. Now for the rest of the show . . . . . . .   I photographed a lot of the older cars but there were many other cars from the 70's, 80's and 90's which are commonly seen being used on roads today                                          Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, June 30  2O25.    ….

. Stunning find yesterday . . . . . .   One of the Jeeps there yesterday was basically a Willys Jeep reconditioned by the post war Hotchkiss factory , it was fitted with a post war diesel engine that Hotchkiss fitted during rebuilds, however it had a number of genuine Willys and Ford marked parts which I talked about with the owner, He had a very nice ' F ' stamped engine hood amongst other parts,  and the stunning find was he had an early pattern straight top ' F ' stamped grille, these straight top grilles are possibly the rarest of grilles to find, I believe Johan might have one on his Jeep    I jokingly said to two other friends that the three of us should buy it and split the parts, Peter wants the wing-mounted siren, Mike wants the diesel engine as he has a diesel engine in his Hotchkiss that needs replacing, and I could have the straight top grille, but we couldn't afford to do that.    For Diddy the owner of this Jeep it's a sad tale, he bought it to restore to original wartime condition complete by re-fitting an original wartime petrol engine block, however the government vehicle registration department refuse to accept the engine change, they state that it was first registered as a Hotchkiss with a diesel engine and the diesel engine is all they will accept on the paperwork.      Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, June 29  2O25.    ….

.. The  military section at Sunday's show.   I really had great fun yesterday, I know even before I leave home for the show that my Jeep will never win an award at this show and I don't intend to clean chrome and polish it to do so.  Although I get a lot of very agreeable and appreciative compliments from other Jeep owning enthusiasts at the show, the judges are looking for concours condition vehicles, they would would rather give an award to something flushed down the toilet than acknowledge mine.   This is where I had a lot of fun, when a judge in a yellow hi-viz jacket came across yesterday to tell the owners either side of me that they were first and second cup winners I quickly threw my arms open waving towards my Jeep and shouted ' excellent I got third ' , Mr yellow jacket almost had a cerebral hemorrhage and stutteringly replied ' NO ', third is over there. The judges are unaware that the other row of Jeeps were all post war reconstructions but all painted with numbers and stars representing wartime Jeeps.  I think sometime my booking may not receive acceptance for any up-coming years.        Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, June 30  2O25.    ….

. Hi Iron Bender.   Thank you, I must say it's not such an attractive patch as the standard one shown to the right of it in your collection.   Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, June 30  2O25.    ….    

. Hi Jason,   Thank you, I must say it's not such an attractive patch as the standard one I also posted.   regards lewis.   ...

That's USS Missouri. The U.S. flag and number 63 can just be seen on top of turret one.       Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command NH 96811 USS Missouri (BB-63)   "Forward turret fires a 16 inch shell at enemy forces attacking Hungnam, North Korea, during a night bombardment in December 1950. In the background, LSMRs are firing rockets, with both ends of the trajectory visible. This is a composite image, made with two negatives taken only a few minutes apart. Photograph is dated 28 December 1950, but was probably taken on 23-24 December."

Sorry, the computer uploaded the photos in the wrong order.  TOG's modern field-grade belt is the second picture.  The image showing the pre-1938 field-grade belt is the third picture.

The current officer's branch color sword belt sold by Marlow White (as well as the single EM version of the dress belt) is authorized by the Army.   The reason that The Old Guard can get away with using the pre-WWII versions of the company-grade and field-grade officer's dress belts is that they write their own uniform regulations (as the Army's premier ceremonial unit).  Just like The Army Band (Pershing's Own) write their own uniform regulations.   The ceremonial belt is considered by the Army to be an 'optional item' typically authorized at the command level for formal occasions such as change-of-command ceremonies, weddings, parades, and other events where a saber or sword is worn.   If you want to find a branch-specific, pre-WWII company-grade officer's sword belt, look online for the M1902 sword belt.  There was an earlier version, but it has two separate saber slings, whereas the belt worn from 1902 until WWII had one attachment for a long and a short sling.  When the dress blue uniforms were reauthorized in the 1930s, the branch-specific saber sling was replaced with the nickel-plated saber chain.   First photo is the M1902 company-grade, infantry officer full dress sword belt with the dual saber slings on a single attachment point. Like all other officer uniform items, they were privately purchased, not government issued. Some makers had the exposed metal slide as the attachment point; others had a concealed inner piece of leather on which an attachment device was hung. Second photo shows a field artillery company-grade officer's M1902 full dress sword belt with a concealed hanger, as well as a field-grade officer's M1902 full dress sword belt (no branch colors -- just 1 1/2" wide gold braid with two bands of gold soutache).   The third photo is one of the modern field-grade officer's dress belts, made from the trouser braid for The Old Guard. It is not as fancy as the wire braid found on the pre 1938 belts, but works just fine for ceremonies.  These modern belts have NO attachment for the saber chain.  TOG wears a black leather 'frog' around the belt, to which the saber chain is clipped.   You can sometimes find these online through various private sellers.  Problem is that men back in the period 1902-1930 were generally much smaller than adults today, and the old belts (in addition to often having brittle / broken leather) are often too small to wear today.            

Here is another EOT I have. This one was made by Sig-Trans and dates to the 1950s to early 1960s. This one is a single engine telegraph.   

Yes I believe my Bendix EOT came from an Auxiliary type ship in 1943.