NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 17 MAY 2010
Welcome to this week’s newsletter with something a bit different. Miliblog started off with lots of photographs of military vehicles and badges. Then we were asked by some model makers if we had any more photos of Jet Provost aircraft by any chance, having seen our museum report of the Boulton and Paul Museum. So we added to our aircraft collection.
Not to be outdone, the senior service, the Royal Navy has come on the radar, with some further requests for any ship photos. So just for you, gentleman, this week is one for our naval enthusiasts. However there is also an aircraft connection with two of our samples below as you can see.
We start with one of the largest ships afloat in the form of the American aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt. Just look at the size of it. Following on is another giant of the sea, the USS Ronald Reagan.
Our third photo shows HMS Southampton, a Type 42 Destroyer commissioned in 1981. Rather sadly, after being decommissioned in February 2009, she now lies off Whale Island in Portsmouth awaiting disposal.
Our next ship of the Royal Navy is HMS Enterprise, a Survey Vessel, Hydrographic Oceanographic and one of the Echo Class. Photographed in Dartmouth in Devon while we were on holiday, you probably recognise it from the Miliblog home page. Following on is HMS Brocklesby, one the Hunt Class of mine sweepers.
Lastly is the streamlined Danish Navy ship Esbern Snare, a Command and Support ship launched in 2005. Just looking at the lines of this ship, it just has to be a Scandinavian vessel.
So I hope you’ve enjoyed looking these sample photos and may at an area of the military that you may not have usually looked at before.
Have a great week !
Cheerio !
Simon
CVN-71 USS Theodore Roosevelt
CVN-76 USS Ronald Reagan
D90 HMS Southampton
H88 HMS Enterprise
M33 HMS Brocklesby
L17 Esbern Snare
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 10 MAY 2010
Hello and welcome to this week’s newsletter where this week we’re cranked up the old scanner and entered on some more photos of life on the Russian Front in our Eastern Front Collection. These photos have been added to over the years and now we have nearly 1,500 photos to share with you.
So as usual, we have five samples below to give you a taster of what is in the collection. We kick off with a Panzer III set in what looks like a damp and cold winters day. A real winters day is next with a German patrol marching off complete with skis and full winter camouflage. Our third sample shows a Soviet KV-2 Heavy Tank that’s had it’s turret redesigned. Image the force of explosion that shifted that amount of metal with one blow.
Our fourth sample shows quite a cheery looking chap out for some exercise and it makes you think what happened to him. Did he survive to go on to have lots of grandchildren or did he lose his life in one of the major battles ? Finally we have an early Soviet T-34/76 tank, with a 76mm gun. From this angle it hardly looks damaged. Maybe it just broke down with mechanical problems.
So I hope you are all still enjoying visiting Miliblog and with over 6,500 photos now on the website, there should be something new to find each visit.
Have a great week.
Cheerio !
Simon
Eastern Front Collection No 1098
Eastern Front Collection No 1104
Eastern Front Collection No 1135
Eastern Front Collection No 1137
Eastern Front Collection No 1154
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 3 MAY 2010
Welcome to this week’s newsletter
Monday this week was a national holiday in the UK, like many European countries. In Moscow, the Soviets held their annual May Day parade, but this year it was a very different one indeed. For the first time, forces from foreign countries were invited to join the parade, and so there were soldiers from the USA, Poland, France and of course dear old GB. We saw on the news the Ist Battalion, the Welsh Guards parading in Red Square, which was a most unusual sight to see on television.
Earlier this year, a book was published all about our dear friend the AEC Matador gun tractor. Whether it be famous as an Aifix plastic kit when we were growing up, in wartime service, used as transport for various circuses or fun fairs and then as a forestry worker. On Miliblog we have nearly 150 photos of these wonderful lorries and this weeks newsletter is dedicated to them. So please enjoy the samples below showing the Matador in a number of guises. Look at the last photo if you want to see a modified Matador !!!To visit all our photos, the look under British WW2 Gun Tractors on the photo menus.
Have a great week and I’ll see you soon !
Cheerio !
Simon
AEC 0853 Matador (002 NS)
AEC 0853 Matador (192 TT)
AEC 0853 Matador (511 AY)
AEC 0853 Matador (554 OR)
AEC 0853 Matador (MTG 491 E)
AEC 0853 Matador (SLT 154 F)
AEC 0853 Matador (XUO 718 K)
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 26 APRIL 2010
Hi and welcome everyone to this week’s newletter.
This week after a cool week, Miliblog ventured out to the town of Stafford, just 30 miles North of Birmingham to visit the new Ex-Mil show. Held at the Stafford County Showground, just North of the town and close to RAF Stafford, which is famous for it’s huge underground stores and famed as still holding stocks of wartime motorcycles and other wartime goodies. Organised by Amanda and Graham Lycett of Jeeparts fame, who also are behind the successful Militaria Convention at Malvern. This was their first show at this location and we wanted to see how it was going. Initially it was disappointing from the number of people visiting the show and by lunchtime when we arrived, many of the stallholders were just chatting to themselves. However they were all most enthusiastic and agreed with us that it has the makings of a great show. For a full show visit and further photos, have a look at our show report under Show and Museum visits. I’ve just popped on a few samples below. It was interesting to see examples for sale of both the Soviet and German machine guns that are featured so much in our Eastern Front Collection. In fact it was quite spooky !
We did try and have a chat with Amanda herself to see how it was going, but I think we were seen as the Paperazzi, as she was surrounded by security guards !!! See the picture below !!!
Still we wish them both success for the next show and we ask our fellow military enthusiasts to visit the show and support them. The stands were excellent and we could have spent a fortune on some rare and interesting militaria.
So have a good week and we’ll see you soon !
Cheerio !
Simon
Amanda being protected from the Paparazzi !
British WW2 Vickers Machine Gun For Sale
Pair of German WW2 MG34 Machine Guns For Sale
Soviet WW2 Machine Gun
Some Pocket Sized Ammunition
The Malvern Militaria Convention held at the Three Counties Showground has long been established and is in all our diaries. Run by Amanda and Graham Lycett of Jeeparts fame, it’s a great show to find lots of military bits and bobs from uniforms, vehicles, parts, badges etc.
With this successful show behind them, Amanda and Graham organised their first show held at the Stafford County Showground, just North of the town of Stafford and only a stone’s through away from RAF Stafford. Held on Sunday, May 2, just before a bank holiday here in the UK, Miliblog ventured out into the damp weather to see how it was.
There were many regulars from Malvern there and a good turnout of stands with some very exciting things for sale. Just look at some of the photos below to see. However, whether it was the weather or what but there didn’t seem to be many people there looking round. Chatting to some of the stallholders, they said it had been a little slow and by mid afternoon, most of them were just having a talk about all sorts of military things. I know i took part in quite a few myself !!! But it was the first show there and it definitely has the makings of being as good a show as Malvern. It certainly deserves the support of all us military enthusiasts and of course all the stallholders to return next time. So we wish Amanda and Graham good luck for the next one.
The War and Peace Show were there selling dvd’s of a selection of year’s shows along with a raffle to win a full size Jeep at this year’s show. Monty’s Locker were selling a fantastic range of repro wartime British army cloth badges, but were rather sensative when we tried to take a photo. Perhaps they thought we were going to copy them ! Jeeparts had a massive stand their along with Universal both selling a whole range of parts and accessories for your wartime Willys or Ford Jeep or even your postwar Hotchkiss Jeep. We even looked at some tyres for my old Ford GPW and nearly got my credit card out. Also it was quite unusual to see a Soviet WW2 machine gun, you know the one on wheels ! Especially having seen so many in our Eastern Front Photo Collection of the gun in actual wartime settings.
So enjoy the photos below and hopefully soak up the atmosphere. We did try and speak to Amanda a couple of times, but she was surrounded by hunky security chaps. Perhaps we were classed as the Paparazzi !
After last year’s horrendous heavy rain, this year’s Wolverhampton Steam Fair and Transport Rally was a complete contrast. Warm and sunny it brought the crowds back like it did for the 2008 show. As usual, it was organised by Wolverhampton City Council over the weekend of June 5/6 and held right in the city centre West Park, a glorious park dating back to the early Victorian times. Along with loads of classic cars and commercials, there was an excellent turnout for the military vehicle section, with some new local Midlands vehicles attending for the first time. Spread over two days, the Saturday includes a parade through the city centre where even the ring-road is partially closed for a convoy of vehicles to snake it’s way along, including some early steam traction engines. We attended just the first day this year, as the family had plans for my gardening skils the next day !!!
First we spoke to Christopher Tallents with his superb Land Rover S3 Shorland Armoured Car which had a Ulster Defence Force flag flying from it. He’d had it a number of years and bought it from Budge’s over in Nottingham. He said they had a whole row of them at the time wedged in between two buildings, but the best one, which Christopher chose, had to be lifted out by a giant crane. He’s traced the history and it was used by one and then another regiment of the UDR in Northern Ireland.
It was also good to see Phil Palmer once again with his marvellous Dodge Weapons Carrier in US Navy colours and also his Leyland Hippo 10 Tonner, which seems to get better each year like a good wine or a fine Stilton cheese.
Paul Wallis and his crew of two made a fine appearance with his rare GKN Simba armoured car. We asked if it was a development of the Saxon armoured car, but Paul said only the wheels and axles wrer common to it. This actual vehicle was used by the GKN sales force for demonstrations and for exhibitions and was in just like new condition. We watched and listened as they drove of at the end of the show on Saturday and it had a lovely deep throat growl to it. Fantastic !!! Other photos taken last year of the Simba have proven from our statistics to be one of the most viewed, and especially with our Japanese visitors, which we mentioned to Paul. No surprise, he said, as most of the sales of Simba’s were to the Far East.
We ventured over to the commercial section and found an ex-RAF Dodge Commando RG13 Coach that had been converted to an ambulance which you see below.
Also was a lovely Bedford OL 3 Tonner truck, which at first I walked by until I noticed on the back it had ‘ex-WD’ painted on. So I set about looking for the brass plate on the chassis that would reveal the old army registration number. Round the corner came Peter and Judith Bott, the owners who wondered what I was up to ! We then had a chat about the vehicle’s history. It had been bought from an ex-army sale in 1966 by Peter’s father and used in the family coal delivery business until being retired and renervated by Peter. Since the show we’ve emailed Peter with the details of the Royal Logistics Corps Museum at Deepcut Barracks so he can trace the service record of his Bedford.
So once again a great show and we can’t wait for next year !
Welcome to this week’s what’s new and we have another selection of photos from our Eastern Front Collection that were added this week. When you really look into the photos in the collection, it makes you wonder as to the horros that both sides incurred during this bloody campaign. Not only battling with the enemy but also enduring the terrible weather conditions.
The first photo shows a column of Soviet POW’s being marched off to a prison camp. It does make you think how many of these poor devils survived captivity to return to their families. Following is an illustration of the conditions with these two Mercedes Benz 3 Tonners struggling to get going.
Another one for our aircraft modellers with a Soviet Polikarpov I-16 fighter that looks like it’s just flown into the ground. Here we have another excellent photo of a knocked out Soviet KV-2 Heavy Tank. And finally, we have another winter scene of a German soldier in the snow in front of an Opel Blitz truck.
So I hope you’re all enjoying your visits to Miliblog and we’ll see you again soon.
Cheerio !
Simon
Eastern Front Collection No 1072
Eastern Front Collection No 1073
Eastern Front Collection No 1074
Eastern Front Collection No 1085
Eastern Front Collection No 1087
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 12 APRIL 2010
After a few weeks away from adding to our original WW2 section, our dear old scanner has been busy once again. We’ve added some more to Volume 5 of the Eastern Front Collection and below are 5 samples to tempt you to visit that area of the website.
Our first photo shows a very smart German officer standing by an Opel Staff Car. Some of these were made especially for the military, but more often than not they were civilian vehicles that had been pressed into service. Our next photo shows an abandoned Soviet KV-2 Heavy Tank by the side of the road. A useful photo for any model maker with an interest in Soviet equipment.
If anyone thought a sheepskin jacket was a recent invention, then this photo of two German soldiers proves them wrong !!! Looks a most efficient method of keeping out the cold. Another photo of a knocked out Soviet KV-2 Heavy Tank follows next, which gives another angle of this huge beast. Last example this week is one for our aircraft enthusiasts in the shape of a Messerschmidt Me-110, with some unusual nose-art.
So my friends it’s back to the scanner and see what we can find for next week !
Cheerio !
Simon
Eastern Front Collection No 1051
Eastern Front Collection No 1055
Eastern Front Collection No 1062
Eastern Fron Collection No 1067
Eastern Front Collection No 1069
This is Volume 6 showing the next batch of 250 photographs from a collection of photos taken by many servicemen on the Eastern Front, also known as the Russian Front. Starting in 1941 with the German invasion of Russia with the sunshine and the dust, then going on through the hard winter months that the German forces were unprepared for. The Russians forces were well used to the cold climate and so were better placed for winter warfare. Then the advance turned into a long retreat with bitter fighting and heavy casualties leading to the Fall of Berlin in May 1945.
The collection features uniforms and vehicles from both sides of the conflict and many of the photos illustrate the harsh conditions and the reality of warfare, which must have been a horrific experience whichever side your were on. Again, we have to say that Miliblog is NOT a political website at all. There are many enthusiasts across the world interested in the equipment and uniforms of the Second World War. Many are serious model makers and may even find an idea for a model diorama or even for painting of model figures. The aim of Miliblog here is to bring together photographs for these students of history.
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 5 APRIL 2010
Welcome to this week’s newsletter of what we’ve been up to at Miliblog. Well last week/this week has been the Easter holidays with Monday being a national holiday here in the UK. But in typical British style it has been cold and wet ! The show season kicked off over the holiday with the first local Midlands one being held at Weston Park, a stately home in South Shropshire. Famous for it’s rally stages in the old Lombard RAC Rally in the late 1970′s and 1980′s, it’s a lovely location with acres of open parkland.
Here we attended the Festival of Transport which included many different types of classic vehicles, from classic cars, tractors, buses, classic caravans and our particular favourite, the green machines. With the wet and cold weather, I think the attendance was down from last year, with many empty spaces. In fact we only saw four military vehicles, namely three Land Rovers and a Bedford RL Green Goddess fire engine. There was a fifth vehicle, but as we were walking over to the MV section, the owner was just driving off. It was a nicely turned out Austin Champ complete with side screens all fastened up, keeping the crew nice and snug inside.
Still it wasn’t without success as I found a nice 1940 dated WD fuel can on one stand and for £7 I thought it was a real bargain. I’ll add some photos of it soon when we start the military equipment section in the future. There were some other jerrycans, dated 1951 and 1952, but at £20 and not in very condition, they remained on their stands.
So after our venture out it’s back to the trusty scanner and the boxes of photographs.
Have agreat week !
Cheerio !
Simon
Bedford RL Green Goddess (SYH 102)
Land Rover 101 GS (SOH 53 R)
Land Rover 110 Defender (40 KF 04)
Land Rover Series 1 80 (86 BR 33)
