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Tuesday, 1 June 2010

Blyth Battery


I forgot about these till the other day,some photos from an event at Blyth Battery, a wartime defence site at Blyth Beach Northumberland( try Google) , it was good to see so many people down at the beach , there was several vehicles of WW11 period and later , and an earlier unit from the 1800's the level of detail was unbelievable , even a period field kitchen serving beef stew and a static display of a Spitfire the iconic aircraft from many a childhood.
Another similar event is planned for the 13th June at nearby Fort House Seaton Sluice, a WW1 Battery site.Not sure what period this was from but it was bristling with guns and those are some sort of rocket on the bonnet
The guy was kind enough to load this for me to make a better photo,these could be useful for nest protection schemes , although they would probably scare the birds
Trust the yanks to have all the gear ,this stand seemed to have had every bit of kit ever issued during the war , I wonder if planning permission was needed to fly those flags ,or is that just for the Union Jack.






2 comments:

HowdonBlogger said...

The Long Wheel Base Landrover does not belong to any period. The vehicle was in use by the Army when I joined in 1966 and was still being used when I left in 1992. I was stationed in Qatar in the Middle East in early 70s and our Landrovers were all painted and stripped down very similar to the one in the pic. The guns are .50 calibre Browning (M2s I think) which have been in use since WWII and are still used in updated versions today. The "Rockets" on the bonnet look like Milans (which came into service with the British in mid 1990s) although they could also be LAW which are relatively newer. It is very difficult to tell without taking the protectors off at either end. They were used as anti-tank weapons. I did have the pleasure of firing one of its predecessors the Carl Gustav on a few occasions. Also if you look at the he tube strapped horizontally above the camo jacket on the seat this is a Light Anti Tank weapon also (known as a throwaway, as you fired it then dumped it). Infantrymen sometimes carried 3 or 4 of these. The camo jacket is from the late 90s and the webbing on the side of the vehicle is american not british. The radios on the front wings are probably of Clansman origin but you cant tell till you see the radio which should be on the back of the fairings behind the driver and passengers heads. One note is that in the 70s when we were out in the desert we did not have the type of camo that is strapped to the vehicle just a large piece of hessian sandy coloured. The Landrovers were also painted a pinky sort of yellow. All in all a mixture of periods but it still looks good.

John

Northumbrian Birding said...

Cheers Codders,loads of radio gear in the back as well,interesting day !!
AS I say an event on the 13th June well worth a look if your around its not far from St Mary's Island.
Brian