[Ed Storey]

Jason, please reread my comments. I did not point any fingers at any one institution nor did my comments attack any one person. If you have issues with authors and the publication of books, perhaps you may wish to start another thread on the topic.

Since you have opened the box, I will state that many of the military bases across Canada are peppered with vehicles on public outdoor display. Many of these vehicles are now rare examples of their type and allowing them to deteriorate does little to preserve our automotive heritage. Outdoor display was/is the norm as the final resting place for surplus military vehicles; as was the policy at one time of painting every Allied vehicle semi-gloss olive drab and every axis vehicle grey.

What I am saying is that all museum artifacts need to be treated as equals. For instance, no-one would ever take a painting and use it as a doormat to the museum yet for some reason many people seem to think that leaving a military vehicle outside to the elements is an acceptable practice. My point, which you seemed to have missed, is that I am suggesting that museums take a hard look at this practice and find another way to store and preserve this material.

Rather than crying and complaining about working hours and pay and pointing at other people, why not take the reigns and attempt to move the display practices of the museum that you work for in a different direction? This is already being done in some locations, CFB Shilo comes to mind, and perhaps people like yourself, who are working hard to preserve our history can also effect change in their museum.

By properly saving the vehicle artefacts we will have preserved our automotive history for succeeding generations of Canadians to enjoy, appreciate and study; including those evil authors who apparently publish books on vehicles....