June 15Jun 15 #30576 24 minutes ago, General Apathy said: . interesting contact and book. After the Carentan parade and a display of the wartime vehicles in the town car park a friend returned to his Dodge staff car and was greeted by a man that had waited patiently to talk with him. The man pointed to the plaque on the front bumper showing the name of an airfield in Mississippi that he said a long-term friend a WWII nurse trained at, sadly she recently died aged in her mid nineties. This Gentleman has written a book about her wartime experiences, and gave my friend a free copy. I had a quick flip through it this afternoon while visiting for a coffee and it is very detailed with many photographs that I have never seen before also a lot of technical details including her clothing and equipment issue etc, and travel documents. I look forward to loaning it when I can and read through it. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 15 June 2O26. .. Wow!! I bet She saw some stuff! Would be a great read!
June 15Jun 15 #30577 33 minutes ago, cutiger83 said: I love to read books about women in the military. I looked this book up and can't find it. I wonder if the man self published it. It looks interesting. ..Kat I took a look for it too and came up empty. mikie
June 15Jun 15 #30578 2 hours ago, General Apathy said: . Jeep in a crate purchase . . . . . . . . well actually it's not, but better than that a local friend is awaiting next week the arrival of five Jeeps in a shipping container. One is supposedly an all matching numbers Ford GPW, and another is a Slat Grille, again supposedly untouched since manufacture as he bought them sight unseen other than photographs, so he is waiting impatiently and I am also ready to hot-foot it down there to see what he has and pore over the technical details with him. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 15 June 2O26. .. Hi Ken, I would be very interested in any details of the slat grille, if indeed factory original. Is the frame number known?
June 16Jun 16 #30579 8 hours ago, earlymb said: Hi Ken, I would be very interested in any details of the slat grille, if indeed factory original. Is the frame number known? . hi earlymb, We didn't discuss that it was more about the expectation of the container arrival, he knows the GPW is all matching numbers, and he seems convinced that the Slat is untouched so I WILL BE very interested in seeing it as I once owned a slat and want to see how mine stacked up against an untouched one.. During D-Day week there were several very rare Jeep models drifting around Normandy, BUT while all looked factory condition all had been totally rebuilt to the nth degree so total originality was no longer there. Something I really want to see is any original felt around the radiators, sadly some of the recently restored Jeeps I see use material that wouldn't look out of place on the back of a South American Sloth animal. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. ..
June 16Jun 16 #30580 . Carentan wartime vehicle parade Sunday 07 June 2026 About a hundred vehicles gathered to take part in a vehicle parade around the streets of Carentan and park in the central square to allow people to see the vehicles close up. I transported three ladies that did the knitting and covering of the full size wooden Jeep we made for the Longest Yarn exhibition. The lady in the front who did most of the knitting had never actually ridden in a Jeep before. Once again I failed to get photos of all the people crowding the streets and the main square, I was busy towing a stalled Jeep into the main square and trying to change the condenser and points for the owner. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. ..
June 16Jun 16 #30581 . D-Day UK tank visit . A UK friend brought his Sherman over to Normandy and toured the British sector during D-Day week. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. ..
June 16Jun 16 #30582 . More than any other vehicle in the world's automotive history I have never tired of looking at this 1940's American design icon, a true classic. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. ..
June 16Jun 16 #30583 1 hour ago, General Apathy said: . More than any other vehicle in the world's automotive history I have never tired of looking at this 1940's American design icon, a true classic. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. .. I know just how you feel…
June 16Jun 16 #30584 On 6/4/2026 at 11:02 PM, earlymb said: I just can't stop staring at that windshield in the upright position...😮 Did the hinges creak when you put it up? 🤭 Is it still the same jeep too? I bet John liked to hear that story about his dad! . Hi earlymb, I flipped the windshield up today, but it was only to take some photos of the engine bay, I added a can of WD40 into the photo as I knew you would have a smile at that. anyway here's a wartime shot of a GPW engine bay and eighty years later a shot of my engine bay. I have shown mine in both a colour comparison and a monochrome comparison . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. ..
June 16Jun 16 #30585 2 hours ago, Johan Willaert said: I know just how you feel… . Hi Johan, yes owning one is enjoying one, I just watched a Jay Leno video on Youtube entitled ' The greatest vehicle ever made the Ford GPW ' he also states that he never fails to smile when he's driving his Ford GPW. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. ..
June 16Jun 16 #30586 . From my Shoebox Collection I bought this tin of Sour Ball Candies in the 1990's and it shows a copyright date of 1940 on the sides of the tin, so it was about fifty years old when I bought it, sadly theta lid was already rusty when bought, but underneath the bottom is like new, the candy balls inside still shake about when shaken so thankfully it's not one massive glob inside the can. Pity it wasn't stored upside down all those years . . . . . . . . I have matt varnished the lids to hopefully help prevent further corrosion. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. ..
June 16Jun 16 #30587 . And a piece of candy of her parents eyes. My granddaughter Aurelia fourteen weeks old. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. ..
June 16Jun 16 #30588 1 hour ago, General Apathy said: . And a piece of candy of her parents eyes. My granddaughter Aurelia fourteen weeks old. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. .. Talk about “charms”! Hello, little one! mikie
June 17Jun 17 #30589 . Searching for the Unicorn of the Jeeping world .... A crated Jeep. !!! Everyone knows that there were crated Jeeps in WWII and the search has continued for a genuine crated Jeep for the last eighty years, even I have made trips in search of an elusive fairytale. Six months ago we did find the remains of a wooden crate in Cherbourg where crated Jeeps arrived and assembled. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 17 June 2O26. ..
June 17Jun 17 #30590 . Not only Jeeps were crated . . . . . . a couple of photos from the manual for unpacking crated Ford GPA's ( amphibious Jeeps ) Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 17 June 2O26. ..
June 17Jun 17 #30591 . Not only were Jeeps crated . . . . . . a couple of photos from the manual for un-crating various Dodge WC's series trucks Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 17 June 2O26. ..
June 17Jun 17 #30592 . Not only were Jeeps crated . . . . . . . A couple of photos from the manual for un-crating Ford GTB trucks ( aka. the Burma Jeep ) Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 17 June 2O26. ..
June 17Jun 17 #30593 👍👍👍👍👍 I’m somehow out of LIKEs again! I hope you happen to find one eventually. Thinking out-of-the-box, maybe you should have those talented gals knit you one 😁. mikie
June 17Jun 17 #30594 35 minutes ago, mikie said: 👍👍👍👍👍 I’m somehow out of LIKEs again! I hope you happen to find one eventually. Thinking out-of-the-box, maybe you should have those talented gals knit you one 😁. mikie I just used one of my likes for you.🤩
June 17Jun 17 #30595 On 6/16/2026 at 10:30 AM, General Apathy said: . hi earlymb, We didn't discuss that it was more about the expectation of the container arrival, he knows the GPW is all matching numbers, and he seems convinced that the Slat is untouched so I WILL BE very interested in seeing it as I once owned a slat and want to see how mine stacked up against an untouched one.. During D-Day week there were several very rare Jeep models drifting around Normandy, BUT while all looked factory condition all had been totally rebuilt to the nth degree so total originality was no longer there. Something I really want to see is any original felt around the radiators, sadly some of the recently restored Jeeps I see use material that wouldn't look out of place on the back of a South American Sloth animal. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. .. Hi Ken, I know what you mean about the radiator felt; there is currently only one person accurately reproducing this coarse felt of horse/pig hair sewn on strips of burlap, but most of the jeep parts vendors sell strips of under-carpet which is completely wrong in colour and texture. This is some of his work (pic from TJ Zackman): TJ also made my factory-type hood stencils and I purchased a set of his radiator felt for the slat grille at the same time, but this will be one of the last things that we will put on the jeep, I guess. On 6/16/2026 at 5:50 PM, General Apathy said: . Hi earlymb, I flipped the windshield up today, but it was only to take some photos of the engine bay, I added a can of WD40 into the photo as I knew you would have a smile at that. anyway here's a wartime shot of a GPW engine bay and eighty years later a shot of my engine bay. I have shown mine in both a colour comparison and a monochrome comparison . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 16 June 2O26. .. 😆 I did save the WWII photo of the engine compartment as it clearly shows an original battery, which will come in handy for my current side-quest.
June 18Jun 18 #30596 16 hours ago, General Apathy said: . Searching for the Unicorn of the Jeeping world .... A crated Jeep. !!! Everyone knows that there were crated Jeeps in WWII and the search has continued for a genuine crated Jeep for the last eighty years, even I have made trips in search of an elusive fairytale. Six months ago we did find the remains of a wooden crate in Cherbourg where crated Jeeps arrived and assembled. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, 17 June 2O26. .. Ken How many times did you hear about crated Jeeps being buried on wartime airfields before the 'Yanks' left. Never an eye witness , they always heard it from a friend who knew someone who heard it from someone that was there. There must be at least one out there somewhere in an old forgotten storage hanger or shed........ Having said that when we used to do gliding the one guy was a farmer and he stored some of the gliders in his barn. He told us that Rolls Royce bought an old small quarry on his land and used it to bury hundreds of aircraft engines that were still crated. Afterwards they added about 20ft of blitz rubble to seal it before finishing off with top soil. I never pushed him for details of the quarry as I had no way of digging it.
June 18Jun 18 #30597 Ken probably already posted this photo here in the past, but if not, it might be a relatively easy one to do a Then & Now comparison 😊 Also note the field-applied blackout light on the right fender, complete with early Dodge WC bracket.
June 18Jun 18 #30598 Back in 1985 or so, Ray Cowdery, author of All American Wonder, offered a substantial reward if someone came up with a genuine jeep-in-a-crate … None surfaced to this day, 40 years on..
June 18Jun 18 #30599 6 hours ago, Escht said: Ken How many times did you hear about crated Jeeps being buried on wartime airfields before the 'Yanks' left. Never an eye witness , they always heard it from a friend who knew someone who heard it from someone that was there. There must be at least one out there somewhere in an old forgotten storage hanger or shed........ Having said that when we used to do gliding the one guy was a farmer and he stored some of the gliders in his barn. He told us that Rolls Royce bought an old small quarry on his land and used it to bury hundreds of aircraft engines that were still crated. Afterwards they added about 20ft of blitz rubble to seal it before finishing off with top soil. I never pushed him for details of the quarry as I had no way of digging it. Not a jeep, and it’s not crated, but here is an interesting article about something dug up on an old airfield…https://www.worldmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/323870-buried-stug-iii-found-in-germany-2026/ Mikie
June 18Jun 18 #30600 Hi Ken, I saw this photo posted recently of a Jeep being offloaded mid June 1944 in Normandy. 1. Brave driver! 2. where did the cables/ rope affix to at the rear of the Jeep? Cheers
Create an account or sign in to comment