Theft

[Ken Hughes]

Over in the Armour forum i see a thread by Ryan on his M3 medium that mentions THEFT.
Well i thought that is a problem in our hobby worth commenting on and did not want to hijack his thread,so i am putting it here if its the right place for it.
You have to be careful,quite a while ago now i was on the look out for a 13 cab roof and back panels and was told by a friend where there was one on a farm in southland new zealand,i contacted the farmer where it was and went to see it.
He took me over the paddoc to see the cab,but it was too far gone for my use,then he took me up to the barn where the motor and gear box with radiator all complete, powering a saw bench was sitting and was surplus to his use and for sale,but as it was a chev it was of no use to me,oh and the grille was hanging up in the barn with the chev badge as well, in good order.
anyway i past the info on the motor and box to a fellow club member whom i trust and about a fortnight later he went to buy the motor and box,but it all was gone,including the cab from over the paddoc that you couldnt see from the road!.
Looked like i was johnny on the spot with that one being one of the last to see it!.
I had a feeling i may have been set up by my informant,i really dont know,but i didnt feel good about it at all.
This all happened before google earth was around,so some one had to know exactly where it all was personally.

[matilda IIA]

Over the last couple of years I have had many carrier parts walk form some open sheds at my place, The trouble is you dont know its missing untill you look for it.

In My case its somebody that knows whats about and I have more than likely showed them the bits in the first place...I wish I could be lucky enough to find them walking out with my treaure.

Farm Cam's and remote back to base camera's are now operating at my place!

I beleive most people should get themselves a Farm Cam style camera for under 400 dollars and protect your asset, If its not MV parts then its your 4Wheel bike or wool press.

Kind regards
Matt

[Private_collector]

I know of several really good fellows, who have been reluctant to show 'new faces' to the quality stuff, because of previous theft. Some of the thievary has been quite bold and on large scale. Whole engines etc...

Very alarming to know that there is a small number of enthusiasts who are of less than sound character. What they are actually showing with their actions is that they don't give a damn about the name they are giving to all of us, by association. This point can be argued ad-infanitum, but the sidesways galances and polite refusals from sources speaks for itself.

Another thing that has been hard to repair is the waves of BS that previous visitors have spun, either in attempt to seem intelligent or impress of their knowledge. You don't have to know too much about a subject to spot a BS artist. Ask any old farmer!

[Marc Montgomery]

didnt someone in England (?) have a complete -restored carrier disappear last year from its farm location?

and here in Canada didn't someone (New Brunswick?) have his Iltis jeep stolen from its farm location?

[Phil Waterman]

The theft of privately owned military vehicle and equipment is not just a rural problem. One of our clubs members had a 3/4 ton trailer stolen from his driveway in New Hampshire's largest city nobody saw nothing.

One of the primary reason that the company that I insure my trucks requires them to be garaged is some degree of protection that being in a build provides. Though quite frankly I don't see that it really helps in a rural location, you could use a chain saw to open up my garage and nobody would think any thing of it.

If anybody figures out what the solution is please let us know. Some our club members have joked about putting up signs that read "please don't step on the land mines, they are expensive to replace" all that would do is have them digging around looking for explosives.

Cheers Phil

[Ken Hughes]

One good idea for public displays that i have seen is using cable ties for tying down helmets,uniforms and anything small that mr sticky fingers can lift.(steel cable would be better).
Also the use of authentic barbed wire around displays to keep people off things could be employed,but the pc crowd wouldnt like it.
And if you were a German re-enactor you could use german shepherds!.

[easo]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

"please don't step on the land mines, they are expensive to replace"

Trespassers will be shot , survivors will be shot again.

[Ganmain Tony]

Any police officer will tell you when it comes to low lifes who steal.

When they are interviewed by the authorities they always say, the one thing they wont go near is a dog.

If they hear one in the yard they move on to the next place.

[chris vickery]

As a slight aside to this subject, is that of "theft" of items whereby a deal is pending, if not struck...
Unfortunately, many time, mvs etc are purchased from farmers and landowners. What they understand is dollars, nothing more, nothing less.
I personaly have found items that I was interested in or made a deal on and happened to mentioned to a fellow collector what I found. Turns out when I go to retrieve said item, it is gone. Seems another fellow showed up ahead of me, cash in hand and away it went. I guess in today's day and age a deal is not necessarily a deal and a handshake means nothing.
I even had 2 vehicles pilfered of their CES kit at government auction after my vehicles were bought and paid for! This is in a supposed secure facility. In that case, I had to arrange transport for said vehicles which did not happen until the next day. In hindsight, I would have waited for the auction to end and stripped the vehicles of the kit before I left...
Rule number one. DO NOT TRUST YOUR FELLOW COLLECTORS.
I have seen and/or heard of far too many stories like this, including the names of some of the larger and more well knowm, supposedly respected collectors in the mv community.