NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 15 JUNE 2009

Welcome, bienvenu, welkom bij u, zapraszamy do was !

Firstly, we would like to apologise to Major Gary Wallace. In our searching for new things to bring to Miliblog we came across the group of New Zealand guys planning a trip to the Sahara Desert later in the year and indeed posted links to their videos with their permission. Major Wallace, as leader of the expedition and based in Scotland, contacted us to say that the NZ contingent were only part of the expedition and that the RHQ, B Troop and H (Heavy) Troop were in fact based in the UK. We have now amended our posting. The expedition itself sounds absolutely fantastic. Starting from the old LRDG base in Cairo, the plan is to set off across the desert following the routes the LRDG took and stopping off at various points along the way. There is a chase team of modern vehicles along with a full film crew to record the event. I’m sure such a trip is worthy of more attention, as they are raising funds for a number of armed forces charities. Their website is at www.wdrg.org LINK TO WEBSITE  We wish Major Wallace and both the UK and NZ crews the very best for the trip.

So what do we have new to Miliblog this week ? Well we have reached another milestone in that there are now over 2,500 photographs here now posted for you all to enjoy. As we’ve said before, the hobby of old military vehicles and indeed military equipment in general, appeals to a whole cross-section. Some of us are fascinated by the functional engineering of the vehicles, some the military side, and some making scale models of the vehicles. Let’s face it, collecting military vehicles takes up a lot of room and if you don’t live on a farm or have a garage business, maybe having a collection of the different vehicles in small scale is a better alternative. Therefore whatever your area of interest, I hope you continue to find the newer postings of interest.

This week, we’ve added some more US 2.5 Ton 6×6 trucks. However, rather than some more of our favourite Jimmies, we have some Studebakers. Without causing offence, some of you new to the hobby may look at a Studebaker and think at first glance it’s just another GMC.  The clue is the higher bonnet and the more squared off front wings. I’ve put a photo of each below for comparison, the Stude being an Australian registered one. The Jimmy photo was taken back in the 1980′s. Being a family man myself, I wonder what became of the little boy smiling on the photo and whether he followed his father’s interest into the hobby ? Maybe he even now owns a Sherman tank !!! Next one is a query one for you all ! We have two Chevrolets with the same registration number. Was one a before and the other after preservation, or has the owner just transferred the number plate to the vehicle they wanted on the day ? One has single rear wheels while the other has double rear wheels. What do you think ?  Also added this week have been a small selection of preserved German WW2 vehicles including this 4 wheel steer Stoewer 40 Radio Car.

Finally, I’ve been contacted by an old friend who has over 200 photos of Berlin, taken in May/June 1945. We hope to post these soon onto Miliblog, to share with you all. He’s told me they show Russian as well as US vehicles and also the state of the city at the end of WW2. Should be quite interesting as well as being very thought provoking.

Meanwhile keep on enjoying the show season wherever you are in the world !

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 8 JUNE 2009

Hello again and welcome once more to the weekly posting of what is new on Miliblog this week.

A big hello to all our colleagues in Poland this week, the statistics tell me many of you have visited over the past week. I’ll have a look at through the photos waiting to be added and see if I can find some Star trucks.

Well how is everyone out there in military vehicle land ? Did those who went to Normandy enjoy themselves and make it back without any serious breakdowns ? Reading many of the MV magazines, some say that now the Normandy trip is over, they expect an increase in the number of vehicles being sold. It will be interesting to see and monitor over the next few months.

Well we’ve changed slightly the batch of photos added this week to Miliblog. They have mostly been photos of either preserved vehicles or those in current service. Well this week they are original WW2 photos of the vehicles in action or at the factory. You’ll find them under Original photos section and Vehicles of the British section. Below are some examples to whet your appetite. One other addition is a nice Dodge WC-63 6×6 Weapons Carrier which has been civilianised and owned by Panes or Ranes Garage. Looks like a Scammell Explorer behind it too. As far as I can make out, the sign post says the A404, which according to the map is near Marlow in Bucks. Can anyone out there help with more local information ?

Anyway, wish you all a good week and a sample of this week’s new stuff is below

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 1 JUNE 2009

Welcome to another exciting week here at Miliblog !

As we write our weekly post, it’s Sunday and the main D-Day events have come and gone. In the UK we had heavy rain all over the weekend, but I’m happy to report that Normandy was bathed in sunshine. The national newspapers have mentioned the commemoration events in Normandy, but not so much as for the 60th Anniversary in 2004. Many turned it into a political report that Prime Minister Gordon Brown looked tense and was agitated, while others couldn’t stop from saying that the Paras were played to by a German band as they marched along, since the MoD was too mean to send a British band. Any thoughts out there ?

Also for the first time as far as I can remember, a German Chencellor was invited to attend, with Angela Merkel taking part in the events. What do we think of this ? Here at Miliblog, we think it a good thing, that both sides from the war have come together to recognise the events that took place. Without wishing to offend any ex-Allied forces servicemen, both sides suffered a great loss of life, and we should all recognise that fact, whatever your nationality or political outlook.

Ok, that’s the serious side done. What has Miliblog been upto this week ? Well we attended the Wolverhampton West Park Show on June 6 and 7 which in the past has been a super little show for MV’s and indeed steam traction engines and classic cars. Previously blessed with sunny days, this year turned out have heavy rain that started Friday evening and as we write this on Sunday afternoon, is still continuing. Have a look at our Show Reports tab and have a look at the photos to see how wet it was !

From additions to the photos galleries, we now have a British WW2 motorcycle section, with some nice photos to see.

Have a great week and I hope that where ever you are in the world, the sun is shining for you !

Cheerio !

Simon

James ML Military Lightweight 125cc 1943 (RE 9889)

 

 

 

BSA M20 500cc 1943 (189 XUF)

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 25 MAY 2009

Welcome, bienvenue and G’day to our many new readers from Australia ! 

Well as we get closer to the 65th Anniversary of the D-Day landings on June 6th, the atmosphere amongst MV owners is full of excitement. Some Miliblog have spoken to, have been before and know what to expect while others are anxious that their old vehicles will get through without any breakdowns ! Whatever, we hope that the weather is glorious sunshine and not a repeat of the weather 65 years ago. Many say this will be the last official ceremony to commemorate the Normandy campaign and that the old soldiers won’t be able travel as they wouldn’t be up to it. At Miliblog, we don’t believe this at all !!!! Having met veterans recently and chatted to them, many are pretty sharp individuals and have got more about them than many teenagers we’ve met !!! So don’t be surprised to see an official ceremony for the 70th Anniversary in 2014. 

New additions this week to Miliblog have been over 100 new photos to the galleries. We like to cover all nationalities and all eras where we can. As we’ve said before, the hobby of military items covers all sectors from model making, military historians, ex-service folk, vehicle collectors and military enthusiasts. Many of these 100 are Fodens in British Army service in the early 1980′s/1990′s, and it’s interesting to note, that some have camouflage and other don’t. Other photos are of Leyland Hippos that were late WW2 and then used in the early 1950′s. As we’ve said before, half the fun with these photos is not only to see the vehicle itself, but also what’s going on in the photograph. Below is a Hippo, which looks fine, but look at the load it carries and you will see a rare Humber Scout Car on the back. Wonder where it is now ?

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

Cheerio !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 18 MAY 2009

Well Hi and welcome to this week’s new items to Miliblog

Big news to Miliblog this week is that we now have a search facility !!! Pick out the tab at the top and then type in the vehicle type, ie Ford GPW Jeep. Maybe you’d like to see if your old mv is there, then type in your registration number and hit the search button and up it pops. Next new addition is another tab at the top that gives you the latest additions to the site. Now with over 2300 photos available, this makes the serach even easier. Don’t forget you can still use the searches on the right for groups of photos by coutry,age or types. 

Like many others who have an interest in military history know, we are very soon coming up to the anniversary of one of history’s major events, namely the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy, or J-Jour as it is known in France. This year sees the 65th anniversary of the landings back on June 6th, 1944. Whether your interest lies in uniforms, vehicles, equipment, aircraft or warships this one day’s anniversary alone covers all of our interests. It was the greatest invasion made in history and probably such a force will never be seen ever again in the future. When we think of this, remember those that took part in this piece of history. Spend a moment to reflect on those that survived and those that paid the ultimate sacrifice. Next time we curse the elderly driver for going to slow and getting in our way or the old codger in the supermarket for dithering about, just remember, they may have taken place in that great adventure, as it was called.

Ok, well I was watching BBC TV Breakfast News this week and a report came from the Imperial War Museum (North), which is in Manchester. It featured some movie film that had been taken in 1945/46 by an amateur movie photographer of a POW (Prisoner of War) camp near Nottingham showing German POWs in the camp. The guy, who had been a soldier at the camp, passed away at Easter this year and had donated his collection to the IWM, who have now put it on display along with other POW items. It got me thinking. I remember back in the late 1970′s, when I first started work, that one of the ladies in the factory used to tell me that she and her school friends used to cycle out from Wombourne, south of Wolverhampton, some 12 miles north to the village of Coven, to see the POWs behind the wire and taunt them.  She could never remember where it was, but the memory of this stuck in my mind. So following the report, I googled ‘Coven POW’ and came accross a most interesting website created by Brett Exton along with Shawn Bohannon. It describes a POW site close to Brett’s home town of Brigend in South Wales with photos and lots of interesting details that you can enjoy reading through. However, he’s also researched all the other POW camps thoughout the UK in WW2 and listed them out in detail. Whatever part of the country you live in, have a look and then find the camp that was local to you. The website is www.islandfarm.fsnet.co.uk

A few more photos have been added this week, including three of an AEC Jones crane taken in Cyprus in the late 1980′s. It was working for a circus loading containers. Still lots more to add to the site, so please pop back and have a look. So you can see the new additions, we’ve worked with our website designers on a page dedicated to new photos this week type of page. Also with the search facility now in place, you can spend many more hours looking through our database of military hardware.

Anyway, hope you all have a great week and to those lucky enough to be going to Normandy, you luck bastards !!!

Cheerio !!!

Simon  

 NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 11 MAY 2009

Hi there and welcome to the weekly news on Miliblog !

We’ve been rather busy this week working extra time at work and having to bring home reports to finish for the boss. Sorry to say but Miliblog is a one-man band. Well we have managed to make some additions this week, around 30 new photos. These are some more Home Office Bedford RL’s, some more US WW2 vehicles and at last some postwar German vehicles. We’ve at last been able to make a start on our links to other sites and now you will see some military vehcile clubs and also some one-make military vehicle clubs.

Our hightlight of our week was the weekly shopping expedition to Sainsbury’s supermarket !!! Why, because three ex-Royal Marine Commandoes were collecting on behalf of the Royal Marine Association. Needless to say, Miliblog contributed to their collection and had a chat with the one RM. He’d joined up in 1941 and had served in 40 Commando, which was the first Commando formed in 1942.  He’d served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Yugoslavia and Corfu. Nice chap, wish we had more time to chat but we were holding up the shoppers with their trollies. Still we shook his hand and thanked him, which nicely surprised him ! 

To finish off, we have 3 photos below form this week’s additions

Cheerio !

Simon 

GMC 353 CCKW 6x6 Maintenance (LH-70130)(Norge)

 

 

 

 

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 4 MAY 2009

Hi there, bienvenue, wilkommen !

I hope you all had a great bank-holiday Monday at least in the UK. Again for all you MV enthusiasts out there all over the world, Miliblog has been able to add a further 100 photos onto the website. This week we’ve added many WW2 Canadian Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet trucks varying from 15cwt, 30cwt and 3 tonners.  Also we’ve added 6 x Volkswagen Type 82 Kubelwagens to the German section, since we seem a little short of vehicles from the Fatherland.

We went off today to visit the Nesscliffe Show near Shrewsbury in Shropshire. There’s some beautiful countryside round there and the show is held in the Army’s Nesscliffe training camp. After the past couple of years of the show attracting heavy rain, this morning was really warm and sunny so a good afternoon’s photo session of Green Machines was on the menu. However, we searched all over the area, went into the camp, called out the guard at the guardhouse as we looked a security threat (!) and after an hour of searching came home !!!  Please chaps, if the event is on, can we have some signposts to tell us where you are ? The guard did phone the organisers who told him they were there, somewhere, but we never found them !!! So sorry guys, no photos for you of the event.

It looks like this year, events in Normandy in June are really going to be quite exciting. There are many events planned and magazines like Classic MV or indeed our own MVT Windscreen magazine will have more details. From the UK, I know the MVT tour is well subscribed for a long time. There must be other tours arranged from other European countries so we’d love to hear about them. Email us at info@miliblog.co.uk to inform us, so we can share this with other enthusiasts.

There are many of you that, like me, have visited Normandy and the landing beaches many times and know our favourite towns or villages to see. For others, a trip to Normandy this year may be your first, and maybe you’re wondeing what to expect ! From my personal experiences, the Normans are quite independent people who consider themselves Normans first and then French second. Quite friendly, they appreciate it if you as least make an effort to speak French to them, even if you’re not perfect. To wave your arms around and point always results in being ignored !!! How would we deal with foreign visitors here in the UK ?!!!

I adore the French foods and wines and love visiting the supermarche and seeing what’s available. I remember a massive one in Bayeux just opposite the War Museum which had a huge selection. Just remeber though, if you want a steak in a restaurant look out for bifsteak. Often just steak means that you’re getting meat that once neighed !  

 To finish this week as usual, I’ve shown below some of the photos we have added this week. One of them is quite unusual. It’s a Chevrolet F30 that once was a an LAA body but was changed to an Ambulance body. Which came first, anyone out there know ?

Have a great week !

Simon

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 27 APRIL 2009

Welcome once again to the Miliblog weekly update !

Well we start off with a response to Martin from Norfolk who emails us to say he enjoys visiting Miliblog but asks why do we have to sort the photos out into so many categories ? Well Martin, the answer is quite simple. Curretly we have over 2,200 photos on the website and still many more to come. With so many MV enthusiasts all over the world, some of you have certain areas of interest, for example WW2 American or current British army or even just anything to do with Land Rovers. So we have broken down the categories between Military Vehicles and Aircraft, between nationalities, in service or preserved, and so on. Hope this helps, Martin !

This week I was passing through Lichfield in Staffordshire, had a hour to spare, so I visited the Staffordshire Regiment Museum at Whittington Barracks just outside the city. The full details of the visit are posted under the Museum Visits heading but needless to say some nice vehicles including a Ford T16 Universal Carrier that needed some tlc. The chaps there are looking for an engine so if anyone out there can help, I’m sure they’d be pleased to hear from you.

Well, what’s new this week ? Well a further 100 photos have been added in various places over the website. One particular photo I like is a Bedford OXB 30cwt postwar conversion in the Netherlands, which I’ve copied below. ‘Geschonken door de Gemeente’ I think translates something like gifts or welfare from the community. Perhaps some of our regular visitors from The Netherlands could help ? Another photo is of an Australian Army ‘Careers Advisor’ VW Minibus, taken in August 1979. The back was fitted out as an office area where the potential recruits were given the sales pitch, it was painted in a high gloss camouflage to attract the punters.  Just to illustrate how wide our hobby spreads across the world, I’ve just added a Dodge WC-51 Weapons Carrier owned by a Japanese enthusiast. Actually, I’ve noticed we get quite a few visits from Japan, so here’s one just for you !

The Events page isn’t as good as we wanted and so we’ll be spending some time with our software guru over the next couple of weeks to make it easier to use, so apologies for that. Next week, on May 9/10 sees the MV Show at Nesscliffe near Shrewsbury which is always a good friendly show. Let’s hope the weather is kind to them this year. All being well, Miliblog will be there reporting on the event, meeting up with some fellow enthusiasts and adding further stuff for your delight.

Have a great week !

Simon         

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 20 APRIL 2009

Hello and welcome again to Miliblog !

Well what exciting new stuff do we have for you this week. Firstly we’ve added another 100+ photos from the collection now taking us to over 2,100 in all on the website. With this amount and the number of visitors each day means our website designer is working on increasing our bandwidth to make the downloads faster for you. I know how irritating it can be wanting to see the photos but having to wait.

So where are these new photos ? Well all over the place ! We have some more British 1980′s + tanks in thier section, we have some more British WW2 Medium Weights and at last we have started the WW2 preserved German vehicle section. This was a nice VW Schwimmwagen at the Class Car Show at the NEC in Birmimgham in November 2008, which was a jaw-dropping moment when I saw it. Despite lying on the floor in front of it and having a tantrum, they wouldn’t let me take it home !  But one small criticism is the camouflage. Is it more Maori rather than German ? What do you think ? Email me and let me know !

Looking back through the collection, I came across some photos of a show I attended back in 1977, which was the Himley Hall Classic Car Show, nearly Dudley in the West Midlands. So I thought i’d start a ‘shows visited’ section, which you can visit.

Also I came across some holiday photos when we were in Malta and Cyprus. I’ve added in the Bedford OYD with the broken back into the British WW2 Medium Weights but shown one below to whet your appetite. The Thornycroft crane was in Malta in 1990 at a delightful bay called Marsascala and was being used to lift heavy building blocks. However I understand since from a contact in Malta that it’s no longer there.

NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 13 APRIL 2009

Hi there again everyone !

Welcome to Miliblog !

Sorry we didn’t have a weekly newsletter last week, but I hope to make this up to you all this week with a bumper edition. So what’s new this week ? Well we’re pleased to announce that we have now reached the magic number of 2,000 photos of military items on the website. This week we’ve added many new US WW2 wreckers, British WW2 Bedford QL’s, Karrier K6′s, 1950′s Bedford RL’s in military service and preserved examples, plus a number of civilian Thornycroft Antars and many more, including nearly 20 US Half Tracks. Look out for the one based in Breda, in The Netherlands. Can any of you guys in The Netherlands tell us some more information on this Half Track ? Has it now been rescued ? As usual, i’ve included a few samples of this week’s photos as a sample to tempt you to look even further !

So what has Miliblog been upto over Easter ? Well we visited the Classic Car Show at Weston Park in Shropshire on Easter Monday which in the past has proved worthwhile to us MV enthusiasts with plenty to see. Despite the £7 per person entrance, we coughed up the money, with the thoughts of seeing many Green Machines. However, what a disappointment ! I know that it is always good to see any old MV and have a chat to their owners and hear their stories, but all we saw was one unattended Ford GPW Jeep and 4 ex-army Land Rovers which were also unattended. However we did find a Bedford Green Goddess Fire Tender and many other classic cars from old Jaguars, Austins, Fords, MGs etc and spoke with their owners so it wasn’t a wasted journey. Did any of you attend the show on Easter Sunday ? Perhaps there were more MV’s then ? Please let us know !

Today, however was the opposite ! Miliblog had heard of the Boulton Paul Heritage Project near Codsall in Wolverhampton but always heard of their open day after the event. However this time we heard before the event so off we went. I had read that the project had been rebuilding a Bouton Paul Defiant aircraft from WW2 and the story was that they had a few bits and bobs to go with it and so I went along just expecting to see this aircraft. Wow, did I have a pleasant surprise !

Boulton Paul had moved from Norwich to Wolverhampton in 1934 and set up a purpose made factory to produce aircraft. Their most famous aircraft, the Defiant, was produced during WW2 and was unique in being single engineed but with a turret in the fuselage behind the pilot. The company was also famous for producing many of the turrets used in WW2 bombers such as the Halifax.  Over the years, the company changed hands and is now owned by the American GE Aviation. One chap today told me that when they bought the company from Smith’s Aerospace in 2007, they didn’t know about the museum but had a very pleasant surprise. Now they are very supportive and are proud to have part of the company’s history on their site, which is great to hear in this day and age.  

The museum itself isn’t open to the public very often, which is a great shame, since it has such a wonderful atmosphere to it. It’s like a private club of enthusiasts who are really enthusiastic about there interests and are more than happy to share it with you, which makes you feel really at home and welcomed. In addition to the Defiant, I was amazed to find a Jet Provost, a Balliiol trainer, a 1919 P6 Biplane, a number of Slingsby training gliders used by the ATC (Air Traning Corps) along with cockpits of a Hawker Hunter, Avro Anson, Canberra and a turret from a Halifax bomber. In addition to the open day was a display of 1/6 scale – Action Man size ! –  radio controlled model tanks, complete with loud engine noise by the UK Tank Club. Truly an amazing afternoon and one I would highly recommend. I can’t wait until the next one, which I believe in on June 7th. For further details visit their website at www.boultonpaul.com Have a look at out new tab for Museum Visits where you’ll see some of the photos I took.

So please keep enjoy visiting our website and discovering the new additons. We had over 100,000 hits in March from all over the World, which I still find amazing that there are so many people out there that share our hobby !

Cheerio until next week !

Simon

Bedford QLD 3Ton Van Body (DFP 407)

 

 

Ward La France Model 1000 Series 2 Wrecker (WSU 626)