BB2 After Action Report

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Ladies & gents, it's still going on, and likely will for a while yet, to pick up again tomorrow at oh-dark-thirty (can ye figger THAT one out, Alex?? ).

Lots to tell but not tonight, going to go-to-ground shortly. We didn't manage to run over anyone in Mike Calnan's carrier (his aim is bad), but we did get to pop off a few rounds with the 6-pdr AT gun at some sunbathing beauties! I'll tell you, ol' Boobie has quite the setup there, out in the middle of nowhere...

Gentlemen, use this thread for your AARs on BB2 , including the pics. I shall file a full written report once I get back to Tronna; overall? OUTSTANDING EVENT!

More later...

Jif

[Stewart Loy]

.. after an uneventful AirCanada ride I am home with some pix to share.


Thanks to Bob and his wife and the Ottawa Gang for a delightful weekend of OD fun.

I think Bob had fun as his ( and Rob's ) truck got to run with a bit of coaxing from Dan Caldwell. Later Grant, Rob and Dan bled some HUP brakes.


Stewart

[Stewart Loy]

Rob's truck has a bit of a taste for Alexander Keiths suds. It has got to be good for something.

What is the expression 'Those that can keep it down, like it alot'??

Anyway, the stovebolt fired up on it.

[Stewart Loy]

After the work was done, most folks retired to the show arena where the food and refreshments were kept. The weather was sunny and cool - just the thing for old OD bits.

[Stewart Loy]

Mike Calnan arrived with his own parade of old trucks and guns.

His gang showed Jif and Bob what to do.

[Stewart Loy]

Jif and Marc Montgomery worked together to have some loud fun.

[Stewart Loy]

6 pounder gets fired off, carefully pointed away from Ottawa.

[Stewart Loy]

Not to be outdone, Boobie blasted off the S&P bofors gun.

[Stewart Loy]

Yikes,

One of the many blank rounds has started a smallish grass fire in the show arena. Not wanting to harvest the hay crop right away, Bob did what he had to do.

He grabbed an Alexander Keiths portable fire extinguisher and squirted the smoldering fire. It must have been a big one, as Bob has got hold of it with both hands!

Good work Bob!

[Stewart Loy]

The end of a delightful day was a small bonfire after the steaks, baked potatoes, corn, chicken, salad ( 4 different kinds ), buns and suds.

The S&P LAAT was parked a ways back, but the fire occasionally contributed to global warming. That was OK, as it was a cool night.

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Thanks for posting those pics today, Stewart... many more to come from other sources as well, so stay tuned!

I snuck a ride home with Dan Caldwell this afternoon, so I can actually get some work done tonight before the week begins tomorrow. It was a great weekend overall! Kudos will be allotted shortly.

Originally posted by Stewart Loy
The end of a delightful day was a small bonfire after the steaks, baked potatoes, corn, chicken, salad ( 4 different kinds ), buns and suds.

The S&P LAAT was parked a ways back, but the fire occasionally contributed to global warming. That was OK, as it was a cool night.

AWESOME WICKED PHOTO!!! That wuld make a great poster, book cover, or calendar page ... post card ... greeting card ... !!!

[Grant Bowker]

CKaptain Nacho was not seen, I suspect he was bashful given the crowd.

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Before I go into any kind of detailed AAR, and before it gets lost in a flood of continuing postings/pictures, I wanted to say one thing about the people at the core of this.

Like the CC series of events, the BB series is a completely private venture, conceived and executed by only a handful of our membership here. It's a remarkable, continuing effort which, like the CC event, is a 'labour of love'... an approach I personally find to be at the heart of all we are and all we do as amateur historians, vehicle collectors and enthusiasts, and those with an enduring love of the military, past and present.

Any single person or small group that can successfully engineer something like these two separate events, on a one-time basis or year after year, deserves our utmost admiration and respect.

I would like to recognize, here and now, those who have brought yet another great weekend into our realm of experience:

Bob & Joyce Carriere. Without question, this event would not exist without them. Both worked untiringly to bring this to reality, with Joyce mostly behind the scenes and largely unacknowledged. Their property is perfect for this sort of thing, and they used it well on our behalf.

Rob Clarke. Bob's 'partner-in-crime' here, Rob's endeavours towards bringing this to fruition are almost incalculable. Rob and Bob work together like a well-oiled machine to ensure nothing is left undone; I don't think I ever saw either of them, but particularly Rob, not in motion at any given point, attending to some arcane detail before it was noticed.

Grant Bowker. Making the Dangerous Duo a Terrible Trio, Grant, like Rob, seemed to be everywhere all the time! The three build trucks together and now they do shows together.

Mike Calnan. While not part of the organising body per se, Mike deserves a special mention here for a tremendous effort to support the endeavour by supplying the event with: an 8cwt Chev which looks like it just came off the production line; a Mk.II* Universal Carrier which we warmed up with a few laps of the field; the Ford LAAT pictured above, which towed the 40mm Bofors, also pictured above; the 6-pounder AT gun as shown; his newly acquired towed Inglis Quad Posten; and several towing vehicles. More about all this later.

Lady and gentlemen, and those on the periphery, please take a bow! MLU salutes you all.

[Bob Carriere]

.....sorry for posting so late.......

After everyone left on Sunday Joyce and I realized we were very tired.........

....... we did bury the only casualty.... the dum squirrel that bleww up the transformwer in front of my house.....

With power restored I had a relaxing shower..... and being totally feed up with beer had a "Margarita"........

.....by 8:45 I crawled in bed....... satisfied and gratified of such a wonderful weekend.

A "BIG" thank you to Mike and the "Kars P&S Crew for bringing all the toys...

...and a thank you to Mike McKingley for the CD Prizes..

...and a thank you to Stew who rangled a General Dynamics T Shirt that Mike will wear aound the Museum...

... a special mention and personal thank you to the Chatsworth mechanic who made a 600 km service call and got our trucks running....Dan Caldwell.

...and on behalf of Joyce and I, Rob and Marcia and Grant, we want to extend our thanks to everyone for making this a memorable weekend..........as Geoff was overheard saying ..... "its the people that makes the difference"..... and I agree.... you all made a difference.

Thank you all for being part of a wonderful weekend.....

BooBee

[Gunner]

Geoff has already eloquently said all the thanks and kudos I wanted to say to Bob and Joyce and Rob and Grant, what a great weekend!

Boobee.. me tired too! Still groggy a day later... sun, fun, lotsa food, a couple of wobblies and several hours at the wheel of a big truck, whew!

I must mention the great volunteers from the Swords and Ploughshares Museum (in Convoy order):

Graeme Milne; OCdt in the CIC, self employed contractor (Capital Creations), father of two great lads who got home from cadet camp this past weekend and enormously patient driver of F60 LAAT towing the 40mm Bofors who had to stop every 25 minutes to top up the fuel, even in the middle of an intersection!

Blair Bossi, co-driver to Graeme; teenager, ex cadet and competent navigator who only missed one intersection on the long and twisty cross country route from Kars to Hammond

Ansis Strenge; a tall and talented electronics technician and somewhat cramped driver of the C8

Cody, Blair's buddy, co-driver to Ansis and hard working dogs body on his first Museum adventure... we look forward to having you back Cody!

Rob Hutchingame, Capt and CO of our local Cadet Corps- 1st Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery. Good and tolerant friend and driver of the M37 Cdn towing the 6 pounder

Dave Bossi, father of Blair and driver for OC Transpo who ably handles our M135 Cdn with 10 ton float trailer hauling the UC on it... bleeder of brakes extraordinaire!

and tail gunner- Kristen Hutchingame, better half of Rob, mother of Munchikin ("Jordyn" is the official five year old mascot of the museum and is in charge of looking cute, lisping through the big gap where her front teeth succumbed to the tooth fairy, sitting in all the puddles, catching all the frogs and butterflies and leaving Barbie bits in the Museum so she has an excuse to visit regularly!) who patiently drove the family van behind our painfully slow column at 40kph for two hours each way; who stopped at the Kars General Store to get everyone a popsicle to cool down after the long hot drive, who sweet-talked the cop when Graeme stalled in the middle of the intersection resulting in the cop helping to hook up the tow rope when I pulled Graeme out of the way!

The Museum is a dead thing full of rusted old machinery... its these and many other volunteers who bring it all to life with their enthusiasm, patience, tolerance of Major Mike's crabby moods, willingness to get really dirty scrubbing out blackened cannon barrels and all for insubstantial "thank you's" and the odd meal or beer... of course, as Rob H said yesterday, "... its like an army recruiting ad when you volunteer with the S&P... every day is an ADVENTURE!"

Thank you all for getting us to Bob's and back safely, thank you all for making it easy for me to get kudos like those Geoff blessed US with... THANK YOU!





Mike

[RHClarke]

Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
...I would like to recognize, here and now, those who have brought yet another great weekend into our realm of experience:

(focus on S&P Museum here)

Mike Calnan. While not part of the organising body per se, Mike deserves a special mention here for a tremendous effort to support the endeavour by supplying the event with: an 8cwt Chev which looks like it just came off the production line; a Mk.II* Universal Carrier which we warmed up with a few laps of the field; the Ford LAAT pictured above, which towed the 40mm Bofors, also pictured above; the 6-pounder AT gun as shown; his newly acquired towed Inglis Quad Posten; and several towing vehicles. More about all this later.

I agree with Sunray. Mike and company added very much to the event. Here is a shot of what Mike rounded up and brought to the event (keep in mind that he pays the shot for fuel, parts, food and teenager fuel...). Bravo Zulu Gunner! The Calnan Convoy:

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

At the risk of swelling Major Mike's head even more than it is ( ), I would like to state, for the record, that the professional in me was VERY impressed with the calibre of his gun detachment, and even more so with the Major's coaching and direction. His det responded quickly and efficiently to his clear, crisp and confident orders, and when specific direction was required (less than one might think), responded equally as well to that.

Even though some were less experienced than others, they were a credit to themselves, Major Calnan and the Swords and Ploughshares Museum.

[RHClarke]

The venue - partially hidden by that lovely piece of AD history:

[RHClarke]

Were given on request. Sunray approves Bob's work to date:

[RHClarke]

This time showing part of the Aussie flag:

[RHClarke]

Convoy Mark was there with his traveling kit shop (pardon the angle, but he tends to shy away from the camera - funny, considering he works for one of the national propaganda outlets...)

[RHClarke]

Joyce and Marcia take a breather during the event. Both ladies were very happy indeed to see and hear our engines come to life for the first time on Saturday. Joyce witnessed the event in person, and Marcia reviewed the film. Their support of our hobby is legendary and they share the joy in the achievement of each milestone.

[RHClarke]

Mr. Manual himself, Sir Alex Blair graced us with his presence, and of course brought along some very interesting reading material. Thanks Alex, for the generous donation to the "Feed the Museum Crowd" fund.

[RHClarke]

No doubt about it. Bob was happy with the weekend. Stewart provided a good photo of Bob's SEG on Saturday morning when his engine first came to life. The following photo shows Bob's SEG Saturday evening. The smile did not diminish on Sunday. Yep, Bob deserves a lot of credit for taking on this very demanding event. Kudos, friend. You earned your smiles!

[RHClarke]

The kids enjoyed the event as well. It was a good opportunity to do some more CMP brainwashing...Jesse shows off one of his birthday gifts. Jordyn appreciates the physique...

[RHClarke]

Judging from the coat, it looks like he learned real fast. Another 6 Pdr shot for those who appreciate things artillery...

[RHClarke]

Mike and Sunray show off the mobile movie theatre. Bob's generator, Mike's projector and film made for late night entertainment. I hope they didn't show the "Perils of VD" again...

[RHClarke]

Here is a shot of the Sunday morning breakfast crowd at Chez Marie. The cranky waitress had quit, so our friendly server Cheri, was forced to take care of us all. She did a great job. Sunray was very much impressed with the local fauna at the restaurant, and now thinks we come there for more than the chow...

[RHClarke]

The food tasted especially good on Sunday morning. The whole event went off without a hitch. We had guns afiring, trucks a roaring, folks a laughing, drinking, joking, eating and generally enjoying themselves. Loads of fun was had by all (including Gunner once on the ground...). Thanks to the Chez Marie team for the great food and service. Cheri can be seen just behind Alex's hat: