NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 31 MAY 2010

Welcome to what’s new on Miliblog this week in what’s a very historical week in military history. Seventy yeras ago this week in 1940, the little boats were heading across the English Channel to pick the remnants of the British and French armies from the beaches of Dunkirk. This week I would like to dedicate this week’s newsletter to my dear Uncle Bob, Private Robert Nourse. A lovely chap, he joined up into the Royal Worcesters and soon found himself digging trenches in Northern France. After a long retreat to the beaches he was eventually picked of the beaches by one of the little boats and managed to get back to England. He died a couple of years ago, but would never speak of his experiences, saying that he lost many good friends.

Also this week, June 6, is the 66th Anniversary of the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy.

As much as we would have liked to be over in Normandy visiting the various museums and famous sights, we instead went a few miles down the road to the West Park in Wolverhampton for the annual Wolverhampton Steam Fair and Transport Rally. For a full report visit our Show Reports tab, with lots of pictures of vehicles from the event. However below are five sample photos to tempt you to have a look further at all our show reports.

Firstly we have a lovely Austin Champ. These old British soldiers from the 1950′s are so full of character, you can just see the National Serviceman is his khaki uniform and beret driving it down the roads of Western Germany. The small and patina of these vehicles have grown on me over the years and if I had the room to store one, I’d certainly be out there looking. Next is a lovely Landie, but a pretty rare one too, a S3 Shorland Armoured Car. The owner told us all about it’s history, which is also in the Show Report. Flying an Ulster Defence Force flag, is a clue.

Next photo is another unusual vehicle spotted in the commercial section. It’s a Dodge Commando RG13 Coach, previously serving with the RAF as a coach/ambulance. Following on is a Scammell Explorer that we haven’t seen before, which is another nice 1950′s British Army vehicle.

Finally, we have a photo of Phil Palmer’s Leyland Hippo 10 Tonner. Although we’ve seen this beast many times before, it never fails to impress with it’s size.

So have a great week ahead wherever you are in the world.

Cheerio !

Simon

 

   

 

 

Leyland Hippo Mk2 10Ton GS (JSK 164)

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 24 MAY 2010

Hi and welcome to what’s new on Miliblog this week. Well after getting our feet wet last week, it’s back onto firm ground again as we head East once more for some more photos in our Eastern Front Collcetion. I can never understand why there are so many photos around of German forces in WW2 taken by the servicemen themselves. Is it because German cameras in the 1930′s were noted as being the best in the World, and cheaper and more available or what ? It’s always very hard to find photos taken by British or Commonwealth troops or indeed US servicemen while serving abroad.

So for starters this week, we have two knocked out Soviet tanks, with one providing valuable information for our modelling friends who are into super-detailing their models. Following on is a good shot of some German infantry marching past another knocked out Soviet tank. Looking at their dress, I think this is in mid-Summer and makes a contrast to many of our photos which show Winter scenes. Just look though at all the equipment they are loaded up with.

Next we have another group of German infantrymen marching along in the Summer, with one shouldering an MG34 machine gun. Following on we have a complete opposite of the previous two photos with a nice shot of Winter camouflage oversmocks in a Christmassy scene !!! Lastly we have an enlarged photo from a small snap of a German infantryman. Useful for a close up on the uniform and the rubber bands on his helmet, used for attaching camouflage, usually items found in the field such as tree branhes, twigs or leaves.

So next week, we’re off to Wolverhampton West Park Show, where weather permitting, we’ll have a good turnout of military vehicles to bring to you.

Cheerio !

Simon    

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 17 MAY 2010

Welcome to this week’s newsletter with something a bit different. Miliblog started off with lots of photographs of military vehicles and badges. Then we were asked by some model makers if we had any more photos of Jet Provost aircraft by any chance, having seen our museum report of the Boulton and Paul Museum. So we added to our aircraft collection.

Not to be outdone, the senior service, the Royal Navy has come on the radar, with some further requests for any ship photos. So just for you, gentleman, this week is one for our naval enthusiasts. However there is also an aircraft connection with two of our samples below as you can see.  

We start with one of the largest ships afloat in the form of the American aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt. Just look at the size of it. Following on is another giant of the sea, the USS Ronald Reagan.

Our third photo shows HMS Southampton, a Type 42 Destroyer commissioned in 1981. Rather sadly, after being decommissioned in February 2009, she now lies off Whale Island in Portsmouth awaiting disposal.

Our next ship of the Royal Navy is HMS Enterprise, a Survey Vessel, Hydrographic Oceanographic and one of the Echo Class. Photographed in Dartmouth in Devon while we were on holiday, you probably recognise it from the Miliblog home page. Following on is HMS Brocklesby, one the Hunt Class of mine sweepers.

Lastly is the streamlined Danish Navy ship Esbern Snare, a Command and Support ship launched in 2005. Just looking at the lines of this ship, it just has to be a Scandinavian vessel.

So I hope you’ve enjoyed looking these sample photos and may at an area of the military that you may not have usually looked at before.

Have a great week !

Cheerio !

Simon

 

CVN-76 USS Ronald Reagan

 

 

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 10 MAY 2010

Hello and welcome to this week’s newsletter where this week we’re cranked up the old scanner and entered on some more photos of life on the Russian Front in our Eastern Front Collection. These photos have been added to over the years and now we have nearly 1,500 photos to share with you.

So as usual, we have five samples below to give you a taster of what is in the collection. We kick off with a Panzer III set in what looks like a damp and cold winters day. A real winters day is next with a German patrol marching off complete with skis and full winter camouflage. Our third sample shows a Soviet KV-2 Heavy Tank that’s had it’s turret redesigned. Image the force of explosion that shifted that amount of metal with one blow.

Our fourth sample shows quite a cheery looking chap out for some exercise and it makes you think what happened to him. Did he survive to go on to have lots of grandchildren or did he lose his life in one of the major battles ? Finally we have an early Soviet T-34/76 tank, with a 76mm gun. From this angle it hardly looks damaged. Maybe it just broke down with mechanical problems.

So I hope you are all still enjoying visiting Miliblog and with over 6,500 photos now on the website, there should be something new to find each visit.

Have a great week.

Cheerio !

Simon  

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 3 MAY 2010

Welcome to this week’s newsletter

Monday this week was a national holiday in the UK, like many European countries. In Moscow, the Soviets held their annual May Day parade, but this year it was a very different one indeed. For the first time, forces from foreign countries were invited to join the parade, and so there were soldiers from the USA, Poland, France and of course dear old GB. We saw on the news the Ist Battalion, the Welsh Guards parading in Red Square, which was a most unusual sight to see on television.

Earlier this year, a book was published all about our dear friend the AEC Matador gun tractor. Whether it be famous as an Aifix plastic kit when we were growing up, in wartime service, used as transport for various circuses or fun fairs and then as a forestry worker. On Miliblog we have nearly 150 photos of these wonderful lorries and this weeks newsletter is dedicated to them. So please enjoy the samples below showing the Matador in a number of guises. Look at the last photo if you want to see a modified Matador !!!To visit all our photos, the look under British WW2 Gun Tractors on the photo menus.

Have a great week and I’ll see you soon !

Cheerio !   

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 26 APRIL 2010

Hi and welcome everyone to this week’s newletter.

This week after a cool week, Miliblog ventured out to the town of Stafford, just 30 miles North of Birmingham to visit the new Ex-Mil show. Held at the Stafford County Showground, just North of the town and close to RAF Stafford, which is famous for it’s huge underground stores and famed as still holding stocks of wartime motorcycles and other wartime goodies.  Organised by Amanda and Graham Lycett of Jeeparts fame, who also are behind the successful Militaria Convention at Malvern. This was their first show at this location and we wanted to see how it was going. Initially it was disappointing from the number of people visiting the show and by lunchtime when we arrived, many of the stallholders were just chatting to themselves. However they were all most enthusiastic and agreed with us that it has the makings of a great show. For a full show visit and further photos, have a look at our show report under Show and Museum visits. I’ve just popped on a few samples below. It was interesting to see examples for sale of both the Soviet and German machine guns that are featured so much in our Eastern Front Collection. In fact it was quite spooky !

We did try and have a chat with Amanda herself to see how it was going, but I think we were seen as the Paperazzi, as she was surrounded by security guards !!! See the picture below !!!

Still we wish them both success for the next show and we ask our fellow military enthusiasts to visit the  show and support them. The stands were excellent and we could have spent a fortune on some rare and interesting militaria.

So have a good week and we’ll see you soon !

Cheerio ! 

Simon

Welcome to this week’s what’s new and we have another selection of photos from our Eastern Front Collection that were added this week. When you really look into the photos in the collection, it makes you wonder as to the horros that both sides incurred during this bloody campaign. Not only battling with the enemy but also enduring the terrible weather conditions.

The first photo shows a column of Soviet POW’s being marched off to a prison camp. It does make you think how many of these poor devils survived captivity to return to their families. Following is an illustration of the conditions with these two Mercedes Benz 3 Tonners struggling to get going.

Another one for our aircraft modellers with a Soviet Polikarpov I-16 fighter that looks like it’s just flown into the ground. Here we have another excellent photo of a knocked out Soviet KV-2 Heavy Tank. And finally, we have another winter scene of a German soldier in the snow in front of an Opel Blitz truck.

So I hope you’re all enjoying your visits to Miliblog and we’ll see you again soon.

Cheerio !

Simon

 

 

Eastern Front Collection No 1087

 

 

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 12 APRIL 2010

After a few weeks away from adding to our original WW2 section, our dear old scanner has been busy once again. We’ve added some more to Volume 5 of the Eastern Front Collection and below are 5 samples to tempt you to visit that area of the website.

Our first photo shows a very smart German officer standing by an Opel Staff Car. Some of these were made especially for the military, but more often than not they were civilian vehicles that had been pressed into service. Our next photo shows an abandoned Soviet KV-2 Heavy Tank by the side of the road. A useful photo for any model maker with an interest in Soviet equipment.

If anyone thought a sheepskin jacket was a recent invention, then this photo of two German soldiers proves them wrong !!! Looks a most efficient method of keeping out the cold. Another photo of a knocked out Soviet KV-2 Heavy Tank follows next, which gives another angle of this huge beast. Last example this week is one for our aircraft enthusiasts in the shape of a Messerschmidt Me-110, with some unusual nose-art.

So my friends it’s back to the scanner and see what we can find for next week !

Cheerio !

Simon

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 5 APRIL 2010

Welcome to this week’s newsletter of what we’ve been up to at Miliblog. Well last week/this week has been the Easter holidays with Monday being a national holiday here in the UK. But in typical British style it has been cold and wet ! The show season kicked off over the holiday with the first local Midlands one being held at Weston Park, a stately home in South Shropshire. Famous for it’s rally stages in the old Lombard RAC Rally in the late 1970′s and 1980′s, it’s a lovely location with acres of open parkland.

Here we attended the Festival of Transport which included many different types of classic vehicles, from classic cars, tractors, buses, classic caravans and our particular favourite, the green machines. With the wet and cold weather, I think the attendance was down from last year, with many empty spaces. In fact we only saw four military vehicles, namely three Land Rovers and a Bedford RL Green Goddess fire engine. There was a fifth vehicle, but as we were walking over to the MV section, the owner was just driving off. It was a nicely turned out Austin Champ complete with side screens all fastened up, keeping the crew nice and snug inside.

Still it wasn’t without success as I found a nice 1940 dated WD fuel can on one stand and for £7 I thought it was a real bargain. I’ll add some photos of it soon when we start the military equipment section in the future. There were some other jerrycans, dated 1951 and 1952, but at £20 and not in very condition, they remained on their stands.

So after our venture out it’s back to the trusty scanner and the boxes of photographs.

Have agreat week !

Cheerio !

Simon 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 29 MARCH 2010

Hi and welcome to what’s new on Miliblog this week.

Been another busy week at work so I haven’t been able to add some more photos for your delight. Just another story I heard from the WMMS show we visited.

Not so many years ago, a farmer in the Republic of Ireland was ploughing this field and his plough blades struck something large and metallic in one of his fields. Thinking he’d found treasure, he dug round to see what he had found and was amazed to find three old army tanks ! 

The story continues that either during or after WW2, the Republic of Ireland Army added at least three British Churchill Tanks to their forces. When they had finished with them, a hole was dug in a field and they were buried there.

Now the mystery to this tale is what did the farmer do with these rare tanks ? Did he:-

A) Sell them for scrap metal

B) Bury them again

C) Contact the Army and they ended up in museums

Answers on a postcard please !!!!!!

Or even email us at info@miliblog.co.uk with your thoughts or even if you can add to the story if you know what happened to these tanks.  

Have a great week ahead. Weather permitting Miliblog will be visiting the Easter Festival of Transport at Weston Park in Shropshire, so we will hope to see some green machines there.

Cheerio !

Simon