Here we show many original wartime photographs taken by servicemen themselves of each other or their vehicles often with quite poor cameras.
Some purists may point out we have a couple of Luftwaffe vehicles under the Army section, but we just wanted to keep all the ground force vehicles all in one place for now.
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2009
Hi and welcome to another newsletter on what’s new on Miliblog this week.
Well Miliblog had a great day out at the IPMS, that’s the International Plastic Modellers Society, show at the International Centre in Telford, Shropshire. Set over two days, it was the who’s who of the scale model scene. The major kit manufacturers were there such as Airfix, Revell, Tamiya, Fujimi and Hasagawa while most of the British specialist manufacturers such as Cronwell, Sovereign 2000, MMS Models, BW Models, Accurate Armour, Milicast and Matador Models were also there in force. Most if not all area clubs that make up the IPMS were there displaying their finest models of aircraft, tanks, ships, cars etc as well as many specialist interests such as the USAF or Landing Craft sections.
The Airfix Tribute Forum had a superb stand dedicated to the history of Airfix models over the years. Lets face it, how many of us as children didn’t get our first taste of military vehicles by making some of the magnificent models over the years. Chatted to a really nice chap who told us they had one of the earliest Airfix models on the stand in the form of a Ferguson TE20 tractor, or the ‘Little Grey Fergie’ as it was known. A rare model that had been stripped down to it’s parts and then rebuilt in a better way especially for the show.
However the best model at the show, and indeed probably the best model I have ever seen in my life was a 1/35 scale model of an LST, Landing Ship Tank. Nearly 8 feet long it was an absolute masterpiece complete in detail to the anti-aircraft guns and Royal Navy crew in lifejackets. Have a look at the photos below to see how excited we all got !
We’ve also added a few more to our ‘Tanks Collection’ feature with some more colour photos from WW2 which are pretty unusual. I’ve shown a couple of samples below to tempt you to visit this area of the website, under ‘Gallery of Photo Collection’.
We’ll soon be bringing another new exciting area to Miliblog. This is a huge collection of photos from the Miliblog files of German forces on the Eastern Front or Ost Front in the campaigns of 1941 and 1942, as the German forces invaded Russia. Another area will feature studio photos of German servicemen, which will appeal not only to those who collect uniforms, but those interested in the homefront as well.
I think it is important once more to remind our readers, Miliblog is NOT a political website at all. It is interested in the armed forces and their equipment, vehicles and aircraft. How technology was, and still is, advanced through the development of military equipment. This has improved our home lives as well as the technology has been rolled out to products for ‘civilian consumption’. It is also intrested in the human side and how people lived under wartime conditions, whether it be on the battleground or indeed at the home front, which could be more stressful. Hopefully, without being political, we all learn in life through our mistakes. Maybe Mankind can look at history and certain images and experiences, and say let’s find a better way to a solution. I think with today, November 8, being Rememberance Sunday here in the UK, this makes us all think of relatives and friends lost in conflicts old and current.
So, after my little lecture, I’ll get back to my scanner for next week’s new items for you.
Have a great week !
Cheerio !
Simon
LST (Landing Ship Tank) Hand Built Model in 1/35 Scale
LST (Landing Ship Tank) Model Close up of Vehicles
LST (Landing Ship Tank) Model Close Up of Bridge
LST (Landing Ship Tank) Model Close Up of Rear Deck & Guns
Marder I SPG in Russian Mud, from Miliblog
M4 Sherman Advancing with Infantry
From a number of sources we’ve collected e-photos of Italian WW2 Tanks, either in original wartime situations or indeed in preserved condition. Some are taken at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland USA. Sorry to say that some are not upto the usual high standard we normally bring you here at Miliblog, but nevertheless I still think they’re worth including on the website. See what you think yourself. Remember many were taken with older generations of cameras and not the modern digital cameras we enjoy today.
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 26 OCTOBER 2009
Hello and welcome to the newsletter of what’s new on Miliblog this week. As we write this, it’s Sunday November 1st and Haloween is over for another year. Hope you didn’t get tricked last night !
Following on from last week’s 120 e-photos, we have a further 70 of them added this week to The Tank Collection and I’ve got some samples below to tempt you have a look at the Collection. As we said last week they are far from perfect, but being slightly grainy and a little out of focus, I think it brings some atmosphere to them. As always we love to receive your emails about all sorts of items, so we will wait and see if we get any feedback. The first one is a nice photo of a Valentine Tank in Malta and the reason we are sure it’s taken in Malta is because of the camouflage pattern. If you have ever visited Malta, you will see many dry stone walls separating the fields and the army adopted a similar style of camouflage to the walls. Have a look at the picture and you will see what we mean. The next British smple is a nice little Light Tank MkVIA taken in North Africa with the commander standing on the turret with his binoculars. The last British sample this week is a lovely Churchill Recovery Tank complete with what looks to be twin-Bren guns as armament. Look at the Canadian Ram Tank in the background, which is a rare beast indeed.
Our sample US Tank featured this week is a nice M4 Sherman with a Cullin devise fitted on the front. The big problem for troops in the Normandy campaign both for US and British troops was the Bocage countryside, which featured many fields edged with thick hedges and then sunken roads between them. The problem was when an Allied tank went up and over the hedge, it revealed the soft under-belly which was an easy target for enemy bazookas or panzerfausts. It was solved by a Sergeant Bill Cullin of the US Engineers who came up with the idea of chopping down the German anti-invasion metalwork on the beaches and attaching pieces to the front of a tank. This way the tank went through the hedge and so saved many tanks from being hit.
From our German section we have a nice Panzer IV at speed on the Russian Steppes. Next is a Jagd Tiger, here seen in Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset, UK. Just look at the size of this animal compared to the people standing by it. What a monster ! How would you stop that thing if it was coming at you ! Then we have a really atmospheric photo of a Panzer III motoring along in the desert in North Africa. This is an example of where despite the photo being grainy and not in much detail, I just had to include it in the collection. We have 5 Stug III photos this week and my favourite is the one below, which is in colour. Last sample this week from the German section must show an excellent idea for all our modellers amongst us. Although not strictly not a tank, it’s an Sd Kfz 7 Half Track towing a nice piece of artillery over a bridge.
We are still amazed here at Miliblog when we look at out website statistics. October was the best month since we started, with just under 7,500 visitors in the month resulting in over 600,000 hits, so a big ‘Thank You’ to you all. This means that the average visitor looks at around 80 pages per visit, so we must be doing something right for our fellow enthusiasts come back to have another look !
Next weekend on November 7/8, we have the IPMS (international Plastic Modellers Society) ‘Scale Model World 2009′ Exhibition at the International Centre in Telford, Shropshire. With over 270 trade stands it’s going to be a cracker of a show and Miliblog will be visiting and reporting back to you. Hopefully we may be able to take some photos as well ! I’ll be wearing a Miliblog badge so if any one of you are there and spot me, then please stop me and say ‘hello !’
So without further delay, I’ll get back to the scanner and conjure up some nice new photos for next week.
Cheerio !
Simon
Valentine Tank in Malta
Light Tank MkVIA in North Africa
Churchill Recovery Tank
M4 Sherman with Cullin Device, Normandy
Panzer IV at Speed in Russia
Jagd Tiger in Bovington Tank Museum
Panzer III in North Africa
Stug III in Russia
Sd Kfz 7 Half Track & 105mm Howitzer
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 19 OCTOBER 2009
Hello to you all and welcome once again to Miliblog. This week we’ve started an exciting new section which I think will be very useful especially to model makers. Over the years I have accumulated many different photos and in different forms, whether it be digital, slides or even the glossy photos that came in a packet from the photo shop after developing. But part of the collection that is really interesting are the digital e-photos that were available on cd’s or donated from fellow enthusiasts. Some have a copyright attached to them and these we won’t be adding to Miliblog. The others that have no copyright or are so old that under International law the copyright has expired, we shall be adding to Miliblog for your enjoyment.
This week we’ve added nearly 130 photos and have set up this new section called ‘The Tank Collection’. Ok some of the photos are a little grainy and we can’t get them to explode to a full screen, but I think they are really good and provide more detail and close ups of the tanks. So far we have 3 sections, WW2 British, WW2 German and WW2 American, each with many exciting photos to view. I’ve shown some sample below. Who can’t resist looking at them and remember that early Tamiya or Esci model that many of us made back in the 1980′s !!! Have a look at the Panzer 35t or the Sherman Rocket launcher which were both early Esci models in 1/72 scale. There’s nothing like a bit of nostalgia, but as someone recently said ‘Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be !!!’
Don’t forget, we have the search tab at the top if there’s a particular vehicle or registration number of an old vehicle you once owned or you’re interested in. Just pop the details into the box and search.
So back to the scanner and find some more stuff for next week !
Cheerio !
Simon
Valentine Tank & Troops
M3 British Grant Tank
M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer
M4A1 Sherman with Rocket Launcher
Tiger I Tank in Action
Tiger I Tank in Bovington Tank Museum
Panzer III Being Made
Panzer II Tank
Panzer IV Ausf F2 Tank
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 12 OCTOBER 2009
Hi everyone and welcome to this week’s newsletter.
Well we’re very excited here at Miliblog this week. One of our favourite Military Vehicle publications, Military Machines International recently published issue No 100 and we sent their editor Ian Young a congratulations email wishing him all the best for the next 100 issues. Well we just bought issue 101 this weekend and our jaws dropped open to read a lovely response from Ian. To quote, he said ‘I took a look and found it to be packed with information and photos and is definitely worth a look. It’s easy to navigate and features loads of photos and military vehicles of all types that are sure to be of interest to readers’. Similar to say, we also enjoy reading Ian’s magazine and highly recommend people to source it out if they are not already readers. Also their website is www.militarymachinesintl.com if you’d like further info.
OK, that’s got the back slapping done and onto what new photos we have for you this week. We start with a selection of old Bedfords and AEC’s of the 1960′s & 1970′s and two samples are shown below. Firstly a Bedford J Series Luton Van in camouflage, and then an unusual Mandator 4×2 Tractor in use at the HM Dockyards in Portsmouth. Must have been pretty powerful looking at the size of the trailer.
Next for you we have some Unipower BR90 8×8 Bridging System Vehicles. I believe they were made in Birmingham, someone told me and unusual as they weren’t actually given full MoD registration numbers, Rather they were issued with ‘CP’ numbers which stood for ‘Civilian Plant’. Perhaps someone out there may be able to help with some more information on them.
Next is one for our friends in The Netherlands. A nice Marirus Deutz S3500 Fire Rescue, which we are pretty certain is an ex-military fire engine.
And next to keep our friends across the pond happy are two photos of the twenty or so illustrating a junk yard on the I1 or Interstate 10 in the USA. Below are two examples, a US Marine Corps Dodge M37 Cargo and a US Army Kaiser Jeep M715 Cargo. Hopefully someone will rescue these trucks and give them a good home.
So that about wraps up this week’s newsletter. Next week we’ll be digging into our collection of e-photos built up over the years from a number of sources. Not as good as digital or scanned photos, they are very interesting to look at and see the details. Especially useful to those amongst us who make scale models of military vehicles. Whether straight out of the box or some good ideas for conversions. You never know, perhaps amongst us are the guys who work for the actual companies making the models and they might find some ideas for new models for next year. Enough rambling, Simon !
Cheerio !
Simon
Bedford J1 4x2 Luton Van (38 FL 70)
AEC Mandator 10Ton 4x2 Tractor (1493 RN)
Unipower BR90 8x8 Bridging System Vehicle (12 CP 96)
Magirus Deutz S3500 4x2 Fire Rescue (VN-17-38)(Neth)
Dodge M37 Cargo (USMC 306588)(US Junk Yard)
Kaiser Jeep M715 Cargo (US Junk Yard)
From a number of sources we’ve collected e-photos of US WW2 Tanks, either in original wartime situations or indeed in preserved condition. Some are taken at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland USA. Sorry to say that some are not upto the usual high standard we normally bring you here at Miliblog, but nevertheless I still think they’re worth including on the website. See what you think yourself. Remember many were taken with older generations of cameras and not the modern digital cameras we enjoy today.
From a number of sources we’ve collected e-photos of German WW2 Tanks, either in original wartime situations or indeed in preserved condition. Some are taken at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland USA. Sorry to say that some are not upto the usual high standard we normally bring you here at Miliblog, but nevertheless I still think they’re worth including on the website. See what you think yourself. Remember many were taken with older generations of cameras and not the modern digital cameras we enjoy today.
