Big Picture: Mythos Explorers!

I've been going through a load of old pictures recently and, where necessary, scanning them onto my computer. There was a time when I used a camera with something called 'film' in it. I'm not sure how I managed to cope in the days before Mega-pixels and SD cards. Back in 1992 when I took this photo I brought 15 rolls of film with me to Egypt- enough to shoot a mere 540 pictures. These days I carry enough memory capacity to comfortably shoot a four or five thousand pictures.



With a little bit of computer manipulation I've aged the picture to make us look like a couple of plucky European explorers from the 1920's! All I need is a pith helmet.

I'm a Winner!

A few weeks ago the excellent blog Model Dads announced that they were working on putting together a Normandy: Mines, Signs and Maps decal set. They asked for suggestions on what to include and I submitted an idea. Now Model Dads have announced that the set is complete and that I and two other readers have won ourselves a set each!

I've never won anything like this and I have to say I'm really quite excited about it. I'm not sure yet how I'll use the decals but rest assured I'll be posting details here as soon as I do.

Pictures from Military Odyssey 2011

As previously mentioned I was at Military Odyssey in Kent last Saturday. I shot a lot of pictures despite of the changeable (often wet) weather. This show continues to attract a wide variety of reenactors and traders although I did think numbers were down a bit this year. There seems to be an inexhaustible supply of WWII memorabilia on sale and new stuff is constantly coming into circulation. One of the things I like most about these shows is that its like wandering through a museum where you get to handle the artefacts and examine them up close!



Anyway I hope you enjoy the pictures and as usual if you see any that I have captioned incorrectly please let me know and I will make the necessary correction.

Fort Pictures

Here are my pictures taken at Tilbury Fort on Monday. They include an interesting series of pictures of a British Spigot Mortar. The mounts were large reinforced concrete blocks with a metal pin in the top. These were so massive and robust that many remain in position to this day, although I expect most people don't realise what they are. The example at Tilbury Fort actually has a rare mounted example of the mortar, also known as a Blacker Bombard.



The first Bombards appeared in late 1941 and were positioned around airfields, important road junctions and in coastal positions and were predominantly manned by the Home Guard although they were issued to regular units as well. By mid 1942 over 22,000 had been produced and issued to forces throughout the country. However they were never a popular weapon, possibly because they were only effective at close range leaving crews vulnerable both to counter-attack and shrapnel from their own projectiles!