Near Death Flyby on the Tarmac

Bad Weather Problems In The UK

UK drivers are warned about the snow, ice and the inevitable Imperial assault on their rebel base.

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Friday Humour - Funny Talking Animals

Download with Vixy.net

The secret behind Norway’s massive Nazi coastal cannon

In 1942, Nazi engineers devised a plan to build a 1,500-ton supertank. The P1000 Rat, or “Land Cruiser,” was to be the largest and fiercest industrial-age ground weapon the world had ever seen. In 1943, the project was cancelled. So how did its massive gun turret wind up on a coastal hilltop in Norway ? Link
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Picture Of The Week - No 12 - Panther

Took this picture at a large all day game of 20mm WW2 using the Bolt Action rules just after X-mas.  I had a late entry into the game (I didn't make it until the afternoon), and brought on some reinforcing tanks, one of which was a nice Panther. Here it is engaging a Churchill in the distance, whilst intimidating a Dingo that had ventured too far forward.  Used the camera in my Samsung Galaxy IIIS to take it, and then edit it.
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River in Poland yields a Valentine

Vintage tank hunters pulled a Valentine tank from the backwaters of the Warta River in western Poland this past October. Military vehicle collector Jacek Kopczynski of Lodz, led the recovery operation. One of the founders of the Veteran Vehicles Bazaar in Poland, Kopczynski commented a day prior to the successful recovery, “If a person could manage to recover the Valentine, it will be a sensation in the world. This is the first of its kind found in Poland.”
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Happy New Year

I would like to wish all the readers of my Blog a Happy New Year.  I hope 2013 is a good year for you and your families.
Kind regards to all
Ian

Ronald Berry: Hull's Spitfire pilot from Churchill's 'Few'

There are plans to commemorate the life of a World War II Spitfire pilot from East Yorkshire whose exploits made him stand out, even among Winston Churchill's famous "Few". Link to BBC.
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B-52s Over Hanoi: 40th Anniversary of Operation Linebacker II

Forty years ago, President Richard Nixon issued two orders. He knew the first would not be followed, so he issued the second. First, Nixon sent an ultimatum to North Vietnam on December 14, 1972: Return to peace negotiations in Paris within three days or else. He then issued an order to Admiral Moorer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Prepare to bomb Hanoi. The Republican President wanted what he eventually termed “peace with honor.” There would be a ceasefire and North Vietnam would release all American POWs. America would withdraw its troops from South Vietnam, but that country would remain independent. Link
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Troop Christmas boxes bring taste of home to forces overseas

For more than a century, British troops have been receiving gift boxes at Christmas to bring them a taste of home comforts. The BBC's defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt looks at the history of such gifts, and the impact they still have for modern soldiers.  Link
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Move Of House

Well, since I last posted the Vulture family has moved house and relocated 150 miles north in York.  Unsurprisingly not a stress free experience, but one that we have lived through.  Frantic packing paid off, because the removal van was absolutely chock full.  It's one of the only occasions I can think of where having my old CCKW truck has saved us money, for without using that the removals firm would have had to employ a second van and a couple of extra guys.  Help has been provided in the shape of my brother Bruce who did a dash over from Crewe for a day to help us assemble three new wardrobes and an old friend Theo Street who spent a couple days boarding out the centre area of the house loft for storage, sorting out a dodgy water-damaged floor in a bedroom, and reinforcing the garage loft.  The loft activity was essential as the garage gas been (and still is to a degree) full of boxes of my gaming gear !! :)  Anyway, after 4 days hard work we managed to get the house into a respectable enough shape to host my in-laws on X-Mas day.  A pleasant day it was as well, with a bit of PC gaming thrown in in the evening as Mike (brother-in-law), Alex and I took on the AI in a satisfying 'Dawn of War' PC bash.  

M10 Achilles

Stumbled across this excellent footage of the a M10 Achillies (owned by the Bovington Tank Museum) at this years War And Peace Show (in the UK).
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Blog Photo Problems

I posted back on 5 Oct 2012 that the photo-sharing web site Webshots had been taken over, and was become Smile.  This is a massive problem for people like myself who had many photos linked from that site to Blogs. I'm now using Picasa and I've managed to get all the truck photos sorted for my UK CCKW Photo Blog, but it took hours and hours and hours.  The 1st Dec has now passed and all the photos linked on this Blog back to the old webshots site have been severed.  This has screwed up hundreds and hundreds of posts on this Blog and massively pissed me off.  Over the coming months I shall try and re-establish things (deep sigh), but what this whole experience has taught me is:
1.  Don't trust companies to look after your photo collections.
2.  Use the biggest company you can find.  They are less likely to go under.
3.  Don't add photos to the Blog from multiple folder locations, just have them stored in the one.  If necessary duplicate the photos up. That way its so much easier to re-build things if the company you use do screw you over.

First Bolt Action Game

Last Thursday at the Huntingdon & District Wargames Society I had my first game using the 'Bolt Action' rules published by Warlord Games.  I don't have to time to give them much of a review, other than to say I was pleasantly surprised how well they ran.  If I had a choice I'd prefer to use 'Rules Of Engagement', but that said, for a 28mm club game lasting a couple of hours they were just the ticket, and I'm likely to be buying my own copy shortly.  I was on the clean living god fearing Germans side, defending the nice French bocage countryside from the corrupt and drunken Brits and Americans :)   Here's a couple of photos of the tasteful terrain (most of which is the clubs) and Mike Evans nicely painted figs and vehicles.
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By way of interest, I took all the photos on my Galaxy SIII smartphone without using any flash assistance.

The Toughest Bridge In The World

This is worth watching in wide-screen  :)

Blitzed: Incredible map shows every bomb dropped on London

Every bomb dropped in eight months of intense attacks by the German Luftwaffe is represented by a marker on the map of the capital.  Link
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The 2012 British Army Photographic Competition Award

The annual Army Photographic Competition recognises outstanding photography from Afghanistan and Army life.
Army photographers deploy as soldiers with rifle and camera, taking the same risks as other infantrymen but also giving the public a view of the realities of conflict. Away from operations they capture the day to day and the high points of Army life, from parades to sporting achievements. Amateur photographers, who fit their hobby round the day job of deployments and training, are also recognised for the quality and creativity of their work.  Link
Comment:  Well worth viewing this.
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Inside the 'ghost' Underground station used as air raid shelter during the Blitz and in filming for Atonement

A secret disused underground station that was used by thousands of Londoners during the Blitz has been opened up for rare public viewing.

Visitors have been able to take a tour of the Aldwych Tube Station, one of London's closed underground stations, which included a platform which stopped operating in 1914.

The station, which looks the same as it did nearly a century ago, has been used for filming in Atonement, V For Vendetta, Superman 4 and 28 Weeks Later.  Read more: Link
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Star Wars fans build full-size Millennium Falcon

Star Wars fans around the world are coming together on the internet to construct a real-life version of the film's Millennium Falcon spacecraft.  Link to BBC.

Comment: This is totally nuts, but yet brilliant ! :)
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If Life Beings At 40, What Happens When Your 50 ?

50 today ffs !  Not sure what to make of it if I'm honest.  Took the day off work, but apart from going out for lunch with the missus didn't feel like doing anything special.
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100,000 views !!! and some reflections...

It seems appropriate to the mark the occasion of exceeding 100,000 views on the Blog with a post to say thanks to all who have dropped by and especially to those regulars who chip in with feedback from time to time.  I am conscious that the title of the Blog does have wargaming in it, and that over the last two years there have been far fewer posting of that type than in earlier years.  This has been predominately down to circumstances with work which has seriously cramped my attendance at my local Huntingdon club.  Things are about to change however, and the long weekly trips (170miles) from Warboys to Bristol will shortly be coming to an end.  I have secured a new job in York that I start in the New Year, and the family and I will be moving back to Gods own county (Yorkshire) if all goes according to plan on the 19th Dec.  Our new home will in the Woodthorpe area of York.  I will be sorry to leave our current home which we have lived in since 1998 and the many friends I have in the Huntingdon area. I shan't be sorry though to see the back of one of the neighbours however, so there is a real upside there ! LOL  The costs of moving house are quite incredible has to be said, and with stamp duty thrown in I won't be seeing much change out of £20k :(

Wargamers tend to be hoarders  and I'm no exception with loads and loads of books figures and terrain in the loft.  These last 4 weeks I've been slowly bringing it down, and the house has boxes stacked all over the place ! The removals company said a second vehicle might be required to move us, but I told them I would use my CCKW 352 to move some stuff up.  I'm going to have to drive it up anyway, so it might as well help and out and keep costs down.  In preparation for the 150 mile journey I decided to put it into a truck garage called Welch Commercials, and asked them to give it a dummy MOT check.

As a pre 1960 vehicle the law  doesn't require it to have a MOT, but actually I don't agree with that, I think all vehicles should have an annual safety check of some kind. Anyway, the garage spotted a few things but only one significant one would have ‘failed it’. The new rubber hose that Rex Ward (the main GMC parts supplier in the UK) supplied a few months that connects in the inlet manifold to the Hydrovac (like a car servo) pipe wasn't man enough for the job and was partially collapsed  They have had one made up for me locally that has a coil insert within it. With the move of house and job + the weather I'm not getting the time to put into the truck at the moment, so I'm having them change the last 3 brake hoses that still needed doing, along with sorting three things they spotted:
a) the UJ nearest the pillow block rear prop shaft had some play in it,
b) 2 bolts on another U/J that were loose,
c) add split pins to the engine mount bolts.

Current plans are to load it up the coming Friday and drive it north next Saturday.  I hope the weather is kind as I reckon the trip will take at least 5 hours and 6 Volt windscreen wipers are rubbish ! LOL
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THE HOBBIT : AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY - TRAILER

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Friday Humour - Wallet Scam

Be aware of a scam to steal wallets.  Over the last month I became a victim of a clever Eastern European scam whilst out shopping, and simply dropping into Sainsbury's for a bit of shopping has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you or your friends. Here's how the scam works:

Two seriously good-looking voluptuous 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the boot.  They both start cleaning your windscreens, their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-Shirts.  When  you thank them and offer them a tip, they'll say 'No' and instead ask you for a lift to another supermarket store, in my case Tesco at Hartford. Bridge.

You agree and they both get in the back seat.  On the way they start undressing and both get completely naked.  Then when you pull over to remonstrate  one of them climbs over the front seat and starts crawling all over your lap, kissing you, touching you intimately and thrusting herself against you, while the other one steals your wallet !

I had my wallet stolen on August 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, again on 17th, 20th, 24th and 29th.  Also on September 1sr, 4th, 6th, 10th, twice yesterday and hopefully again this coming weekend !!

P.S.  Aldi have wallets on sale for £ 1.99 each, but Lidl's are £ 1.75 and look better.
 

Yeoman Warden At Tower Of London

This is very good :)
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The Bacon Tree

Subject: The Bacon Tree  

Two Mexicans are stuck in the desert, wandering aimlessly and close to death. They are close  to just lying down and waiting for the inevitable, when all of a sudden.......
  

  "Hey Pepe, do  you smell what I smell. Ees bacon I is sure of eet"

  

  "Si, Luis eet  smells like bacon to meee".

So, with  renewed strength, they struggle up the next sand dune, and there, in the  distance, is a tree loaded with bacon.

There's raw  bacon, dripping with moisture, there's fried bacon, back bacon, double  smoked bacon...every imaginable kind of cured pig meat.

  "Pepe, Pepe, we is saved. "Eees a bacon tree".

  "Luis, are  you sure ees not a meerage? We ees in the Desert don't forget"

  

  "Pepe when  deed you ever hear of a meerage that smeell like bacon...ees no  meerage, ees a bacon tree".

And with that ....Luis Races towards the tree. he gets to within 5 metres, Pepe following closely behind, when all of a sudden, a machine gun opens  up,and Luis is cut down in his tracks. It is clear he is mortally  wounded but. true friend that he is, he manages to warn Pepe with his dying breath.

  

  "Pepe...go  back man,you was right ees not a bacon tree"

  "Luis Luis mi amigo...what ees it?

  "Pepe..ees  not a bacon tree...

 
 
 

 Ees

 
 
 

  

 
 
 

 Ees

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Ees

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Ees

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Eees a Ham Bush.

Picture Of The Week - No 11 - Photo Finish

From Wargaming BLOG Photos

Male Ecstasy (50 shades of grey)

He was in ecstasy with a huge smile on his face as his wife moved forward, then backwards, forward, then backwards again, back and forth, back and forth........in and out...in and out.

Her heart was pounding...her face was flushed...then she moaned, softly at first, then began to groan louder. Finally, totally exhausted, she let out an almighty scream and shouted
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."OK, OK! I CAN'T park the f!!!!!! car!  You do it, you SMUG b*stard!"

WORLD WAR II: LONDON IN COLOR

Some quite interesting colour photos here of London during the war: Link
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Rockets

I won't comment on the politics of the current dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians in Gaza, but as someone interested in military hardware this article about the rockets employed makes quite interesting reading.  Link
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OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version

Comment:  This very very clever, and is worth watching full screen  :)

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WW II vehicles battle for bids at auction

On December 8th, Auctions America by RM is holding one of the largest ever sales of WW II-era vehicles at the National Military History Center in Auburn, Indiana. Over 80 vehicles will be crossing the block, with all of the proceeds going toward preserving the non-profit museum.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/slideshow/2012/11/16/ww-ii-vehicles-battle-for-bids-at-auction/?intcmp=features#sl=undefined&slide=1#ixzz2CWDf9Qih

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 Comment:  I wish had won the lottery, because if I had I'd be buying some of these vehicles !

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Classic Warlord - Board Game

Years ago I played the board game 'Apocalypse', produced at the time by Games Workshop. This is a 4 player strategy game where you nuke the crap out of your opponent, and it's just totally brilliant. After much hunting around for several years I managed to source myself a copy on E-Bay some years back.

Well, it seems that 'Apocalypse' was a smaller version of an older larger game for up to 7 players called 'Warlord' which was originally invented and designed by Mike Hayes. The good news is that a limited 500 game run of Warlord (now named Classic Warlord) is now available to buy, and is something I'm serious considering. Link
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T34 Flips Over

Comment:  Ouch !

They're All Around Us

IDIOT SIGHTING No.1 My daughter and I went to the McDonald's drive through check-out window to pay our bill and I gave the clerk a £5 note. Our total bill was £4.20, so I also handed her a 20 pence piece. She said, 'You gave me too much money.' I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me £1 back.' She sighed and went to get the Manager who asked me to repeat my request. I did so, and he handed me back the 20 pence and said 'We're sorry but we do not do that kind of thing.' The clerk then proceeded to give me back 80 pence in change. Do not confuse the clerks at MacDonald's !! IDIOT SIGHTING No2 We had to have the garage door repaired. The GARADOR repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener. I thought for a moment, and said that we had the largest one GARADOR made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his head and said, 'Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower.' I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4 and he said, 'NOOO, it's not. Four is larger than two..' We haven't used Garador repair since. Happened in Moor Park , near Watford .IDIOT SIGHTING No3 I live in a semi-rural area. We recently had a new neighbour call the Highways Department to request the removal of the 'DEER CROSSING' sign from our road. The reason: 'Too many deer are being hit by cars on this stretch of road! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing, any-more.' Story from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. IDIOT SIGHTING No 4 My daughter went to a local Kentucky Fried Chicken and ordered a Taco. She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.' He said he was sorry, but they only had Iceberg Lettuce. From South Oxhey , Hertfordshire. IDIOT SIGHTING No 5 I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, 'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?' To which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?' He smiled knowingly and nodded, 'That's why we ask.' Happened at Luton Airport IDIOT SIGHTING No 6 The traffic light on the corner buzzes when the lights turn red and it is safe to cross the road. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged friend of mine. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, 'What on earth are blind people doing driving?!' She is a Local County Council employee in Harrow , Middlesex. (And she's NOT blonde) IDIOT SIGHTING No7 When my husband and I arrived at our local Ford dealer to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it by mistake. We went to the Service Department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver's door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door-handle and discovered that it was unlocked. 'Hey,' I announced to the Fitter/Mechanic, 'it’s open!' His reply: 'I know. I already did that side.' This was at the Ford dealership in St Albans , Hertfordshire. STAY ALERT! They walk among us. AND THEY BREED!

Rio for Real ! Fly with a bird

For Sale - Panavia Tornado F3 ADV Fighter Aircraft

Check this out chaps !  Link   Now if only I had room in my back garden...
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Skilled Pilot Aborts Landing At Last Moment

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Trailer

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Frustration is....

Frustration is crappy weather like this over the weekend when I'm wanting to get a door-skin off the truck to sort out some rot on it :(
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A Soviet missile base in Germany that spy planes never saw

It was top-secret in 1959 and remains almost completely unknown to this day - the first Soviet nuclear missile base outside the USSR. But it is still there, crumbling and steadily being reclaimed by nature in the forests north of Berlin.  Link to the BBC.

Northrop Grumman unveils proposal for next U.S. Special Ops vehicle

Northrop Grumman has unveiled its proposal for the U.S. Special Forces' next combat car, the Medium Assault Vehicle – Light (MAV-L.) One of several entries being evaluated for the U.S. Special Operations Command Ground Mobility Vehicle 1.1 competition, the truck was co-developed with BAE Systems and Pratt & Miller engineering, the same outfit behind the 2012 American Le Mans Series GT championship-winning Corvette Racing team.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/10/22/northrop-grumman-unveils-proposal-for-next-us-special-ops-vehicle/#ixzz2AC7mhk5a

Phantom Pilot Flirts With Death

Stranded WWII LST-325 freed from Kentucky lake

A restored World War II troop landing ship ran aground in a western Kentucky lake but was not damaged and has returned to its Indiana home port, the ship’s captain said. The LST-325 was freed from mud in Lake Barkley Oct. 3 using a tugboat, the ship’s anchor winch and its engines in full reverse, Capt. Bob Jornlin told the Evansville Courier & Press.

The ship became stuck with 42 crew members aboard during a rainstorm Oct. 1 when officials say it traveled outside the lake’s Cumberland River channel. It was returning to its Evansville dock on the Ohio River after a trip to Tennessee for stops at Nashville and Clarksville. Jornlin said the ship, which was part of the 1944 D-Day landings in France, was built to be run aground as it carried troops, tanks and other equipment.

“It’s a tough old bird,” Jornlin said.  Link

REUE

REUE is the story of 2 American soldiers lost in enemy territory after an ambush. After taking one of the enemy hostage they soon realize they are not too different. A short film Directed by James Cawley made entirely in the state of Utah for under 3K. The short has won multiple awards and has shown at festivals nation wide (Action on Film, Foursite Film Festival, Short Shorts Film Festival and more).
Comment:  Stumbled across this on U-Tube.  Worth watching.

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Army Tank Challenge - World's Toughest Driving Tests - BBC

This is quite entertaining :)

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Vehicle Reclamation In New Zealand (1945) 200,395

This is a brilliant little video produced by the NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL FILM UNIT for Ordnance (Automotive) Reclamation Section SOUTH PACIFIC BASE COMMAND LT. COL. DANIEL F. SULLIVAN ORD. DEPT. U.S. ARMY Officer-in-Charge. Wrecked and damaged trucks and jeeps salvaged from the war zones in the Pacific, are reconditioned in New Zealand motor assembly factories.
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James Bond, Declassified: 50 Things You Didn’t Know About 007

Link to Time web site.

Russian Parchute Landing Problems

It's seeing this sort of video that puts me of trying parachuting !  LOL
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Web Shots - The New Management Sucks !

For many years now I have used the Web Shots web site to store and share my photographs. At the last count I had 3,379 photos and 65 videos stored in 48 albums that has had 173,652 views. About 80% of the photos on my Blog are linked back to that site (at a rough guess over 300+). A couple of days ago Web Shots announced they are going to rename themselves 'Smile' and change their operating model. With effect from 1 Dec it all photos will have moved to a new address, and it will not be possible to share them publicly. To say I am furious would be a understatement. The work involved in finding another site, like Flickr for example, uploading Gigs worth of photos, and then having to re-establish the photos links will take hours and hours and hours. Then what's to say that Flickr don't then do the same thing ? I am so pissed off.
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RAF Glatton Memorial Road Run

As the secretary for my local branch of the Military Vehicle Trust (MVT) one of my duties is to write up a report on the activities of our Huntingdon Area for inclusion in the quarterly club magazine 'Windscreen'.  I thought I would share part of the article here on my Blog which pertains to a recent road run we did :)
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After the enjoyable time had on our May road run our second run of the year scheduled for 16 Sep was much looked forward to.  Fortunately the gods smiled upon our endeavours and extended the good weather experienced in early Sep up to that weekend.  Meeting up again at a start location near Kings Ripton in Cambridgeshire we doubled our previous numbers and gathered together 14 vehicles and 29 people for our trip which we grandly entitled ‘The Glatton Memorial Road Run’.  After a driver briefing given by our event organiser Andy Miller we hit the public roads in convoy at around 13:00.  Setting off was one of the moments in the day that I wish we could have bottled, as the organised chaos that ensured as we pulled out was just brilliant.  Heading initially south west we joined the old A1 near Alconbury where we turn north and after a couple of miles stopped for fuel and air at a convenient petrol station.  Our convoy of 3 Jeeps, an Austin Champ, 2 Land Rovers, a 1942 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, a Dodge WC52, a monster 12 ton URAL truck and 5 GMC CCKWs (one of which had a M45 Quadmount in the back) made an impressive sight and had other motorists stopping and taking photos and turning round and driving back past for another look.

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Continuing north we stopped at the Memorial to the 457thBombardment Group (H) which commemorates the 86 aircraft and 718 men who were KIA/MIA or POW during operations in 1944/45.  

After paying our respects we laid a card with the following poem written by one of our members Andrew Griffiths.

Job done, all missions flown
Most went home, home sweet home.
Loved ones waited fear in heart
Never again would be apart.

For some the wait was not to cease
It was those who would feel no peace
Where their loved ones once stood, today we stand
Thanking them for our peaceful land.

A debt is owed we cannot repay
But we didn’t forget,
We came today.

May God Bless all those souls that fought for freedom and paid with the ultimate sacrifice.
You are not forgotten.

Your friends from the Huntingdon & District Military Vehicles Trust
16th September 2012.

Remounting we turn east and headed through Conington village and then travelled down a public road that used to be the SW/NE runway of RAF Glatton.  At the end of this we pulled into Peterborough Conington Airport which operates from one the remaining runways, and parked up by prior arrangement by the windsock for a photo call, and a welcome cup of tea for those who wanted one in their café.  

Continuing on, no sooner had we set off than a potential problem with the route became apparent. A tiny bridge with a 5 ton weight limit presented a challenge to our 12 ton Ural, 
but after considering the position we proceeded on the basis that the vehicle was so large and the bridge so small only one axle would be on it at any one time!  The last half of our journey took us through the outskirts of Holme village after which we broke into open fenlands for the run into Ramsey and the WW2 Militia Camp which was our destination.  The custodians kindly opened up their NAAFI facilities for tea and coffee and our happy band finished off the day with a picnic tea. All in all a terrific day with lots going on, and accordingly lots to enjoy. The entertaining route worked well with RAF Glatton providing a great focus for the whole event.
Plans for the future over the winter months include a X-Mas/New Year road run and a late X-Mas / First Area Anniversary meal in early Jan.

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