NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 6 DECEMBER 2010
Hi there everyone. I hope you are all well and have started the winter rebuild of your military vehicle ready for 2011. Something a little different this week with some original photos taken in WW2, Post-WW2 and our first WW1 photo.
I don’t know about you other enthusiasts, but I am finding it more difficult to find some new photos of British soldiers, sailors and airmen actually in uniform. Loads of German stuff, but not much Allied photos. So I was very happy to find recently a number of photos to share with you here on Miliblog.
The first is a studio photo taken in Southend-on-Sea, in South East England. It shows Bob nervously smiling for the camera in his Royal Artillery uniform. It’s quite timely as he’s wishing his Mum and Dad a Merry Christmas !
Royal Artillery Bob
Next we have Norman, another British soldier. I’ve had a look with a magnifying glass but I just can’t see what the regimental cap badge is.
Infantry Soldier Norman
Next we have a photo from the USA and shows a GI sitting in his Willys jeep. Click and zoom on the photo and behind is a Dodge 1/2 Ton with the rounded nose and a huge stack of Coca Cola bottles in their wooden crates. Sorry but no payments to Miliblog for product placement, or free advertising !
US GI with his jeep
Another interesting photo with a captured Horch staff car being used by British Forces in Germany. The markings on the bonnet read X173171, which is unusual, as an X suffix was normally allocated to trailers. I can’t make out the markings on the front wing either, SAAP or BAAP ? email me at info@miliblog.co.uk with your thoughts !
Horch Staff Car in British Ownership
And finally. we arrive at our first World War 1original military vehicle photo on Miliblog. I just couldn’t resist buying from one of my friends in Germany ! It’s a German ambulance, which of course you can see ! However look closer into the photo and you will see it is towing a number of small trailers, with bicycle wheels. They appear to hold 2 or more stretchers and would be towed at a very slow speed from the front line back to the casualty dressing stations. Must have a been a bit claustrophoebic inside one of the trailers. Also just look at the marvellous moustache on the chap on the right, a proper Kaiser Bill !
German Motor Ambulance with Stretcher Trailers
So After this week’s exciting additions, I need a good strong cup of tea ! See you soon !
Cheerio!
Simon
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2010
Hello once again and welcome to you all from all over the World ! Well I am sure you want to get on with the Christmas shopping now, so we will keep it short thsi week with only three sample photos for you. Last week we mentioned our good friend, local photographer John Peckmore and included some of the photos Miliblog had bought form him. So here we have some more to look at.
Our first is of a Leyland Daf DROPS thundering down the motorway with a Royal Logistics Corps container loaded on the back. DROPS stands for Demountable Rack Offload and Pickup System and means that the back of the lorry lifts up at the front and allows the whole cargo area to be dropped onto the ground. Useful for taking fresh ammunition right upto the artillery positions or for small arms ammunition to be taken to a dispersal point.
Leyland Daf 8x8 Drops (76 KH 72)(Copyright of JE Peckmore)
Next we have a Seddon Atkinson tractor and trailer. Judging from the propellor badge on the drivers uniform, then it must be a RAF vehicle. However I don’t think his sergeant would be too pleased to see him opening a bottle while driving.
Seddon Atkinson 1738tc Strato Tractor (NP 31 AA)(Copyright of JE Peckmore)
And finally we have a mystery Dennis 6×4 Fuel Tanker, with RAF markings, but not sure of the exact model. Perhaps anyone could help ?
Dennis 6x4
So have another great week writing those Christmas cards !
Cheerio !
Simon
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2010
Hi there and welcome to what’s new on Miliblog this week. “Can we have some more photos of modern British Army trucks ?” said the email, so here we are ! We have recently bought some photos from John Peckmore, an excellent local photographer and so for your delight I’ve added a few samples below.
To start with, here’s an old trooper and well known truck used by the British Army for many years. Here perhaps looking a little tired and unloved and ready for one of us enthusiasts to give it a good home. It’s towing an Arrows trailer with another trailer inside that.
Bedford MJ 4Ton Cargo (89 KD 07)(Copyright of JE Peckmore)
The next three photos feature the Leyland Daf 4Ton British Army truck in three guises. First we have a standard Cargo with the canvas frame attached which then has the canvas hood over the top.
Leyland Daf 4Ton Cargo (AN 36 AA)(Copyright of JE Peckmore)
Following is a similar truck but with the canvas and canvas hoops removed. Anyone making a model of the truck can see more detail of the drop sides and how high the back is above the sides.
Leyland Daf 4Ton Cargo (01 KL 37)(Copyright of JE Peckmore)
The whole point of these Leyland Daf trucks were to be as flexible as possible. The cargo body sides could be removed to create a flat bed to which could be added a number of different items. Here we see one kitted out as a Rapier ground-to-air missile support vehicle, complete with camouflage paint and a tactical sign painted on the door.
Leyland Daf 4Ton Cargo (GL 82 AA)(Copyright of JE Peckmore)
In fact here’s a photo I took at the Nesscliffe Military Vehicle show a few years ago. The show was held in the middle of an army training ground and during the afternoon a small convoy of these Leyland Daf’s drove throug the middle of the showground on their way back to the barracks. I remember seeing the bemusement on the faces of the troops at seeing the wartiem vehicles all on display as if they had travelled back in time !!! This photo shows an actual Rapier launcher being towed, with presumeably the missiles on the truck. Actually I do remember now that there were some MV enthusiasts that had collected all the kit and equipment for a Rapier missile battery, including radar, launchers, missiles – dummy ones of course – and the support vehicles to go with it. That is what the serving soldiers could not believe !!!
Leyland Daf 4Ton Rapier Support (09 KL 88)
So have a great week and we’ll soon be back again !
Cheerio !
Simon
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2010
Hi there again and welcome to our newsletter of what’s new this week on Miliblog. Our Normandy Collection continues to be very popular with you all so here we have five more samples to show you. The first photo shows to destroyed German vehicles which would be worth a fortune now ! A VW Schwimmwagen and a Marder self-propelled gun.
Normandy Collection No 921
A nice convoy of GMC 6×6 trucks loaded with equipment ready for the 5th General Hospital being constructed at Carentan. Click and zoom on the photo and the equipment appears to be wooden tables and. Maybe the shelving we showed last week being stocked with medical supplies?
Normandy Collection No 922
Our next photo is of the Town Hall in Cherbourg and is labelled as US Troops awaiting the arrival of their General Lawton Collins.
Normandy Collection No 923
The next photo shows the effects of an artillery bombardment, on this occasion the railway station at Carentan.
Normandy Collection No 926
Our final sample shows a lovely GMC 353 Le Roi Compressor truck providing pneumatic power to some tools being used by some US engineers. They are repairing the quay in the port of L’Entrepot to enable Allied shipping to potentially land some supplies.
Normandy Collection No 939
So I hope you enjoy these photos once again and we will see you soon. Don’t forget we love to receive your emails with your news or comments on info@miliblog.co.uk
Cheerio !
Simon
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2010
Hello again to you all and welcome to this week’s newsletter. Looking through the collection of photos from over the years, it is always good to come across some photos that you had forgotten about. As we have been adding to our Normandy Collection this has been the case which our first photo illustrates. It shows British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, on route to the Normandy beaches, post D-Day of course. ‘Winnie’ had wanted to go over on D-Day itself, but the King forbade it.
Normandy Collection No 901
Normandy Collection No 906
Re-enforcements coming a shore from Mulberry A, before it was destroyed by a great storm. They are walking on a pontoon which I believe was only used on Mulberry A. Mulberry B at Arromanches wasn’t close enough to the shore to use these pontoons. In the back of the photo, you will see the landing craft that brought the troops over from the UK.
Normandy Collection No 911
This next photo is labelled as a Barber-Greene trenching machine, made in Aurora, Illinois, USA, being used to build the 5th General Hospital at Carentan. Anyone out there come across this machine before ? I always thought that Thornycroft Nubian Trencher (see our photo of a couple using the search facility) was the first automatic trencher!
Normandy Collection No 913
Our final sample this week is of the same 5th General Hospital but at the final stages of being kitted out. Here we see medical supplies being set up in the medical stores ready for use.
Normandy Collection No 918
So I hope you enjoy looking at these photos and all the others in the collection. So until next time, have a great week !
Cheerio !
Simon
A few photos of troops out in the Far East with the jungles and mosquitoes.
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2010
Hi there ! And what a month October was for visitors to Miliblog, our best yet with over 16,000 people visiting our little website, so a BIG thank you ! It makes it all worthwhile ! We love to read your emails with all sorts of queries on military vehicles and to let us know we have a photo of an old military vehicle you used to own. So please, keep them coming in to info@miliblog.co.uk
With our Normandy Collection being so popular, we’d though we would add some more for your pleasure. So as usual, I’ve brought some samples below for you to see. We start with a photo of General Dwight D Eisenhower giving a press conference to journalists. Quite an unusual photo as it show ‘Ike’ looking quite relaxed, so it must have been taken probably in August 1944 after the Breakout.
Normandy Collection No 880
After featuring Mulberry A at Omaha beach a couple of weeks ago before the great storm, here we have a photo after the storm, which shows just how much damage had been done and leading to it being abandoned.
Normandy Collection No 883
Labelled as the US 42nd Field Hospital at St Mere Eglise, here we can see how the wounded were cared for, whether Allied or Axis, with a German soldier with a head wound on a stretcher next to what appears to be US soldiers next to him.
Normandy Collection No 884
The next photo shows some US engineers investigating some german Goliath mini-tanks. These were small vehicles that were powered by an electic motor and remotely controlled by an operator at the end of a long cable. They would guide it to an enemy tank and then press the button and 110lbs (50kgs) of high-explosive would blow up the tank.
Normandy Collection No 892
Finally we have a GMC cargo truck hosing the road with water in an attempt to keep the dust down. Remember, in Normandy 1944, dust was a big problem as it not only caused mechanical problems by getting into engines and suspension units but also it gave away to the enemy the position of vehicles travelling along roads making them a target for the enemy artillery.
Normandy Collection No 898
So have a great week and enjoy visiting Miliblog when you have a coffee break or your lunch while in the office !
Cheerio !
Simon
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 25 2010
Hi there again ! Well the old scanner has been busy again this week and we’ve added a few more to our Normandy Collection, which is proving very popular with you all. So down to business with this week’s samples from the new additions.
We start with a Stuart M3A3 light tank of the Free French Forces liberating their fellow countryfolk. Just look at the joy on the faces of those being liberated.
Normandy Collection No 859
Normandy Collection No 863
A nice collection of Sherman tanks also of the Free French Forces. Just think of the value of all this equipment at today’s prices. Millions !!!
Normandy Collection No 865
And finally, we have a highly technical piece of telecomms equipment. We just had to include this photo of a communications centre complete with plug-ins.
Normandy Collection No 875
So have a great week and we will get back to the scanner for some more additions to the collection.
Cheerio !
Simon
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 18 OCTOBER 2010
Welcome to this week’s newsletter of what’s new on Miliblog. Well we have some more lovely additions to our Normandy Collection which feature original photos back in 1944. Don’t forget, if you click on any of the sample photos shown below, they will enlarge so you will be able to see all the detail.
Our first sample this week shows a US Technical Sergeant talking with two WAC’s under some trees.
Normandy Collection No 801
Next is a nice photo of aconvoy of jeeps passing a GMC truck. Click on the photo to enlarge and you will see that the jeeps have a metal upright pole attached to their front bumper. The enemy often used to string wire across the roads in Normandy and any jeep driver with the windscreens down on the jeeps had their heads chopped off. So these anti-decapitation devices were welded onto the front bumper. Crude, but very effective, often using pieces of metal from the anti-landing devices on the Normandy beaches.
Normandy Collection No 811
An unusual photo next, with either part of Mulberry or a Rhino ferry being used to load German POW’s onto a ship to take them to England and then probably onto the USA.
Normandy Collection No 823
Next we have some GI’s enjoying a beer at a French cafe.
Normandy Collection No 837
Finally we have some US engineer’s building a forward airbase for the USAAF, ready to take some P-47 Thunderbolts to provide aircover for the forward troops.
Normandy Collection No 845
So we hope you continue to enjoy all the photos we have on Miliblog. If you have any comments or have any photos to share with us all, then please email us on info@miliblog.co.uk
Cheerio !
Simon
NEW THIS WEEK – MONDAY 11 OCTOBER 2010
Hi there and welcome to this week’s new items. We’ve been delving into our photo collection again and bring you some more brilliant additions to our Normandy collection. These have proved really popular with you from the emails we’ve received, where they feature uniforms, vehicles or just the general atmospherics of the battlefront. As usual, we’ve brought some samples below for you to see.
We start with a nice photo of Omaha beach well past the landings date with a metalised sheet road laid to bring vehicles over the sand.
Normandy Collection No 782
Next is a rare photo of Mulberry Harbour A, just off Omaha beach. Looking into the photo, it’s still being built with cranes lifting the final pieces into place. Not long after the D-Day landings, the American artificial harbour was assembled but was destroyed beyond repair after a huge storm came up the English Channel.
Normandy Collection No 793
Another fine photo of Mulberry A, but this time after it has been completed. It features an M8 armoured car with a half-track following it, while on the right are a pair of COE GMC 2.5ton 6×6 trucks.
Normandy Collection No 795
A great photo of a group of US 82nd Airborne paratroopers just relaxing after the hard fighting in Normandy. Very useful for details of uniform and the kit that was used.
Normandy Collection No 796
Finally, we have a photo of some US nurses doing their washing up after ‘chow time’. Useful photo for our re-enactor friends who want to set up an authentic camp at War & Peace Show.
Normandy Collection No 792
So my friends, back to the scanner and let us see what next week brings !
Cheerio !
Simon
