ULTRA - 006

A week or so ago Keith and I travelled up to Worcester to pick up 21 sets of 49-Pattern Battle Dress. We had been assured the stuff was in excellent condition, but not having seen it we were slightly nervous. However, once we had arrived and had a chance to inspect the merchandise, it was clear that the uniforms were essentially un-issued and in first class condition. Having agreed a price of £50 a set we were, to put it mildly, rather chuffed! So far eleven Garrison members have paid for a set, and the group has purchased ten more for general use, or to sell to other members who might decide they want to join the post-War party.

With 2012 marking the 60^th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (and the mid-point of the Korean War) there is plenty of scope for some 1950s events. Plans are already afoot for at least two or three next year, so get ready to get some in!

REME - 004

Following the usual Christmas blow-out, a few Garrisoneers managed to heave themselves from their sofas and met up at Larkhill for a day’s work on the kit. It was hoped to get finished the gate guardian that we are currently doing-up for the Army. It was (Keith promised) virtually ready to go, just needing reassembling and a little touching-up of the paintwork. As always, though, we underestimated the amount of work needed, and close inspection revealed that quite a bit more rubbing-down and painting was required. As such, the thing’s still not complete but hopefully will be out of the way soon, so we can concentrate on other projects that need sorting our before the season kicks off.

One of these that we had hoped to get started on was the 18-pounder. Although there wasn’t time to properly get to grips with it, we did manage to remove the cartridge extractor, which had been causing some concern. Once the thing was out, it was possible to match it up to an 18-pounder cartridge, and as predicted, it was too small. The consensus was that the extractor is actually from a 13-pounder, a gun which shares many similar design features with the 18-pounder and even has some interchangeable parts. It would appear, however, that the cart extractor is not one of them! The problem now is how to source a proper 18-pdr extractor; not a piece of kit one stumbles across too often! Of course it should be possible to have one fabricated from the drawings we have, but it is quite a complex lump of metal, and without a pattern to work from, could be a bit of a fiddling about kind of job. So, if anyone out there reading this happens to know where we might find an 18-pounder cartridge extractor, do please get in touch.

Some footage taken during the day is available on the GarrisonLHG YouTube site:  http://youtu.be/LsLSpx--DLc