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Information all about Whittington Barracks Wartime Weekend

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 20 JULY 2009

Hi once again and welcome to this week’s newletter of new items on Miliblog.

Some more nice vehicles have been added this week, including some Aveling Barford 690 Dump Trucks in British Army service in the 1970′s and some more nice old Bedford RL trucks. One shown below is an RAF Public Address bodied version. Is that monument in the background on Southsea Common in Portsmouth does anyone know ? Next we have a nice Challenger Mk3 Tank taken at the Army Day at Uttoxeter Racecourse, in Staffordshire in June 1996. The chap who was the Clerk of the Course at the time was an ex-army Major, who persuaded the army to have a wonderful Army Day during one of the race days. At the time I worked as a finance controller for a catering company that provided all the racecourse catering and so had the opportunity to take various photos and go behind the scenes over the years. Next sample below is a Samson CVRT ARV (Armoured Recovery Vehicle) and looks from the stone wall to be taken in The Cotswolds area of the UK. A nice relaxed photo with the soldier smiling on the top.

Lots of Land Rovers, or ‘Landies’ as they are known, give years of service to our armed forces and on miliblog we have many photos of them in Army, RAF and Royal Navy markings. Once they are on civvi street, of course they are snapped up for all sorts of reasons, from a continued working life to one of being pampered as an enthusiast’s pride and joy. Shown below is a good looking Landie Lightweight which looks a credit to it’s owner.

Wel to those that made the War and Peace Show at Beltring these last few days, I hope the weather was kind with lots of sunshine. Miliblog would liked to have been there but with family commitments we could not. Maybe next year ! Meanwhile we will wait and soon see the photos in Military Machines International and Classic Military Vehicle magazines.

Well back to the trusty old scanner and see you soon !

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 13 JULY 2009

Hi there again and welcome to this week’s newsletter of what’s ne on Miliblog this week.

To start with we have reached another milestone this week when my trusty old scanner coughed and spluttered photo number 3,000 onto the website, which was a nice Bedford S series Tractor in RAF markings, which I have illustrated below. It still amazes me to look at the website statistics and see the visits from all the different countries across the world, so a big ‘Hello’ to you all. To share a common interest in old military vehicles I think is a wonderful thing. We also have loads of 1950′s/1960′s Leyland Martian 10ton Trucks in various forms, Artillery Tractor, Cargo and Heavy Recovery. Some are in British army service, and you can just see the National Service troops driving them during their ‘two years in’. Have a look at the sample below showing one towing a 5.5″ gun, which was also a gun used in WW2 and usually towed by an AEC Matador. Others are in civilian guise and being used for recovery work. In addition, we have some nice old Bedford TK 4×2 tractors, and as we have said before, we love looking right into the photos to see what else is going on. One example below shows a nice Wessex helicopter as the load. Also added are some more French lorries, the one I love in particular is the Berliet TBU15 6×6 Tractor with a tank transporter trailer. It is so wonderfully Gallic that you can almost smell the Galloises cigarettes !  Another French Saviem Renault looks like it’s taken in the Alps. Finally, we have at last managed to identify our Italian military vehicles, a sample I show below. It’s a lovely old Fiat, although at the end of it’s military career I think. I would really like to obtain some photos of the old Alfa Romeo Matta or Fiat Campagnola field cars, so if anyone can help……..    

We really enjoy adding each week to Miliblog and seeking new items and stories to relate to you. This week we heard a story about the Staffordshire Yeomanry. In World War 2, many of the troops in the regiment came from Staffordshire, which is roughly in the Midlands of England. One town in the area, Burton-upon-Trent was, and still is, famous for brewing beer. One of the senior officers in the Yeomanry was a senior manager or even director of Bass Breweries from the town in civilian life before being called up. He insisted that the troops should wear a red material triangle on their berets behind the Yeomanry badge, to emphasise the badge and make them stand out. So for all the war years that’s what they wore. Little did the troops realise that the red triangle was the famous logo or trademark for Bass Beers and that for years they had been advertising the product free of charge !!!

Also mentioning Burton-upon-Trent, before the war one of the breweries ran a series of adverts for their beer called Burton Ale. It featured various tradesmen disappearing off-site and someone asking where’s Tommy gone, with the reply ‘He’s gone for a Burton’, ie a Burton Ale. In the war it took on a different meaning, particularly in the RAF, when a colleague had been shot down and lost.

Well that about wraps up this week and I will return to the scanner to see what new stuff we can find to share with you.

Cheerio !

Simon

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 6 JULY 2009

Hi and welcome once again to this week’s weekly newsletter of what’s new on Miliblog.

Well we managed to get the additional 40 photos of the old AEC Matador WW2 Gun Tractor scanned and onto Miliblog ! This means we have over 110 photos of these famous old trucks for you to see, whether you have seen one working at an agricultural show or even made an Airfix plastic model kit of one. To find them look under Military Vehicles, British, WW2 Preserved, Gun Tractors.

This week we have been looking through our badge collection and scanning on a few more, this time concentrating on some WW2 and post war British cloth badges. Many are of British Armies, such as the 1st Army which operated in Tunisia, the 2nd Army that was raised for the Normandy Invasion, and the famous 8th Army that fought it’s way across North Africa and the up through Italy. Finally not to forget the ‘Forgotten 14th’ , the 14th Army led by General Slim in the Far East. Some of them almost look homemade ! But I am assured by colleagues in the know that they were often locally made while on the campaign ! Can anyone out there help on this at all ?

Also added this week is a nice photo taken on March 5, 1944 at the Photographic Section of the American Red Cross at 87, Duke Street, London W1. The guy’s name is PFC Bennie Lewis Devane, who was from Schley, in the State of Georgia. I wonder what his story was and where he served ?

Well for next week, I’ve been sifting through the albums once again and we are going to have a British 1950/60′s week with lots of old Leyland Martian trucks in Cargo, Artillery and Heavy Recovery modes.

So I wish you all a great week and hope that the rain here in the UK stops for a while !

Cheerio !

Simon

British 1st Army (Embroid)

 

 

 

British 2nd Army (Embroid)