Having been interested and involved in CMPs since the mid 1970s, and having seen many collectors and historians pass away I have come to realise we are really only temporary custodians of these treasures known as Canadian Military Pattern vehicles.
Back in 1984 there was a very special event held at Rockwood in Canada, hosted by Bill Gregg. For those relatively new to CMPs Bill was one of the first to recognise the importance of preserving the history Canada's vast contribution to vehicle production in WW2.
Set amongst his amazing collection, the CMP seminar 1984 deservedly has legendary status, because it brought together the vehicles, enthusiasts and collectors with some of the men who designed and built these remarkable vehicles. Possibly the most famous to CMP history being Sid Swallow, responsible for the design of the early CMPs.
To quote from the welcoming letter: "Story-telling is the traditional way for the elders of a society to hand down their knowledge and history to a younger generation. The spoken word brings out the special meaning, feelings and color of the story. At this seminar, you are encouraged to ask questions, to probe the past. By so doing, not only will you be enriched, but
so will be the listeners for many generations."
Why do I emphasise this?
Because there was a video record made of this significant event, one which few have seen. Many of the participants of this event have passed on, including Sid Swallow, Bill Gregg and Peter Ford.
This event occurred about the same time since the vehicles were designed as we are now from the seminar.
If anyone knows who made this video and can help share it with the now greatly expanded CMP community I'm sure we would all be grateful that the intent of passing this information on will be fulfilled.
http://www.canadianmilitarypattern.c...0%6084%202.jpg
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