvis Stalwarts to loads of Austin Gipsies used by the Home Office and released in the late 1990′s. I’ve put some samples below for you to see, including a very unusual Land Rover S2 109, which I think may have been for an unmanned drone aircraft. If you look closely you can see a sort of ramp at the back to hold the drone.
Another exciting development we have this week is the start of featuring videos from You Tube. It’s all above board, our website chaps have assured us. So we’ve been busy putting 50+ videos for your pleasure. Some are only for a few seconds, while others last over five minutes. Below is a sample for you to see. I’m still amazed as to the amount of military vehicles that keep arriving on the scene after all these years. Where have they been for the last 60 years ?!!!
One plan for the next month is to get the Forum working and our trusty web designer is looking at a completely new version that will enable you to share your own queries and questions with other enthusiats all over the world.
So we will leave you to enjoy yourselves once more looking through our photos.
Take care and cheerio !
Simon
Leyland Hippo Mk3 10Ton Tanker (Z-2295)(Malta)
Leyland Hippo Mk3 10Ton Tanker
Alvis Stalwart Amphibious Truck Prototype Towing 5.5 inch Gun
Austin Gipsy LWB (CYY 357 C)
Land Rover S2 109 Drone Carrier (27 ES 41)
M3A1 Stuart Tank Going Out !
