During my time at Tank Transporter Training Wing at 19 coy Ranby Camp making friends with Bernie Callow & Bill (jock) Spiers both W.W.2 veterans & talking, in the NAFFI, about their experiences during their active service. Nothing boastful or bullshit, just the way it was. Jock was in the Middle east & Bernie was in Burma & were great guys to have a beer with. Another great mate I remember was Brian Dyas from St.Helens, he used to be on the books of their rugby league team, used to sing like Ken Dodd. Now I think about it he was almost as funny

Fighting Vehicle Research & Development Establishment, Chertsey. A fascinating place where all potential miltary soft skinned & armoured were tested for their ability & durability.We had our own high speed test track at Chertsey, off road tracks at Bagshot & cross country for tracked vehs. at Long Valley, Aldershot. I was & still am a biker, & spent my last 18 months there riding bikes to find a replacement for the old M20 BSA,on test track & off road, it was a fantasy come true & my mates were great.

The photo’s are of a six week spell in Ulster on a floatation trial on the river out of Lough Neagh.Clive, the Stalwart driver,who was a civvie,& I were the first veh. to go in the water, with a 5 ton load of dummy land mines on board,& performed quite well on tests through the course set out by bouys. But on arrival back to the launch point it became obvious that the bank was to steep for the water depth & as the Stalwart tried to climb the bank the tail sank below the surface.I called to Clive as he could’nt see the situation & he said no prob,,but he quickly changed his mind when he felt the water round his arse & he joined me instantly above the water line.It took quite a while to recover it & get all the electrics dried out or replaced but we did & completed the trials.But the engine blew up on the journey back