Hi from an anorak in training

Hi, I’d just like to introduce myself as a new member I’ve been lurking for a week or so now and today I’ve finally taken the plunge. I’ve had an interest in WW2 since a child and the older I’ve got the greater that interest has grown. I’m a prolific reader getting through a couple of books per week with war related books taking a priority it’s been known for me to read a particular favourite getting on for near a dozen times.

Being a mechanic by trade I’ve a great appreciation for historical engineering mainly from the Victorian era through to the 60’s with the rapid development period during the war being a favourite. Its fascinating to think that in such a relatively short space of time we went from the likes of bi planes still in common use and bomber’s with a maximum payload of 1.8 tons (Hampden) being the norm then progressed to the likes of the Lanc carrying the 10 ton grand slam and the dawn of the jet age to give just an example. The human aspect also intrigues me the stories of young men performing feats I could never imagine myself nor my friends doing when we were of a similar age. I’d like to say I’ve gained a big collection of collectables but sadly other things have took priority so far (watch this space) the closest I’ve got was the purchase of a green goddess fire engine when they were disposed a few years back of a truly fine thing with no more than 2000 miles on the clock despite its age, they even greased the bezels around the gauges on the dash to keep them from rusting. Not from WW2 I know but it gave me great pleasure and certainly had the feel of the era.


[FONT=&quot]I’m not really a big user of the internet when it comes to posting content but I love my history and spend hours reading about my interests and the information I’ve seen on this site is awe inspiring. Apologies if I’ve droned on it was meant to be a quick hi when I started.[/FONT]

 

welcome!

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

Welcome to the forums!

 

Welcome matey....You don't show the Green Goddess at fetes n stuff do you? Have met one or two folk who have and they let me play on em once I told em I was in one in 70's fire strike.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2233609.stm For our yankee cousins...there was a day not too long ago that they let urqh and mates play at firemen....silly British folk...

 

Hi many thanks for the greetings its always nice to be made to feel welcome. as per the goddess sadly I sold it a couple of years back and have regretted it ever since. It's damn near impossible to portray the excellent condition these machines were kept in by the MOD unless you've seen one, it came fully equipped with all the items, ladders, axes, hoses, boat hooks and sundrys in as new condition it had a lovely auxiliary water pump on it that was in as new condition (the make of engine of which escapes me for the moment but it was in beautiful condition and a superb piece of classic machinery in it's own right). I'll never forget when I bought it I could have put it on a family members low loader but wheres the fun in that? So I filled it up with juice (plenty of it) and drove it the 40 miles home it was a wonderful head turning journey until i got to within 2 miles of home then the centrifugal weights in the distributor let go locking it solid and stripping the teeth on the dizzy drive like they were made of chalk. still it made a memorable journey even more so, being towed in such a big lump that only had inefficient vacuum brakes that were lacking in the vacuum to operate them without the engine was not for the faint hearted. the chap I sold it to came to pick it up from Scarborough driving a XJS and promptly set of driving it home with his wife following in the Jag I assume in reverse so as the speeds were on a level par. A friend of mine had a Matador about 8 years back no where near in the same condition as the Goddess but an equally beautiful vehicle non the less and It gave me great pleasure to spanner away on it. as for showing it I only did so the once and that was a local event. The primary school I went to many years ago still have the air raid shelters in the grounds that were built for the pupils and they were restored to as were condition as an educational item for the school and various other ones. Upon completion of the scheme they had a bit of a do to celebrate and i took it along then for the kids to see.


Info on air raid shelters for those interested. I'm a bit pushed for time at the moment so I can't look for a better web page on said shelters, but if its of interest to anyone I'll try and find more info soon.

*Edited once to correct my poor spelling but I'm sure I've missed some*

 

Welcome to the forum! Don't worry too much about the spelling & grammar. A good share of the rogues here won't notice anyway.

 

i,D bEtur dustt off the owd spel cheker theN

The spelling is a sore point personally, also it amazes my friends how bad it gets considering I read an inordinate amount and I had a pretty good education coupled with the fact that i enjoy letter writing yet they will receive a text message off me with everyday words spelt every which way but correctly. I blame google it's far too easy to type in any old cobblers that looks correct and then let it sort it out for me with "did you mean" or "showing results for......instead of..."

 

Dont take any notice...those two are colonials...when they start spelling colour correctly then we can have a test....A58 is still working on the rules of Cricket. I didn't tell him Brits don't get it either...still its keeping him busy.

 

Hello there and welcome to the forum