Lytham 1940's Weekend

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muttguru
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Lytham 1940's Weekend

Post by muttguru » Mon Aug 21, 2017 12:57 pm

Evening all. Here we are again with another show report. This one took place on the 19th and 20th August and it was held in the seaside town of Lytham (the same Lytham where the Royal Lytham golf tournament takes place).
Lytham is a genteel town, very laid back, lots of shops, more cafes per square yard than anywhere except its neighbouring town, Blackpool.

It isn't solely a retirement destination, there's a thriving young culture here and unlike many Northern towns, empty shops in Lytham don't stay vacated for long.

It's well worth a visit and the great thing about it is the 40's weekend. Like our earlier review of the "Yanks" weekend, the whole town joins in, dresses up, and welcomes the military vehicle crowd with their trucks and jeeps.

Here's the first part of the photos I took at the show. The weather was sunny but there was a cool breeze from the sea.... I was going to add...."uncharacteristic for August"....but we've seen some pretty grim August days over the past few years. This one was better than many.




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Above. Here's the sign which greets everyone approaching the town. There was a week of "Arts" in July featuring music, concerts and general good-times.


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Above. It's best to leave the car at the edge of town, then stroll in like many others, rather than wasting fuel looking for a parking spot. On the right, a Harley WLA owner takes a break from managing traffic.



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Above. Here's the Harley close up. I'm sure Dave will tell me it's a WLC, not a WLA :D


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Above. Convoy Control.



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Above. A couple of British Army Bedfords and a Lightweight Landie.



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Above. A Willys MB next to a Bedford.



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Above. A bridging plate on a quarter-tonner? Yes, if it's a WW II vehicle.



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Above. A Lightweight Land Rover, fitted-for-radio. This version of the Landie is in my view the best-looking of the whole series. At one time despised, now very collectable.



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Above. Here's another L/W L-R. Both are in very nice condition.



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Above. Convoy Control flags down a jeep. "I wasn't going more than 29 mph, officer !"



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Above. A very nice Ford GPW in exactly the same shade of OD that my old Willys used to have.



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Above. you can see the difference in OD shades here. The darker shade was a semi-gloss....but it wasn't as dark as my 66 USAF M151A1.........and that was more gloss than semi-gloss.



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Above. There were some interesting bits and pieces in that £5 box, but if I'd bought it, I would have been thinking about buying a jeep to put them on.



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Above. A very nice Auto-Union "Munga"....... fairly common here in the UK in the 70's....now a real rarity.



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Above. The Munga had just about everything it was issued with when in the Bundeswehr.



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Above. Front view of this early "Audi".



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Above. A Hotchkiss version of the Willys MB. Unusually, the owner has kept it as it would have looked from its service in the Armee Francais, rather than trying to pass it off as a WW II jeep.



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Above. To finish off this first batch of pictures. Here's a jeep marked up as a USMC vehicle. It has the towing hooks on the front bumper and it has the loops as well. It also has a white star...... oops !

Back tomorrow with more photos.

Ken
Last edited by muttguru on Wed Aug 23, 2017 11:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
Contact address - muttguru@aol.com
Always wanted - Details and pictures of M416 Trailer data plates & M151 data plates & body-tags for my research. Thanks!


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Re: Lytham 1940's Weekend Part 2

Post by muttguru » Tue Aug 22, 2017 11:56 am

Evening all...............

Here we are with part-2 of the photoshoot at Lytham 40's weekend.

Let's start off with one for Rick.....it's a heavily-adapted M37 Weapons Carrier.


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Above...this was the sole M37 in attendance. There used to be lots of these around but are quite rare now. A friend of mine had a beautiful one, complete with fuel-burning heater mounted on the driver's side front fender. When the heater was on, it was so hot he used to drive it in a T-shirt and shorts. No kidding.



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Above. Here's what it looks like under the hood.



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Above. Another Hotchkiss MB......and it's another one that remains in French markings.



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Above. The army and the air force chat over a cuppa.




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Above. "I understand that you collect gas cans?"




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Above. Erm....yes, I have one or two.........."



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Above. A jeep marked up as a Medical Corps vehicle.



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Above. Here's that jeep with the Brockhouse Corgi scooter mounted on the front bumper. It's the same one that appeared at the Yanks show a fortnight ago.



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Above. Another jeep marked up as British. The coke crate looks good but a Vimto crate would have been more appropriate !





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Above. The Convoy Control Harley gets a fine tune.....




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Above. A Canadian Chevrolet wrecker. This is one of those vehicles that are so ugly, they're beautiful. A well-built vehicle that looks good even today. And there are still a few about.




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Above. Another nicely turned out Ford GPW.



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Above. A good-looking RAF staff car complete with roundel.



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Above. A jeep with a bustle rack at the rear. It seems that every man and his dog have one of these racks nowadays. The classic "must have" used to be a canvas water bucket hanging from the rear pintle hook !
This belongs to one of the members of the nearby Inskip Militia collectors group.



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Above. To finish off this first batch of pictures, here are two more jeeps sporting bustle racks.
What did I tell you !

Back tomorrow with more photos.

Ken
Contact address - muttguru@aol.com
Always wanted - Details and pictures of M416 Trailer data plates & M151 data plates & body-tags for my research. Thanks!

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Re: Lytham 1940's Weekend - Part 3

Post by muttguru » Wed Aug 23, 2017 11:20 am

Evening all...............

Here we are with part-3 of the photoshoot at Lytham 40's weekend. Hope you are finding these photos interesting.....



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Above. "Is the kettle boiling yet?"



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Above. Jeeps and more jeeps. A very good turnout of MB and GPW wartime vehicles.



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Above. Here's another add-on that used to be ultra-rare. It's a tandem hitch, used for linking two jeeps together to haul artillery pieces. It was not altogether successful. Now everybody has one !



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Above. A very nice Dodge WC command car.



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Above. Yet another jeep with a bustle rack.



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Above. Some interesting mementos displayed on the front of a jeep.




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Above. The WC again.



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Above. Yes, a couple of Spitfires turned up to the show.......



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Above. The owner imported this step-side from the USA a few years ago. The plate on the rear said "Dodge". I haven't seen this model before. It looks like the original finish, unrestored but with what appears to be a coat of clear lacquer.


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Above. Another view of the step-side.



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Above. A partner of the RAF staff car from earlier. This one's marked up as Royal Navy.



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Above. There is a specific camping area set aside for entrants but as you can see, some owners sleep with their vehicles. That's REAL dedication.



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Above. Another view of one of the Spitfires.



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Above. The "Stop Me and Buy One" ice-cream man was doing a brisk trade, despite the cool weather.



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Above. There was no shortage of surplus stalls at the show....here's one....



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Above. To finish off this first batch of pictures. Here's a stall which shows that the ladies were well-catered for, too.

Back tomorrow with more photos.

Ken
Contact address - muttguru@aol.com
Always wanted - Details and pictures of M416 Trailer data plates & M151 data plates & body-tags for my research. Thanks!

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Re: Lytham 1940's Weekend Part-4

Post by muttguru » Thu Aug 24, 2017 1:07 pm

Well, here we are, folks. The fourth and final part of the visit to Lytham 40's weekend.

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Above. Not far away from Lytham is British Aerospace. The comp[any had a display tent which featured the history of the company and the village of Warton. Here's a photo-board showing the USAAF forces moving into their new base at RAF Warton in spring 1942.


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Above. A small section of the USAAF workforce at the depot (BAD-2). BAD = Burtonwood Army Depot.



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Above. The great Jimmy Cagney visits the base to name this aircraft "Yankee Doodle Dandy."



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Above. The Queens Hotel across the road was doing a flourishing trade.



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Above. Yes. It's a HUEY. A real, flying HUEY.....from the nearby Kirkham airport.



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Above. Another photo of it......



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Above. Tooled up with all the gear, too.



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Above. An M38A1 parked up nearby.



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Above. Another shot of the HUEY.



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Above. Next to the HUEY was this little beauty.



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Above. And no show would be complete without a mutt.....




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Above. This one belongs to David Ball...at last count Dave has five mutts.




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Above. Another Mutt in SG-OD.



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Above. It's another A2 model but I doubt whether a 'Nam-era mutt would have so many decals.....



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Above. Someone brought a fire engine along. The kids loved it.



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Above. The audience gathered round to take pics of the 'Nam display. The guys also appeared at the War and Peace show in July.



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Above. Fur coats, hairnets and "spivs" (look it up.....)



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Above. An old Raleigh Superbe pushbike belonging to the local chimney sweep.




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Above. "Dancing in the Streets"...as Martha and the Vandellas used to sing.....




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Above. Two Harleys and a couple of jeeps in the town square.




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Above. Many of the shops were decorated in 40's ephemera for the weekend.




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Above. A very appropriate reminder that there's a meaning behind a "Remembering the 40's" event. Many never saw their hometown again. This is the Lytham memorial park.

There you have it, folks. Hope you enjoyed seeing the photos.............

Ken
Contact address - muttguru@aol.com
Always wanted - Details and pictures of M416 Trailer data plates & M151 data plates & body-tags for my research. Thanks!

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Re: Lytham 1940's Weekend

Post by jeepfinger » Thu Aug 24, 2017 1:51 pm

muttguru wrote:
Thu Aug 24, 2017 1:07 pm
Yes. It's a HUEY. A real, flying HUEY.
Yes Ken, and a Vietnam Veteran at that :) So is the other lovely beauty the LOACH.

Thanks for posting the photos.

Dave
Dave Boocock
GPW 41158 June 19 1942
Bantam T3 9555 1/11/1943 USA 0258448
BSA WDM20 Sept 1940 C4343114

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Re: Lytham 1940's Weekend

Post by 70th Division » Sun Aug 27, 2017 6:45 am

Hello ,

Great job Ken !!!!

I loved the photos, and it looks like it is a great event for all the town to rally around !!!
A great collection of vehicles, and from many eras as well.

The location must be nice to have a display are so close with the town, and a breeze as well :D :D :D

Thank you for sharing and reporting on the Lytham 1940's Weekend


Best Regards,

Ray
USA


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