UPDATE.

For this weeks update I can report that the batch of caissons and utility trailers have been completed as shown below and issued to Infantry battalions to accompany the heavy weapons recently issued as part of the programme to provide all Infantry battalions with a Heavy Weapons company.

I have now started on a batch of limbers  for the same purpose. Completion of this re-equipment programme will also include a batch of ammunition and GS wagons in the near future. In addition I have completed another new Infantry battalion which brings the total strength of my armies to just shy of 47,000. Yet another new Infantry battalion has also just been started. Work still continues on the upgrading of existing light GS trailers, ammunition wagons and heavy GS trailers.

Perhaps my most significant item of news this week  concerns my plans to publish a series of IMAGI-NATIONS articles outlining the world my armies inhabit. I have said before that I already have the first two articles drafted but have held off publication until I can create a good quality map, which I think is essential to make the whole concept work. Well, I have spent some time now working with some of the free on line map making packages to create that map. I have to report that my efforts have been unsatisfactory in the extreme. Apart from the fact that most of these packages are targeted at the Fantasy world with lots of dragons and dark castles, which I personally do not like, but also my digital skills leave much to be desired. Therefore I have now taken the plunge and commissioned a professional cartographer to create my map !!!! Yes it is expensive but I know the results will be worth while as I will get a map that looks like a "real" map with accurate and realistic geographical features. I will also secure the input of a professional in ensuring my ideas are taken forward in a practical sense eg. my rivers are not 200 miles wide !!!

I am very excited with this development and will provides updates as the design proceeds.

BOOK REVIEW : THE ENGLISH FARM WAGON.

This book was a recent find in a second hand bookshop for a very reasonable £2 although perhaps not surprising given the subject matter which clearly has a limited readership. Anyway, the book was written in 1961 and was based on a national survey, by the author, of some 600 different farm wagons just then going out of general use. He decided to complete this survey before these vehicles completely disappeared in order to provide an historical reference. The book gives a very useful overview of the origins and development of wagons, the methods of construction and the substantial regional design variations.  I would have preferred some information on  factory built wagons but this book concentrates exclusively on local craftsman made vehicles. Nevertheless a useful reference on the general principles of wagon construction. Of especial interest to me was the fact that most of these wagons were expected to last at least a hundred years, indeed one of the oldest surveyed was built in 1780 and yet still in use in 1961, a strong contrast to military wagons that were expected to have a very short lifespan of only a few years at best.

BOOK REVIEW : AN EAGLE'S ODYSSEY.

This new book was recently found in The Works at a very reasonable price. The book covers the military career of a pilot in the Luftwaffe from his joining in 1935 right through to the end of the war. The author was highly skilled given the years of peace time training he enjoyed before the war. During the war he was initially an instructor then he piloted transport aircraft then he moved to ground attack planes before flying single engined interceptors against US bombing missions over Germany before going back to ground attack against the Russians at the very end of the war. The  thing that strikes me  is the remarkable way he transferred from plane type to plane type each with a totally different mission purpose with no particular difficulty. It seems that once trained to fly he could more or less do anything, perhaps a reflection on the quality of his initial training as much as his personal qualities. A good book with excellent descriptions of combat flying in the Luftwaffe but not a single comment whatsoever on the politics of the time, an interesting omission.

BOOK REVIEW : BUGLES AND A TIGER. THE ROAD PAST MANDALAY.

These two books are both written by John Masters, maybe better known as the author of Bhowani Junction and a number of other fictional works. These books represent an autobiography of  his military career. The first book, which I have had for some years, details his graduation from Sandhurst and travel to India to join a Gurkha regiment of the Indian Army in 1934 and his life up to the outbreak of WW2 in 1939.
The most interesting aspect of his regimental life in India during the 1930's is that it is identical in almost every respect to regimental life in 1905 or even 1875. Apart from the odd reference to a lorry or bus there is no difference at all. If you are interested in that aspect of British India or the Gurkha regiments of the Raj this is the book for you.

THE ROAD PAST MANDALAY.

This book was a present for my birthday late last year and covers the authors life during WW2 as he rose to the rank of Colonel and covers not only his military experiences but also his tortuous love life. A very interesting read on the activities of the Chindits during the Burma campaign with some fascinating insights into the actions and attitudes of the Anglo-American high command and the personalities of the various Generals in the Far Eastern theatre of war. Combat in the jungles of Burma is also covered in  gory detail. Overall a good book on a neglected campaign with lots of fascinating details of military life if you can cope with the complex nature of the author's love life that even came close to compromising his military career at one stage.

BOOK REVIEW : COMMANDER.

This is a book from my library which I recently reread. It is the story of Britain's greatest frigate captain, Edward Pellew. He was the inspiration for Hornblower's fictional mentor in the C.S. Forester books and the model for Captain Jack Aubrey in the film Master and Commander. From humble beginnings Pellew rose to the highest ranks of Britain's Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, a contemporary of Nelson and usually regarded as the better sailor if not the the better naval tactician.

The book gives an incredible insight into the political world of the late 1700s and early 1800s apart from excellent descriptions of the naval engagements he participated in and the harshness of life at sea in the sail driven wooden ships of the time. A particularly interesting element is the extraordinary impact of prize money on sailors of this era. Pellew earned literally millions in today's money from the capture of enemy vessels.

A fascinating and well written book, essential reading for those interested in naval warfare at the time of Nelson and well worth a look for those interested in the political and strategic issues of the wars against Revolutionary and Imperial France.

BOOK REVIEW : A LIGHT INFANTRYMAN WITH WELLINGTON.

Another present for my recent birthday was this splendid book.  Basically its a compilation of the letters of Captain George Barlow from the time of his joining the army as a teenager until his untimely death at the age of 33 from disease in India.

The book is a fascinating record of his career, the battles he fought in together with an extraordinary insight into his life and times. The descriptions of the battles are very interesting and invaluable to students of these actions. When reading this type of book it never ceases to amaze me how fundamentally  like us the people of history were despite the huge differences in the worlds we inhabit. I get the same message when reading Mercers Journal of Waterloo. The same concerns over money, careers, relationships, health, appreciation of a good meal and the presence of poverty and things foreign. I guess it demonstrates that people have not essentially changed through the ages, its just that we think they should have, or at least I do. That said, some attitudes have certainly changed and how Barlow coped with two most dreadful wounds is not at all like it would be today. Quite how he even survived such wounds in those days is remarkable let alone that after each he resumed his military career as if nothing had ever happened.

A really good book in every sense.

BOOK REVIEW : SHIRE BOOKS.

For those not aware of these books I strongly recommend looking them up on line. They publish a vast selection of small books, average price £5, on a bewildering range of topics. I have over 80 Shire books now and tend to review the catalogue each year and arrange to have myself bought a few as birthday or Christmas presents. The three books below were presents for my recent birthday and give a fair idea of the wide range of topics covered in the 1500 or more titles available.


THE ROOTES GROUP

I asked for this book as the main London factory for Rootes was literally just up the road from where I lived as a child. I clearly recall the lines of new cars as I walked to school. It is also an interesting record of the rise and fall of a major company that made a significant contribution to Britain's industrial output during the Second World War.

VICTORIAN HOUSEBUILDING

This book reflects my interest in all things Victorian and especially their engineering. My first house was a 1910 terrace and this book provides a good insight into what is still the greatest period of house building ever in the UK with very interesting information on the way things were done and the working lives of the builders themselves.

SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN

Once again this choice shows my interest in engineering. It never ceases to amaze me that our ancestors were able to construct huge, complex and sophisticated buildings such as St Paul's cathedral back in the 1600's without any of the technological means we have today. Indeed, Wren started as an astronomer and became an architect almost by accident, and all at a time when there was no recognised profession of architect and no formal relevant training. On a personal note, my school was named Christopher Wren and used the image of St Paul's as the badge. The school, now long gone, was in West London and had a strong technical bias with training in bricklaying, plastering, plumbing and electrical engineering as well as the usual, in those days, woodworking, metalworking and technical drawing. Additionally, I have actually been in the roof space of St Paul's during a tour a few years ago. It is remarkable to be able to see how the thing is actually put together under the surface. If you get the opportunity ever, I strongly recommend taking that tour, as long as you can cope with heights of course.

UPDATE.

I AM BACK ONLINE   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes at last our internet service has been restored after going down on 22 November. Service was resumed yesterday around 5pm after two OpenReach engineers worked at the junction box at the end of the road from 8am. After talking to them it is quite clear that our service could have been restored weeks ago but the administration at and between our service provider Sky and OpenReach has suffered a complete meltdown. The battle for a huge compensation package will now commence  !!!!!!!!

Of course over the past almost two months modelling has continued as has reading books. I will publish now the book reviews already written and will draft up the others over the coming days. As for modelling progress I have been working to carry out the changes discussed in my last posts. That is around the breaking up of the Heavy Weapons battalions and reallocation of Heavy Weapons companies to each Infantry battalion. In fact I have retained one Heavy Weapons battalion in each Army as army troops. The follow up step of this reorganisation was the creation of 4 additional Infantry battalions for each of my three Armies.

Overall the new requirements were for 3 completely new Infantry battalions, 9 new Infantry battalions using the redundant HQ companies from disbanded Heavy Weapons battalions as a nucleus and construction of 24 new Heavy Weapons companies to complete the provision of a HW company to each Infantry battalion as only 36 such companies were available from the broken up HW battalions. The resulting organisational changes will be made to the unit structure posts just as soon as I can.

This photo shows the troops for the first of the  completely new Infantry battalions,  some 358 strong, which have been fully painted in uniform colour with flags made and primed. The next steps will be adding rank and arm of service colours and two coats of varnish.

In addition, I an still undertaking the upgrading of Ammunition wagons and Heavy GS trailers  by adding spare wheels to all such vehicles. Also I am remaking light GS trailers by adding a "load" and canvas tilt to each vehicle so they are similar in appearance to GS wagons. To date I have upgraded 112 Ammunition wagons, 162 Heavy GS trailers and 226 light GS trailers which means I am about 65% complete. These numbers may sound fantastic but bear in mind my armies have about 7000 vehicles and equipments altogether.  Of course there are also a large number of new vehicles to construct to fully equip the new Infantry battalions and I am still building additional Cavalry squadrons to bring each Cavalry regiment up to a four Squadron strength. So far 12 of my 18 Cavalry regiments have been upgraded.

This photo shows a batch of 36 ammunition caissons for new HW companies with a handful of utility trailers destined for newly formed Infantry battalions. The metal parts have been primed and the vehicles are now ready for painting olive drab. I recently completed a batch of 36 new heavy weapons with which these caissons will be associated.

I hope my enforced absence from updating my blog has not been too off putting to any regular readers, I will do my best to catch up over the coming weeks with some hopefully interesting material.

UPDATE.

Yes I am still here, but only just. ,!!! We have been without internet since November 22, yes that long !!!!!!! BT via Sky, claim that our connection in the local junction box has failed and they are still trying to get a new replacement part !!!!! Can you really believe that !!!!!
Our only connection is when we venture to Costa Coffee and update our e mails. My wife can get hers on her phone but my phone is so old, clockwork actually, that I can't. Clearly I have been unable to publish anything, and I have a lot to say !!!!!
I thought I would publish this one message just in case anyone is actually wondering why I have disappeared. As and eventually when BT get themselves sorted, I will publish again and try to get back to normal. Fingers crossed that will not be too much longer !!!!!!