Brad

I don't think we will be deploying our Abrams overseas, at the time of writing this we do not have the shipping capability to do so. The army goes off and buys stuff without consulting the Senior Service on its requirements for carriage.

Johnsy,

The Royal Australian Air Force has, or is about to, take delivery of a number of C-17 Globemasters which, I understand, have the ability to take the Abrams.

Interestingly, though, when the tanks arrived in Melbourne, there was no rolling stock available to rail them to where they had to go....

cheers,

bj

I recall seeing a group in the last few months to a chap who died in WWI - his surname was Deth....

cheers,

bj

The "anonymous" donor was Kerry Stokes - the medal this time was bought by his solicitor who was sitting in the room and made the bids on his behalf.

He bought the last one that sold for over a million dollars here earlier in the year and did the same thing (as in donating it).

He is of the opinion that ALL war medals should be donated to the Australian War Memorial and that there should not be trading in other people's medals. I somehow doubt that he consulted the AWM before suggesting such a thing. I also doubt that he has thought through his comments properly.

cheers,

bj

G'day Sam,

I must say that, without doubt, Neil is the best man for any research I have ever undertaken.

As far as the 40th is concerned, Neil has already undertaken some work on this unit - you might like to contact him about it if you have not already done so.

cheers,

bj

G'day Sam,

Excellent work!! Well done!!

If you have never been to Fort Glanville - it is quite an interesting place. The highlight of the visit is when they fire the old cannons and other firearms - quite a spectacle!!

So how did you undertake this research, Sam?

cheers,

bj

Chris,

Just another thought - give me what details you have on the person you want to research and I'll see what I can come up with for you.

Cheers,

bj

I know you asked quite some time ago, Chris but, hey, better late than never!!

Without a doubt, the very best researcher is Neil Smith of Mostly Unsung.

His website is here.

He is very reasonably priced and walks all over any other researcher I have ever used.

cheers,

bj

Have we heard any more about this one?

cheers,

bj

G'day Sam,

Having any luck with the research on this one?

Cheers,

bj

To be honest, Amos, I just did a Google.

It took a few goes but tried things like "german invasion hollesley" and the like and then checked some of the results. I usually find that getting the key words you are interested in and trying a few variations will do the trick.

Cheers,

bj

Call me old fashioned but I fail to see any humour in anyone vandalising a monument and taking "their" chunk home with them.

I find Robin's actions offensive and his attitude even more so.

Rather than preserving things for others for the long term, he seems to support the destruction of it for his own personal short term satisfaction. What if everyone that visited took a sample, Robin? Would that be ok with you?

The fact that you also claim to be a police officer only makes the whole thing worse. One wonders what would happen if he saw someone taking a piece of a monument from his beat.

Enough said.

bj

have a look at this - it might be your answer:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/dont_miss/cod...he_beach1.shtml

Cheers,

bj

I confess that the recent spate of Australian awards, which seem to simply duplicate previous wartime service medals, leaves me baffled.

It did me, too, Rick until I was told that the original medals issued were British medals (such as the Queen's Korea medal and the Queen's Vietnam medal) whilst the new issues are presented by the Australian Government.

As a collector of Australian medals, however, it means that all of my modern groups are now down some medals and are, essentially, broken groups.

Cheers,

Brad