G'day Warren,
About time you joined the MLU brigade. Good to see you've come out of the wilderness.
Regards rick.

Thanks Warren. Good to hear from you. We thought maybe you'd fallen off the edge of the world.
Meanwhile, talking of the pains that are taken to get an authentic feel, while we were waiting with the trucks at Victoria Park we could hear chanting coming from on the oval. We walked up into the stand to see what was going on to be confronted with this scene and it was not part of the filming. They went around twice at a jog, chanting various phrases where the drill sergeant shouts a phrase and the men shout it back. Sgt-Used To Drive a Cadillac! Men-Used To Drive a Cadillac! Sgt-Now All I Do Is Tote My Pack! Men-Now All I do Is Tote My Pack!
It turned out that this was preparation for a scene that was being shot where the men were coming in after a hundred mile route march and they wanted them to look like their legs were rubbery. They were also required to do deep knee bends before shooting the scene.
Note the weapons. Mostly M1 Garands but also a number of BARs. I think I would prefer an M1 carbine for this sort of thing.
David

Thanks Rick and Dave - I thought I'd fallen off the edge of the world too for a while. It's great to be back. What great photos! I love the Bob Rose stand in the background - what a hoot. It looks like it must have been so much fun Dave.
I finally bought a Blitz - Fred and Marilyn Reeves' C60X. I've never owned a Blitz before - but it's something I've always wanted since I was a little kid. A mate of my older brother restored a C-15A 4x2 while he was still in high school and I remember riding around in it - I was only five and couldn't see through the windscreen, but I remember the hot engine cover and the terrific look of the whole truck. And Fred's C60X was the first one I ever drove - during Back to the Track in '95 when we swapped for a day and Fred drove the Studebaker.
Speaking of filming, the week before I picked the truck up from Fred in March, it was used in an episode of 'The Biggest Loser' where some muscly, macho bloke called 'Commando' drives up to an unsuspecting group of, well...fat people, I guess...and drives off with two of them to a secret boot camp. Fred said he had a ball. There's an internet link to it somewhere - I'll try and find it - it's quite funny. Great to speak with you both again.