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
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
Normandy Landings Wargame
Minimi Models 1:72 Scale Allied Vehicles
Meir Model Club 1:35 Scale Tanks
Believe it or believe it not, this was the 34th West Midlands Military Show organised by the Alumwell Wargames Society. Run by Dave Jarman and Paul Yates, this year’s venue was once again at the Aldersley Leisure Village just outside Wolverhampton and was held on Sunday, March 21.
There were lots of enthusiasts at the show, many with their wallets out and treating themselves at the selection of the trade stands. There were also many live wargames going on from all periods of history, from Ancient Greeks, American Civil War and even WW! Aerial Combat with small planes on wires.
Our first photo shows a nice wargame featuring the the Normandy town of Courseuilles which was part of Juno beach on D-Day and demonstrated by the Earlswood Wargamers from Birmingham.
Normandy Landings Wargame
We then move on the first of the trade stands and feature a superb range of cast resin military vehicle models from Minimi Miniatures. Martin and Andy were there helping owner Lewis on the stand and you can see below the level of detail in these one-piece castings in 1:76 scale, As an idea, the Jeep model is around 50mm long.
Minimi Models Allied Vehicles
Minimi Models Allied Vehicles
Minimi Models Italian Vehicles
Minimi Models German Vehicles
Can you believe these detailed German vehicles and guns are a single casting ?!!!!! Next we moved onto QRF Models who had a similar range of 1:76 scale models but cast in metal rather than resin. Quite a large range with many unusual models available.
QRF Models Stand
QRF Models
We then had a chat with a couple of guys from the Meir Model Club of Stoke who had brought along some samples of their work, including many WW2 Russian models.
Meir Model Club 1:35 scale tanks
Meir Model Club 1:35 scale tanks
Other stands appearing at the show included Kit Korner specialising in rare current plastic kits and Pendraken Miniatures who have a huge range of small cast metal figures from all eras and model military vehicles in 1:100 scale which are a delight and we couldn’t resist in buying some.
So a nice show with a great atmosphere and highly recommended. Watch out for the 35th show in March 2011.
