Fun for public and exhibitors alike!
Vehicle owners – SOE and all other clubs – military vehicles are required for Bank Holiday Monday. As we are all people of the utmost integrity the inducements listed at the bottom of the poster will, of course, have little effect …
Just don’t push in front of me in the tea and burger queue!
Message received from Nikki Kill (sounds like a Bond Villainess?)
Ok folks….. How about a group trip to the cinema in a few weeks to see the new Bond film and maybe a bite to eat afterwards? Was thinking of the Vue in Eastleigh on the 27th oct or 3rd nov ……. Will ask again at the meeting this month.
The film is called “Skyfall” – Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
Ok, listen up people! We need a willling volunteer workforce for – you guessed it – a bit of compound rearranging. Sat afternoon and Sunday 13 and 14 October. We have a couple of containers arriving.
We have the October meeting partly set aside for the club AGM.
It won’t be a dry as dust affair. Promise.
But it will be important for you to come along and help decide your club’s future. That is if you are a paid up member – Mr. Edgeley will relieve you of your £10 annual dues if you haven’t already paid.
Constitutional reform is in the air – to reduce expense by cutting committee posts for general running of the club. The proposal is to have 5 people looking after finance and general admin and, when show planning begins, to use the talents displayed during the two previous shows to good purpose by forming a show- specific group to get things underway.
That is a biggish change and needs agreement of the club members. So come along and vote. Or propose an alternative
And once we have got that out of the way there will be short reports on what each committee member has been up to over the year, an election to form the new committee and once that lot is over we can get down to the serious business of socialising!
Two events for us with the one theme. Both celebrate the work of the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties who, amongst other things, tested the D-Day beaches for suitability for vehicles some six months before D-Day. 90 medals and citations were won by the 200 men of COPP in just three years. Their base was the Hayling Island Sailing Club
To commemorate their achievements and sacrifices a granite memorial stone has been placed on Hayling seafront and will be dedicated by Countess Mountbatten on Thursday 27th September at 11:30.
Prior to that, on Saturday 22nd the World War 2 trail which takes in some of Hayling’s wartime heritage will be opened. World War 2 vehicles are requested to form a static display at the Station Theatre in West Town, Hayling.
So if you have a WW2 vehicle – or something oldish and military like a Ferret, Austin K9, Hotchkiss … come along for the do. There is a meeting of the great and the good inside the theatre – 144 of them – (a gross load of people?) prior to the ceremony itself so we need to be there by 10:30.
See you at either or both!
On Friday, September 7th 2012 Nikki Cook and Matt Kill were married at Fort Nelson. Congratulations and best wishes for a long and happy life together to them both!
What better way to spend your Bank Holiday Weekend than playing with hot, sharp, spiky, stinging, heavy and noisy things? Or walking along the sea shore, sailing a land yacht or, just possibly, driving a 155mm howitzer like a long, thin car?
Wha’choo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?
Thorney Island was an airfield. Aircraft were dispersed around the perimeter on hard stands. One of those stands has been fenced and forms the SOE vehicle and storage compound. Brambles, nettles and triffids are trying to get through the fence and, in many areas succeeding. We are going to fight back with shears and bfo petrol powered hedge cutters.
The gun needs an engine tune and a brave pilot or two to check out how well it drives. We might be allowed to make a few more bangs with it if we ask the Royal Artillery nicely.
One of the vehicles in the compound is a field kitchen designed to feed 120 troops 3 squares a day. So rustling up a ruby or similar for 20 or so people should be a doddle. And making the occasional brew or three won’t be difficult either. Sitting in the sun is an option, either within the compound surrounded by trees or by the beach perhaps with a cooling sea breeze. Then you can listen to the silence. Thorney is an incredibly peaceful place especially considering it is a working MoD site*
And for those of you fretting that the blackberries will be disappearing along with the brambles you will get your chance to grab them before they go or you can always try for those growing on the other 1200 acres of airfield. Nettles in abundance too for those wishing to extend their range of home made wines – all organic and pesticide free.
While the gun is being driven around the island it needs a kennel making to shelter it for the winter months. We should have the materials and tools available , just looking for some labour. If they can have a barn raisin’ in “Oklahoma!” I’m sure we can do the same. Needn’t make such a song and dance about it though. There is always the Museum of Mechanical Failures to admire on the north side of the compound (admission by appointment only), there is the splendour of Gary’s Grotto spanning the gap to the southern semicircle where you can play “guess what’s under that cover” and “how far back does this bush go before we find the fence” or relax in the club’s luxury caravan.
Those of a more adventurous nature can have a wee drive around the island, play with a land yacht or offer microlight pilots fuel in exchange for flights. Hunger can be assuaged either on application to the chef of the day (if you want to have your vocabulary forcibly increased) or by a visit to the on-base Spar mini-mart. You could even bring your own food and drink to supplement the free rations!
The day(s) will be what we make them. So let’s have your ideas and we can implement them!
*MoD site – so we need to be on good behaviour – sign in at the guardhouse with photo i.d. to hand, observe the speed limits and don’t poke in places we aren’t supposed to poke.
Now the clearing up is almost done (Sunday and I have just unloaded my trailer!) it’s time to reflect on Overlord 2011, our most ambitious show yet. The culmination of 12 months of planning and hard work was anticipated with a certain amount of trepidation by the SOE committee and members, a new site bringing new and unknown challenges.
I got a mail from ARRSE today which had a link to the Big Curry site which read: “ Great opportunity to combine two favourite activities; eating curry & raising money for a good cause!” So of course I had to click the linky and go and have a look
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