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

Studebaker US6-U3 6x6 Cargo (CH 2025)(Aus)

GMC 353 CCKW 6x6 Cargo

Chevrolet M6 Bomb Service Truck (GHP 477 T)

Chevrolet M6 Bomb Service Truck Conversion ? (GHP 477 T)

Stoewer 40 Kfz2-40 Radio Car (SS-202770)