[David_Hayward (RIP)]

What's so damned annoying is that I have more or less finished my thesis and then up pops this fantastic piece of historical text that is of immense value. Then to find that they have another photograph of the blitzed Southampton Plant from 1 or 2 December 1940 [that's when it was taken] that I never knew existed! I have collected photos of the Plant from Canada and the UK and the US come to think of it, and now I find another! Incidentally the shot is facing eastwards in the Crane Bay, and you can see a Chevrolet 4-door sedan blown to pieces and also a Canadian Ingersoll-Rand 15-cwt. Compressor Trailer. On the left are some of the C.60L chassis I think that had been melted by the heat.

Also in the text are photos of 1938 Chevrolet trucks, one of which I know was issued to the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force/Police if I have got it right....see Wheels & Tracks. These were delivered through GM Near East in Alexandria. To be honest in 1944 they were effectively rewriting official GM history retrospectively and skipping over certain aspects that were too delicate to be remembered. That's why the book is so important, and goodness knows why I never knew of its existence before. That said I had no idea that GM of Canada had produced their War Album [copied/scanned] and Vauxhall Motors issued their book entitled 'An Account of Our Stewardship', that I have acquired a copy of. There was also a Dagenham Ford book published 1946 that is rare but had details of the war record...does it have CMPs I wonder? Must find out.

Alex what do you want to do please? I don't mind buying it off you, or paying a proportion of the cost plus scanning/CD Rom costs. If I owned it I would add it to my collection that is available to all..I have GM Limited's official photo album from 1940-41 that I rescued from a waste bin and paid £400 for negatives/prints to be made of all the photos. They do of course include some CMPs and a few MCPs. What I am most anxious about is to seek a copy of the Southampton Plant photo, plus those of the pre-war trucks. This last aspect dates from summer 1938 when there was meeting at the War Office whereby GM agreed to sell a large number of Chevrolet trucks to the Mid-East forces including the RAF. Some of these ended up with the LRDG incidentally.

AS A THIRD THOUGHT..I AM QUITE HAPPY TO BORROW AND RETURN...I LEAVE IN YOUR HANDS. PLEASE CARRY ON THE EXCELLENT WORK AS THIS AND OTHER BOOKS WOULD NEVER HAVE COME TO LIGHT AND BE MADE AVAILABLE.