Standard Vanguard RAF Staff Car

Another cracking model is this typically British Morris Minor 1000 Traveller from the 1960′s and 1970′s. The British Army used 1000′s of these as basic communications vehicles. With many army bases across Germany ready to defeat the threat of invasion from the Iron Curtain, they were used to carry post and paperwork between the command centres and camps. This model is painted with the famous bright red wings of the Bomb Disposal Squad, which carried engineers to difuse either terrorist bombs or many WW2 bombs found on construction sites around the country.

Morris Minor 1000 Traveller Bomb Disposal (29 FH 72)

Bedford MWD Western Desert 1942

Bedford OWB Bus Royal Navy (54 RN 12)

AEC Matador Gun Tractor Western Desert 1942

AEC Matador Gun Tractors

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them and have a closer study of the detail. We’ll certainly be looking for new releases later this year.

Rolf our dog is looking for a walk now, so on go the wellies and raincoat and I’ll be back soon !

Cheerio !

Simon

Hillman Minx 10hp Light Utility (TRT 679)

Spitfire MkIX

German Luftwaffe Group

19 Mechanised Brigade (Subdued)

21 Engineer Regt (LAD)

19 Mechanised Brigade (Desert)

So as we come upto the anniversary of the D-Day landings on June 6, lets’ get out there to some dry shows !

Cheerio !!!

Simon

NEW THIS MONTH – APRIL 2012

Well we’re back once again after a bumpy few weeks and can’t wait to share some of new stuff we’ve been adding to the collection over the winter months. You may have read already on Miliblog how excited we were to see our first sample model from Oxford Diecast. Miliblog were quite flattered to have been asked by Oxford Diecast to work with them to launch a range of British military softskin models. The first is an absolute cracker and as you see below is a very good small scale replica of this lovely WW2 15cwt truck. All in a scale of 1/76 the same scale as Triang Hornby model railways or Airfix plastic model kits of military vehicles. Also ideal for wargamers and at about £4.50 an absolute bargain.  Click on the photo below to get a better idea !

Bedford MWD NW Europe 1944

Well in our part of the UK, the Easter holidays with the first classic car and military vehicle shows were a complete washout !   Who wants to take out their pride and joy out in the wet, wind and the mud ! In fact many shows and events were cancelled with some being rescheduled for later in the year. So what can we turn to instead ?

Cloth badges issued for army units were very popular in WW1 and WW2 and even into the 1950′s. But by the 1970′s and 1980′s, they all but disappeared. Come the new millienium, they seem to have come back again ! This time though they’re called TRF’s !!! ….or in their fullest description Tactical Recognition Flash !!! Many designs can be traced back to the second world war or even the colours or the individual regitment or corps.  So here at Miliblog, we wanted to start collecting them and share with you these very attractive badges.  This first one is for the Rifle Brigade know as The Rifles and is the largest regiment in the current British Army.

The Rifles

Next we have a nice TRF for the Royal Engineers, with the historic RE colours of red and blue stripes.

Royal Engineers

Now these TRF’s are great on the usual DPM modern British Army uniform while in the UK, but a bright basge in combat maybe isn’t such a good idea. So we have three versions of some TRF’s, UK, subdued for combat and then a desert sand version for guess where ! Now with the new MTP, or Multi Terrain Pattern uniforms I’ve seen a fourth version TRF ! So here we show the TRF  for the 1st Artillery Brigade firstly in a nice bright red and then a subdued version for combat situations.

1 Artillery Brigade

1 Artillery Brigade (Subdued)

What about some vehicles then I hear you shout ?!!! Ok, the Scannell Crusader EKA Recovery lorry is well known in military circles and we feature many photos of them serving with the British army. So now we’re seeing them in civvi street earning their keep towing broken down trucks in for repair. A bit like a repeat story of the 1950′s with AEC Matadors ! Here’s a couple of samples below for you to enjoy. More are listed under 1980s+ preserved breakdowns

Scammell Crusader EKA Recovery (BCV 160 T)(Copyright ERF Mania)

Scammell Crusader EKA Recovery (XHT 415 T)(Copyright ERF Mania)

Well let’s hope the weather picks up for next month and we can get out there enjoying some decent sunshine !

Until then….

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS MONTH – MARCH 2012

Hello there and welcome back to Miliblog !!!
First let’s start with a big thank you to all you fellow military vehicle people out there who have been visiting Miliblog during our horrendous year. Thanks to some nasty person over in the Far East, who gets fun from hacking into people’s websites and messing them all up, Miliblog has been here but without any new items being added for you.
Hopefully our website gurus have done marvellous work and now we are back !!!
So how have you all been while we’ve been away ? I know we’ve been busy collecting and buying loads of new stuff that we can’t wait to share with you and don’t forget our ‘new images’ tab will show you all the new items that have been added.
We’ve also created a new original WW2 photos menu, as we felt they may have been hidden in the main galleries. We’ve been buying
original photos from WW2 showing not only rare and unusual vehicles but also the troops that used to drive them. So watch this space over this year as we bring them to you.
Just to start you off gently, below is one from our Maltese Army set and features a Land Rover Airportable, or Lightweight and then followed by an unusual Land Rover Defender 90 in an interesting camouflage scheme.

Land Rover S3 Lightweight (EAH 863)(Malta)

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2011

Hello once again and welcome to British Army modern heavyweight week here on Miliblog. We’ve recently bought a batch of photos from Colin Martin, a well known photographer of all sorts of heavyweight transport on the Britsh roads. So we thought we’d celebrate these massive vehicles, which probably at first glance on the photos look quite tame.Look further into the photos and compare them against things around them and you’ll see they are pretty big ! Look at our first photo for example, with a Foden heavy recovery towing a broken down Duro and then look at the car following !

Foden

Colin took this shot of a whole load of Leyland Daf DROPS lorries parked up with loads of bottled water on board. Could this be a scene from the War and Peace Show in 2020 perhaps ?

Leyland Daf 8x8 Drops (76 KH 86 + 88 KH 22)(Copyright of Colin Martin)

Next we have a Seddon Atkinson unit complete with a King trailer in RAF markings. Note the logo on the cab door of an elephant carrying a load. Not sure what unit this belongs to though. Judging from the excavator being at the front of the trailer, this suggests there would have been another vehicle behind that has already been dropped off.

Seddon Atkinson 1738tc

This next photo was taken at Cheltenham Racecourse, with the massive Oshkosh tanker dispensing fresh drinking water to campers. Can’t wait to see the neighbour’s faces if I bought one of these in an MoD disposal sale in a few years and it arrived in our front garden !

Oshkosh Close Support Tanker (DG 13 AB)(Copyright of Colin Martin)

Lastly, another Oshkosh product, the gigantic HET (Heavy Equipment Transporter).  At 23 metres – that’s 75 feet – long, that’s a big beast to handle.

Oshkosh

So enjoy having a look around Miliblog. With all the different areas we have, I hope you find something you enjoy looking at.

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 31 JANUARY 2011

Hello and welcome to this week’s selection from what’s new on Miliblog. We start with a nice photo of a Foden 10 Ton cargo lorry used by the British Army in the 1970′s for transporting supplies and ammunition close to the front line. Not as agile as the later 8 wheel DROPS lorries from Foden or Leyland used later on.

Foden 16 Ton 8x4 Low Mobility Truck (17 GB 16)

Now we have the famous Thornycroft Antar tank transporter but on this occasion transporting a bulldozer rather than the usual Centurion Tank ! The markings show a Robin Hood type archer, which is for the North Midland District and 19 Coy T, which I think is the 19th Transport Company. Perhaps it’s on it’s journey to Ruddington Camp just South of Nottingham taking the load for disposal ? Still a lovely period shot of the late 1950′s/early 1960′s.

Thornycroft Antar 60Ton Tractor (02 BD 17)

Another tank transporter with another bulldozer ! This time a WW2 American Diamond T M20, probably with an upgraded Rolls Royce engine. Similar to the Antar above, it’s towing a Dyson 8 wheeled trailer.

Diamond T980 M20 Prime Mover (03 ZC 75)

Another of our favourites is this AEC Matador, parked up in the company yard just waiting for the call to attend the breakdown of one of the fleet. It has the markings GBH on the door. Anyone know what company this is ? We’ve also got a photo of the same Matador in our WW2 British Gun Tractors gallery but painted red. Possibly a later owner.

AEC 0853 Matador (JSV 900)

Finally one for the fire engine fans. A recent Unipower Alvis 4×4 in Royal Air Force markings.

Unipower Alvis RW 4x4 Fire Tender (RH 01 AA)

So back to the old scanner to add some more photos onto Miliblog and we’ll soon be back with another what’s new.

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 24 JANUARY 2011

Hi there and welcome to this week’s samples from what’s new on Miliblog, and we start with a photo of a superbly preserved AEC Matador in the colours of Harris’s Fun Fair. Very popular with fun fairs and circuses after WW2, if you visit our WW2 British Gun Tractors gallery, you’ll find another Harris Matador along with many other Matador photos.

AEC 0853 Matador (WVS 488)

Next from the Home Front is a preserved Ford 10 NAAFI van parked up for an event and now doubt very popular selling it’s teas and cakes. These vans run by the Navy, Army and Air Force Institute – NAAFI – were the mobile catering vans of their day, taking food and drink to remote locations to feed the troops.

Ford 10 NAAFI Van (JNO 665)

Thornycroft Nubian 4x4 Crane (00 EX 21)

Looks like a nice summer’s day for a drive down the motorway in this RAF Seddon Atkinson with another tractor unit piggybacking on the back, returning to the depot.

Seddon Atkinson 401 4x2 Tractor (65 KD 02)

And finally, one for the fans of Eastern Block vehicles in the form of a Soviet Zil in Czech army markings.

Zil 151 2.5ton 6x6 Shop Van (139-42-69)(Czech)

So have a great week as we get closer to the Spring and the first outings of vehicles preserved during the Winter months.

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 17 JANUARY 2011

Hi there everyone and welcome to this week’s newsletter with a sample of what’s new. We’re well into January now and like me I hope your used to writing 2011 instead of 2010 ! We start with an old favourite, the Austin K2 ‘Katy’ Ambulance, seen here at an airshow some years ago. You can just make out the Me108, yes 108, in the background.

Austin K2 Ambulance (ASV 146)

Next is a Land Rover 90 Defender speeding down the motorway with the latest version of our favourite Sankey trailer behind it. Not too sure about the sand coloured panel on the door though as a unit marking. Not very well camouflaged !

Land Rover 90 Defender (LT 42 AA)

Now we have the longer wheelbase version, the 110 Defender with a similar trailer giving it some welly down the motorway. Don’t forget if you’re a fan of Landies, we have quite a selection of 90′s, 110′s, 101′s, Series I and 2 and of the Lightweight or Airportable on Miliblog.

Land Rover 110 Defender (MB 77 AA)

Now we have one of the latest range of vehicles added to the British Army. It’s a huge Oshkosh close support tanker. Can’t wait for one of these to come available as surplus, although I don’t think either my wife or the neighbours would be too impressed with seeing it parked on the drive.

Oshkosh Close Support Tanker (DF 92 AB)

And finally for this week, we have a big Tonka Toy of a lorry. Rugged and functional, this Soviet Zil 131 looks the part and is very popular with enthusiasts that are fresh to our hobby.

Zil 131 3.5Ton 6x6 Radio Truck (Q 247 GJT)

So once again, my friends have a great week and we’re counting down the days to the Easter holidays, our next bank holiday here in the UK.

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 10 JANUARY 2011

Hi there everyone and welcome to this week’s newsletter. Well we start off with a big THANK YOU to all of you out there in the ether who visited our little website in December. We had a record number just short of 17,000 visitors and between you looked at over 1.3 million photos. How does that work then ? Well, everytime someone clicks on a photo to look at it, it counts towards. This means on average, each visitor looks at 76 photos ! So I hope you will continue to enjoy visiting Miliblog into 2011 with some exciting things to bring you throughout the year.

Also I’d like you all to welcome Footman James to Miliblog, our first advertiser. I’ve been insuring my Ford GPW Jeep with them for many years and so can speak from personal experience that they do a fine job and at a good price too. When you’re coming to renew your Military vehicle or indeed your classic car, then click through to their website for a price. Much better than the tubby opera singer on British TV at the moment !

We start with an unusual photo of a Canadian CC60L 3 Tonner lorry shipped over to North Africa and then captured by the German Afrika Korps and put to good use. Then it’s been recaptured or liberated by the Allied Forces, and is possibly off to Base Workshops for a rebuild.

Chevrolet CC60L 3Ton 4x2 GS Captured by the Afrika Korps and Liberated

Next is a query one for you all out there. What is the vehicle below ? It’s in the Far East and with British Army markings on the door of L5143993. Is it a Dodge or a Ford ? Please email us at info@miliblog.co.uk if you can help !

Ford Van with British Soldiers

And now one for the motorcycle experts. At first I thought this was a Harley Davidson WLA 750, but on closer inspection, the front forks are different. Could it be an Indian 741B ? Again looking from the uniform and the trees in the background, I think this is another Far East photo.

Indian 741B Motorcycle

And finally yet another mystery for you to solve !!! Can anyone identify this vehicle ? Is it an M5 Half Track, a Bedford QLT troop carrier or what ? Clues are the locking mechanism for the door ! Sorry now prizes for the answer this week since I don’t know myself !

Troops with Cooker in a Mystery Vehicle

So I hope the snow and ice have all gone for you now and we’ll see you all again next week.

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 3 JANUARY 2011

Hello to you all and a Very Happy New Year for 2011 ! This year is going to be an even better one for us all. The economy is getting better and it’s going to be a magnificant Summer.

While our main passion is for military vehicles, we love to see other areas of military hardware. These can be ships as well as aircraft, which is a whole separate area altogether covered by specialist magazines and websites I know, but I doesn’t harm to add a few here and there to Miliblog !

So to start the year off, I thought I’d just show some samples from our aircraft collection as a variety. So we start off with an old photo of mine taken at the Weston Park Airshow, in the mid 1980′s. These were great shows that used to feature some rare aircraft, but some how they just stopped. It’s an American Catalina flying-boat or seaplane, flying very low indeed over the trees.

Consolidated Catalina

A lovely photo of a German Junkers JU52, with German parachute troops (Fallschirmjager) helping unload it’s motorcycle cargo.

Junkers JU52 Unloading Supplies in Crete in 1941

Now one of everyone’s favourite aircraft, one of the British RAF V-Bombers of the 1960′s. The Avro Vulcan with it’s magnificant delta wing and anyone lucky enough to have seen one at an airshow will know how those powerful engines make the earth move, when on full throttle as the aircraft goes into a steep climb .

Avro Vulcan (XL-425)

And finally to complete our week of aircraft, we have another British RAF plave of the 1950′/1960′s. If you like to get close and actually touch aircraft, then this one is for you. It stands at the entrance to the aircraft museum at RAF Cosford and you can just park next to it and walk all around. No barriers or ‘Do Not Touch’ signs. Surprisingly, to tap your fingers on it is like tapping the side of an empty tin can !!!

Hawker Hunter (XG 225)

So have a great week and we will see you soon.

Cheerio !

Simon