New Walkarounds

[neverbuild]

Went to a military vehicle show in Webster, MA. Did a few Walkarounds:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bigjohn188

JG

[Legendary]

Hey John-

     Nice Shots! When was that??
I would have loved to have checked that out!

You guys that have lived in NE a long time have no idea how good you have it!

I am still getting used to how many cool events are always going on.

Steve

[neverbuild]

It's in Webster, Mass, which is about 20 min south of Worcester on the CT line (It's about 15min from my house). It's held every year on  the the second full weekend in August at the 200 Sportman's Club. I have been going for about eight years now, and it gets bigger & better each year, but it's still a crap shoot as to what shows up. This year was the first time the guy with the tanks brought his whole collection (Sherman, M3 & M5 Stuart, and Chaffee) usually he just brings one, or none as the mood strikes him. Inside the hall (above the bar) they usually have guys showing their Machine Gun Collections. This year was the first time in my life that I was able to handle a real MP44. They also have a hall full of vendors, some with books, but mostly unifrom reproduction stuff (which is still neat to see). It's worth the trip from anywhere in Southern New England, especially if your into small arms, uniforms, (Many reanactors dressed up) and that kind of stuff. There was even one guy who was a French WW2 reinactor, and a couple of guys who were dressed as Soviets.  There is also always a bunch of Jeeps and 2.5 ton trucks as well.

JG

[neverbuild]

I've added a few pics of some of the Machine Guns on display:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bigjohn188

JG

[jimz66]

John hope all is well. Next year give is all a heads up when this thing is that might be a nice trip. Nice shots of the stuff in Danbury. Would you believe that I literally grew up two minutes from that museum? Seams like three lifetimes ago. If you turned left out of there I grew up about a mile or two from that spot. My old school is one the right hand side along the way.

[Legendary]

JG-
      that sounds like a blast to me. Publicize that a little better next time and I will come out.

Beers on me on the even years and on you on the odd 

The French re-enactor slays me! "Here I am surrendering next to a tank"- "Here I am surrendering with a rifle".... "Check this out; I got that table cloth from the hotel we stayed in. The pastries were frightful."

What a hoot!

[neverbuild]

LOL!!! You have no idea how funny that is because all the other reinactors make those same kinds of jokes about him....and thay say them to his face!

Seriously though, you should see the collection of stuff this guy has. Most if it I've never even seen in books before..not that I ever followed French stuff all that much.

JG

[Legendary]

JG-
      I guess if you decide you want to collect French WWII memorabilia you might be the only person trying to bid for it.
...and most of it will be in nearly mint condition.

My favorite joke in this vein...

British officers in the Revolutionary War wore red jackets- so that if they were wounded in battle the men would not see the blood and be disheartened.
Same reason why the French Officers in WWII wore brown pants....

 

[neverbuild]

LOL!!!! I've never heard that one....The one I always heard was about French rifles, the same one one they used to say about ARVN rifles in Viet Nam.. Never been fired and only dropped once...

If you guys are interested in MV shows, there's a decent one coming up in Rhode Island:

http://www.militarytrader.com/militaryvehiclesshowcalendar/

There usually aren't any reinactors at this one, but it is held in conjunction with the Quanset Point Air Museum (in their parking lot). The Museum is nowhere near as extensive or well funded as the one in Windsor Locks, but it has much more military bent to it, they even have Nike missle there.

http://www.theqam.org/

The SeaBee musuem is also up the road, and they have a small collection of engineering equiptment like some of the the different bulldozers used in WW2.

http://www.seabeesmuseum.com

I know its the day after the open turret day at Danbury...it's just FYI.

JG

[neverbuild]

Writing that last post reminded me that I had a few pics from the RI show on disc that I took in 2004. They're not very good as I rember I had my nephews with me that day, and didn't have enough time to do a proper job:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bigjohn188

Check out the Jeep. You can tell it's a 1940 model from the first production batch at Ford because if you look at the dash, the radio and gauges are regular Ford civilian models. They changed them in 1941. If you've ever seen a 1940 Ford car or pickup, they're the same ones...

JG