So A&E was just a shake down in preparation for the XXX corps tour, this was going to see a large convoy of vehicles from Guernsey join up with in excess of 250 vehicles from the UK and Europe, this was two weeks in period kit following the route of XXX corps on Operation MARKET GARDEN.
Sourcing a new canvas and bows in the short period of time I had was proving difficult so a cunning plan based off of some period film footage set me on the road to building a wooden superstructure on her instead, this was done with some REME and signal units as it offered more room and drier storage, and with the appalling rain we had I was very glad of that. The wooden frame went up quickly, unfortunately the building suppliers were a few boards short prior to one of our local shows but it went as an ongoing project, once wind and water tight a few creature comforts were added which include lighting and fold down beds (very welcoming compared to the faff of tentage)
For the majority of my time I was in my element, along with one of the other guys we spent the vast majority of the time working on anything green, from motorcycles to trucks and armour we had the spanners out and ensured everything got to the end. My halftrack became an unofficial recovery vehicle for our packet, day one saw a Bedford QL on tow for the majority of the day due to a faulty coil, the M3A1 developed some vapour lock at one stop so that needed a short tow to the next location and finally the recovery of a Norton motorcycle that had been parked up on display in one of the stop off towns, it had been knocked over by a pensioner on their mobility scooter who promptly rode off, this caused the magneto to be out of alignment amongst other things so onto the bumper it went.
A truly great trip with like minded individuals, we even managed an Inter HT photo
