NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 22 MARCH 2010

Hi and welcome to this week’s what’s new. I’m sorry that we haven’t any new photos this week but instead we have a fantastic story that we were told by one of the stand-holders at the West Midlands Military Show last week. 

A chap he knew had been in the British Army and was involved with ordnance, that’s weapons and ammunition. When he left the army, he got involved in a number of projects connected with the military until at one stage he published and sold books on military. He had a stand at a military show in the Colchester area and was approached by a guy in his late teens/early twenties asking for a wiring diagram for a Tiger 1 tank. Thinking this guy may  not bethe full ticket, he went along with the request. Are you sure you want a wiring diagram for a Tiger tank and not something else ?

Then the story came out. The guy said they had a diesel powered Tiger tank in a barn on the family farm, which was used for a bit of fun. It even had some of the original ammunition still inside. He said some rounds had a green ring on the, others had a white ring and there were some with red rings. Our ex-army chap knew immediately from his experience that these meant these were AP (Armour Piercing), Smoke, and HE (High Explosive) shells !!! Our guy continued that they even had some MP-40 Schmeisser sun-machine guns that they used to shoot rabbits with until they ran out of ammunition. Our chap was by now was well and truly paying attention and asked how they got the Tiger.

Well the guy’s grandfather was serving in the RASC (Royal Army Service Corps) of the British Army in Germany. It was 1945, the war was over and there was loads of military stuff all over the place. His job was to drive the large tank-transporters and so it was no surprise when his CO, Commanding Officer, told him that they had found a rare diesel powered Tiger 1 tank. It was new, straight out of the factory and had all the kit, ammunition and sidearms in place and ready to go into battle. His orders were to load it up and then take it back to England, where he was to report to a certain army camp where the Tiger was to be used for weapons and armour assessment.

Off he went but on reaching the army camp was told they had loads of tanks for assessment and so just to get rid of it. In typical army fashion, I don’t care what you do with it, but just get rid of the damned thing !

So he did ! At his family farm within 20 miles of Colchester, where it remained working and being used for jobs over the years. Pretty useful for pulling dead trees out of the ground !!! The reason the guy wanted a wiring diagram was that there was an electrical fault and they wanted to repair it !!!!

So is the story True or False ?

Perhaps someone out there knows and can tell us, but even so, it’s a good story to tell over a pint of beer in the pub !!!!!!!

So until next week…..

Cheerio !!!

Simon

Hi there are welcome to a catch up of what’s new on Miliblog this week.

Well this week Miliblog visited the WMMS Show at Aldersley Leisure Village near Wolverhampton. WMMS stands for West Midlands Military Show and features many examples of wargames from all eras along with all you need to kit out a model army to go with it. We also attended the show last year and I think this year was even busier and more popular with everyone there having a good time. From models to books to re-enactors, the show is well worth a visit. Not a massive show like the IPMS show in Telford, but still worth a visit. To fall into line with the era Miliblog covers, we have some sample photos below, but for a more detailed report visit our show report, which can be found under Shows and then 2010.

So back to work and see you soon

Cheerio !

Simon        

 

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 8 MARCH 2010

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

Well Spring is well on its way now having seen the first daffodils in the garden over the weekend. So our thoughts turn towards the forthcoming show season in the military vehicle area and to the new releases from the kit manufaturers in the world of model making. In fact we’ll start off with model making, as I read this week that Airfix are planning to bring out a model in 1:76 scale of two Bedford QL’s, a basic QLD 3 Ton GS and the longer bodied QLT Trooper, or Drooper as they were called. There are models in this scale of QL’s by a specialist firm called IBG, who also make a range of Canadian Chevrolet C15 15cwt, but they are very finely detailed indeed and probably not for the novice modeller. Also I heard that having had a success with their Austin Tilly in 1:48 scale, Tamiya have now tooled up for the Tilly in 1:35 scale as well. Knowing Tamiya models for many years, I’m sure this will be an absolute dream to assemble when it arrives. Getting one though may not be that easy. When I used to make models some years ago, it was pretty easy to find a local toy or model shop that stocked them, but for some reason these shops seem to have disappeared and we have to rely upon mail order service companies. Anyone remember the Beatties of London national chain of model shops at all ? There used to be a great one in central Birmingham !

So this week we’ve been adding some more military vehicle photos for your delight, and from a variety of countries and eras ! As usual to tempt you to visit the various galleries we have, I’m showing 10 samples below. To start the ball rolling we have a Foden 8×6 Drops; just look at the size of those wheels !

Back to the wartime era now to two similar gun tractors used by the British Army, and very popular with recovery and timber companies after the war and even still to this day. The first is an American FWD SU-COE being used by a funfair, which has a Stafford registration number. Secondly is an AEC Matador used by a company in Rochdale to tow in a broken down Ford D Series lorry. The Matador very familiar to us all who used to make Airfix kits in our youth. Recently the Matador is winning new friends after the publication of a new book all about them. If you’re a fan of Matadors, visit our Britsh WW2 Gun Tractors gallery, where there are over 130 photos of them ! 

British Army 1960′s/1970′s are the next area to visit starting off with a nice Alvis Stalwart showing the different angles of steering on the two front axles, very useful to our modelling friends amongst us. Next we have a purposeful looking Alvis Saladin armoured car, based in fact on the same running gear as the Stalwart. I wonder if the visability for the driver is amy better than a Daimler Ferret ?  And to complete the trio is another Alvis built on the same running gear as both the Stalwart and the Saladin and that is a Saladin armoured personnel carrier. This version is the taller GPO (Gun Position Officer) Armoured Command vehicle, used as the name suggests to direct artillery fire onto enemy positions, or often used just for a local armoured command post with tents attached.    

We move over to Japan now and feature an Isuzu TW540/TWD 20 2.5Ton 6×6 Cargo, modelled very much on the wartime American GMC 353 Cargo but with a postwar design of cab.  Used in the early 1950′s by the Japanese Self-Defence Force, it was also available with a winch on the front.

Our next port of call is the jeep or small 4×4 field car section. We have many photos of everyones favourite military vehicle, the Willys MB/Ford GPW Jeep and here is another example that’s just been added to the Jeeps gallery. From a different country and different age comes a Gaz 69a 4×4 Field Car, this example having what looks like some excellent winter weather protection and looking a very rugged vehicle indeed. See if you can spot one in the next James Bond film you watch !

Lastly, not only do we have photos of military vehicles and aircraft here on Miliblog, but also a huge collection of military cloth badges from a variety of countries, both WW2 and for post-war. This example shows the Canadian WW2 2nd Corps badge, a unit raised in 1942 and was part of the Canadian 1st Army that landed in Normandy and took part in the campaign along the coastal route through Dieppe and northwards along the Channel coast towards the Scheldt Estuary.

So there we are for this week. We will be attending the West Midland Military Show at Aldersley Stadium in Wolverhampton next Sunday, so if you’re there and see our logo, then come and say hello.

Cheerio !

Simon

  

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 1 MARCH 2010

Hello and welcome to this week’s newsletter. Or should I say Hiya ! to our growing number of vistors to Miliblog from the USA and a Guten Tag und wie gehts ! to our similar gowing number of visitors from Deutschland. 

Well this week I thought we’d return to our military vehicle photos and bring some new ones in for you all. As before, I am showing ten samples below to tempt you to visit our many galleries of photographs here on Miliblog. With over 6,000 photos, we had to introduce the many catagories right at the start to give you a chance of finding your own particular area of interest. Don’t forget, you can always use the Search tab at the top of the page to find a particular vehicle or registration number. Many of our visitors have been amazed to find a photo of their own vehicle taken 20 years ago, often with their family including small children that are old enough now to own their own military vehicles. Also look into the photos and see what’s going on in the background. Even some of the old fashions can bring a laugh, and even ask did I really wear similar clothes to that years ago !!!

So let’s move onto our samples this week, starting off with a rare Albion gun tractor taken in a ‘waiting for my turn to be tarted up’ area. An FWD SU-COE gun tractor is next with similar bodywork to our old friend the AEC Matador. Built by the Americans for the British army, they are pretty rare now. Immagine what you would feel to discover one tucked away in a corner of your local bus depot, like on this photo. We’ve four other photos of FWD’s added this week, Just look under the British WW2 Gun Tractors gallery to find them.

What happens to army vehicles after demobbing ? Well the next photo answers this ! Anyone know if the Lochcarron Garage is still in business ? Maybe even the QL is still there ?!!!!!! A similar ex-army vehicle is this Morris FAT, or Field Artillery Tractor, down in Falmouth, Cornwall. Any of our Cornish visitors know what happened to this old soldier ? Maybe it’s been saved and is now a pampered pride and joy, owned by one of us. 

We now move onto two similar American International F1800 Series vehicles in US service on the roads of  Britain but with different uses. A 4×2 Tractor and a breakdown truck or wrecker as it’s known, and despite 1963 and 1976 registrations, there’s not much difference between their two cabs.

Some nice British post-war stuff now starting with a Humber 1Ton converted to carry the Merkeva rocket system and renamed the Humber Hornet. As vehicles have different owners – or masters ! – through their life, each treat their vehicle differently. Here we have the same AEC Militant Mk3 after being demobbed but in different paint schemes, but which came first ?

Lastly, especially for the tankies amongst us, is a Chieftain Mk5 ARRV. Enjoy !

So once again, have a great week and don’t work too hard !

Cheerio !

Simon  

 

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2010

Hi there once again and welcome to this weeks newsletter

Well we’ve popped back into the Eastern Front Collection and added another 130 photographs, so no rest here at Miliblog ! Volume 4 is now completed and now we have started Volume 5. Each volume contains 250 photos which I think is big enough for any one of us to handle.

I’ve just included 5 samples this week, so enough of my rabbiting and I will let you have another look at all the stuff we have for you. Remember the main portal you must enter to see our vast number of photos on Miliblog is the ‘Gallery of Photo Collection’ 

Our first sample shows a mashed up Soviet T-34 tank, an early version with the smaller turret and the 76mm gun. We next have a photo of Hans and his bunker. Maybe a place to keep out of the cold winter nights, but I bet it was still a pretty damp place to live in. A convoy on what looks like Mercedes Benz lorries comes next, in the winter snow. It could even have been photographed in the UK this year with a re-enactment group, with the amount of snow we had this year. One for our modelling friends comes next: a Panzer III tank, with winter white camouflage that’s been crudely applied with big brushes. A proud officer standing by his Opel staff car and no wonder that he’s looking proud, as from the civilian registration number, it look like it’s been commandered and a ‘WH’ painted on the mudguard to show new ownership by the Wehrmacht, or German Army.

So I wish you one again a great week and good luck with any military vehicles you’re working on getting ready for the show season.

Cheerio !

Simon  

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2010

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

For a change we’ve added a whole load of military vehicle photos and I’ve shown 10 samples below to tempt you look around Miliblog website. There’s so many different areas to military vehicle collecting from diggers to trucks and from American to Italian vehicles. If you don’t have the room or the budget for the full size vehicles, then there’s plenty of scale models of these vehicles also to collect.

So we start our samples with an unusual Fiat Allis tracked loader in British Army service. Following we have a nice preserved Magirus Deutz Uranus heavy prime mover, with a now popular crew cab. Next is a nice Volvo 6×6 especially for our Scandinavian readers. The famous Royal Signals ‘White Helmets’ motorcycle display team used this unusual Leyland T45 Tractor in the 1980′s to carry all the bikes around and provided a full repair and maintenance base while at the shows. 

Not all military vehicles are painted green or sand, and here we have an excellent photo of an UAZ 469 Field Car in United Nations Protection Force colours of all-white with massive UN letters on the side. An AEC Matador 2500 galls aircraft refueller of wartime manufacture is next, but in post-war service, complete with post-war registration numbers. Still looks in fantastic condition though !

Most of us know the Austin K9 1Ton 4×4 in either GS or Wireless body format, but here we have an unusual Austin FV16012 1Ton Cargo. It just looks an Austin though, doesn’t it ! It looks a cross between a K9 and a Loadster. Quite unusual, we now have three photos listed this week of preserved examples. Have a look ! Following on is another typically British post-war piece of kit, an AEC Militant Mk1 cargo. To extend the service-life of these trucks, a hiab crane was fitted to them and this example is a flat bed, with the body sides removed. Still, a nice photo with the driver’s window open as a form of early air-conditioning !

Now we have a classic WW2 Austin, a K3 4×2 3 Tonner. Now to begin with, I thought this may have been a K2 2Ton or even a K30 30cwt, but I’m pretty sure it’s a K3 due to the longer wheelbase and the twin rear-wheels. Anyone any thoughts on this ?   And finally, far from being a star or prima-donna, is a post-war Bedford OL 3Ton 4×2 Cargo, another example of vehicles used by the 1950′s National Servicemen. Nice preserved example though, at a show in the late 1980′s.

So I wish you all a good week and back to the scanning box to see what new items we can find for you !

Cheerio !

Simon

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2010

Hi everyone and welcome to what was new new week on Miliblog, as we catch up

Very busy at work this week and so we only managed to add 30 more photos to the Eastern Front Collection, of which 5 samples are shown below. But not to worry my fellow military enthusiasts, as we’ve also been working on lots of new photos to appear on Miliblog over the next few weeks. Our website designer is also working hard on new things for the website and we hope to have a new section for you all very soon. We have received many emails from people either seraching for a particular vehicle or spare part for sale asking for help. Others have emailed us to see if we know of anyone wanting a part they have for sale, for example, an engine for a Stuart tank. So our new clasifieds section will be of use to all of you in the search for that elusive part for your vehicle restoration.

So a short description of our 5 samples and then back to work ! First we have a knocked out Soviet KV-1 Heavy Tank followed by a nice German Stoewer 40 4×4 Field Car. We have a photo of a preserved similar Stoewer 40 on Miliblog but it’s the 40 Kfz 2.40 Radio Car and can be found under Gallery of Photo Collection, Military Vehicles, Germany, Preserved German WW2. Next photo shows a nice column of German vehicles and the Zundapp 750 motorcycle and sidecar combination at the front shows an unusual cover over the sidecar seating area, which would make a simple conversion for any model makers just starting.  Now we have a couple of photos for our aircraft enthusiasts, starting with a 2 seat trainer Polikarpov I-16. Just look how small it is ! Next, is a shot down Illyushin IL-2 Sturmovik ground attack aircraft. 

So whatever your interest, whether it be military vehicles, modelling, re-enactment, wargaming or just history in general, I hope you find something on Miliblog that makes you want to come back and have another look !

Cheerio !

Simon 

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2010

Hi there once again and welcome to what was new this week on Miliblog. Well we have some more additions to the Normandy 1944 and the Eastern Front Collections. So without hesitation, we’ll launch into our eleven samples this week, starting off in Normandy.

A nice photo of a GMC 6×6 loaded with GI’s being thrown some flowers by a liberated family. Next is a nice row of Pak 40 75mm anti-tank guns, which would be worth a fortune now. Following on we have a group of GI’s standing round a knocked-out Panther tank. Our next image features GI’s from the 2nd Armored Division, and since they look like infantry, maybe even from the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment. Next is a group of Canadian infantrymen relaxing around a piano-accordion and a nice motorcycle. The last Normandy photo is a very rare one taken of a GI in camouflage uniform, again probably from the 2nd Armored Division. A small number of armoured infantry units were issued with these camouflage uniforms particularly in the Bocage area of Normandy in June/July 1944. However after a number of tragic ‘friendly-fire’ incidents, they were quickly withdrawn since they looked too close to the uniforms worn by the opposing German forces, so quite a rare photo indeed.

Now we move onto the Eastern Front and our first photo shows a nice Tiger 1 tank in snow camouflage. Next is what remains of a Soviet T34 tank after being knocked-out. Following photo again illustrates that much of the German Army transport was horse-drawn, but this photo shows the type of lightweight bridge that was built by the German Army engineers, which is useful for our modelling friends. Next is a knocked-out Soviet BA-3 Armoured Car being inspected by German troops. And finally is a nice photo showing a river crossing with a German 8 wheeled armoured car being driven across a bridge.

So I hope you have a great week and we will be back soon with more updates and more news.

Cheerio !

Simon 

 

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 25 JANUARY 2010

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

Again we’ve been very busy on the scanner and so this is another catch up week ! Over 200 photos have been added to both our Normandy 1944 Collection and the Eastern Front Collection. We’ve added some samples below again to tempt you to have a look at these lovely galleries.

So straight into our samples, starting with Normandy. The first one shows a nice colour photo of a jeep and a Dodge Weapons Carrier driving through a liberated town, that appears to have almost returned to normal. Next we have a Stuart Light Tank driving through a village. Note the added sandbags on the front of the hull for extra protection against German Panzerfausts. Following on we have another Dodge Weapons Carrier that looks like a near miss from enemy action. A column of GMC 6×6 trucks are next showing how hot and dusty the Summer of 1944 was. If you own a VW Kubelwagen and found US Army Olive Drab paint when you renervated it, now you know why ! Now under new ownership, the photo should say. 

We now move onto the Eastern Front and a staff car having it’s markings attached. Interesting to see it was done with a wooden ruler ! Next we see the fate of a British Matilda Tank that had been sent to the Soviets as Foreign Aid, well and truly flipped over on it’s back ! A Stug IV is next, with it’s hog’s head gun mantle shown driving at speed with support troops on board. Following on we can see the mud that both sides had to endure in this campaign. Here we see an SdKfz 250 Half Track trying to pull a Horch 1A Field Car out of the muck. Finally we have another, if not the same vehicle with the driver asking the photographer for a push out. Note all the horses in the background, which of course were used extensively by the German Army on the Eastern Front.

So I wish you all a very good week ahead and see you soon

Cheerio !

Simon

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 18 JANUARY 2010

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

Well after the excitement last week of more vehicles it’s been back to the scanning box and more for the Normandy 1944 Collection. This week sees an additional 140 photos bringing the total in the Collection to 500 ! I’ve included 10 samples below for you to see. 

We have received an email this week from Peter in Stuttgart who has enjoyed the Eastern Front Collection and asks if there are any more photos to post on the website. Well for Peter, we have a added a further 90 photos this week. 

So I won’t stop chatting this week but will get back to work in finding you some more interesting photos to see. Have a great week !

Cheerio !

Simon