Bill Gregg Collection
 

The Bill Gregg Collection is somewhat legendary for the number of nice Second World War Canadian vehicles he had managed to collect. Here are some photographs that I took way back in the summer of 1982.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...orey/55-28.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...orey/55-27.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...orey/55-25.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...orey/55-29.jpg

Strange you should post those pictures
 

Hi Ed

Strange that you should find and post those pictures of the Bill Gregg's collection. Last month I was helping someone with and article on CMPs and they wanted original photos at Hi Resolution. So I wanted to send him the my pictures of the Gregg Collection from 1984. The files are to big to send via normal e-mail accounts so I posted them all to my site but I had not gotten around to posting the link to MLU. So here are all the pictures I took in 1984 http://www.canadianmilitarypattern.com/CMP84.htm

Your pictures bring back memories of a very informative couple of days.

Cheers Phil

Great Photos!
 

Yes, that was in 1984. I am in photo 81 with the ball cap on and holding the camera. I beleive that had just come back from the 40th D-Day Anniversary in Normandy which might have been a few weeks earlier.

Thanks for the memories....
 

Fantastic collection of pictures Phil.......

..... I remember walking the fields back in 1981..... and gaining a better understanding of the cab 11 I had purchased in 1979 at a farm auction.... that had been left behind at a friends farm in Almonte when moving to TO.

The unrestored CGT was still in aluminum paint as had been found in the back shop of a Chrysler dealer in Pickering....about 1/2 mile from where I lived.....

Never imagined that I would then move back to Ottawa in 1990 and dig up the cab 11 in 1996......

I even bought my first book from Gregg...... but never thought of asking him for an autograph.......

Fond memories.....

Bob C.

I did a quick search and found the following:
https://wcma.pastperfectonline.com/a...A-597038582409

Great tip, thanks Bob!

H.

According to the archive: "ph 44591: Bill Gregg and two other unidentified men, standing next to 1940s automobile with red insignia on door."

I can add that the man on the right is Bart Vanderveen.

Attachment 104149

The man in the middle
 

Hi

The man in the middle was Bill's mechanic and was responsible for much of the restoration an maintenance of the collection. Will dig through my stuff to see I can find his name.

Dose anyone have Barts article in Wheels and Tracks to share with those new to CMPs.

Cheers Phil

Stu Robertson, Phil. He is a member here.

David

:cheers: cheers David and we are still here

Still the same spot where we picked up the Staghound just before the CMP Seminar started? Bart got a kick out of that drive, following you down the highway!

David

CMP seminar
 

The gentleman sitting on the left of picture 52(?) with glasses and tie is the engineer who designed the flail tank. He was from Brantford and got bumped up in rank and sent overseas, John somebody ..will have to check the CMP Seminar booklet.
BP

CMP 84 Seminar Program Book
 

Hi Bob

A while back I added the Seminar Program Book to my web page the pages are at the very end http://canadianmilitarypattern.com/CMP84.htm .

There were two gentlemen on the panel with the first name John, reading their bios I'm not sure which it is. In my photos take a look at picture 204.

Cheers Phil

CMP 84 Seminar
 

Phil, there are some good photographs on your site that bring back some fond memories. Here are a couple of photographs that I took at the event.

Attachment 104220 Attachment 104221 Attachment 104222 Attachment 104223

Redefining ‘living history’ . . . :drunk:

Darn....all those guys are standing in front of the trucks. I'm interested in the 15cwt that they are standing in front of. We have a very nice and fairly complete Ford in the dustbowl compound. I strongly suspect it was restored once,as it is very complete, and has (had) newish non-directional tires on it. I am wondering if this was the truck, and was it a runner back then?


I have pulled it towards the gate of the dustbowl to bring it over to the main building. Hopefully it can be brought back to life in the upcoming years.

Rob. I may have some photos of the same truck. I will rummage and let you know.

David

CMP Seminar
 

With respect to the 15cwt in the photo..
while I may be wrong ( feel free to point it out..) I believe that truck was a 15cwt chevy that belonged to Brian Asbury who had brought it down to the seminar. I believe it currently belongs to Jim Ritchie.
BP

Bob. I have not found the photos yet but you may be correct. I seem to recall something ‘wireless’ about that 15-cwt. Some discussions took place among us regarding where equipment was typically stored on it such as the 34-foot telescopic and 20-foot antenna masts.

David

15 cwt
 

Here is a photo of the 15 CWT.

Attachment 104255

Well done, Ed! Note the mast fittings on the drivers step and upper rear corner of the door.

David

15 cwt
 

Yes, I used those fittings to confirm I had the correct truck.

The truck that Brian had is a C15a Wire3. Same as my truck I’m restoring. Brain and I have talked at length about his old truck. Sadly it had nothing left other then the mast mounts to distinguish it from a regular C15a

Gary
 

Just been looking at my copy of 'Blueprint for Victory'

A guy called Gary Moonie from B.C. is mentioned, he had a DND prototype 15cwt in his collection. Is that truck still around ? I think Gary was one of the pioneers saving these trucks back in the 1970's.

It is my understanding that the Ford Pilot shown in Blueprint for victory is now on Vancouver Island and completed or nearly completed. There are 3 other Ford pilots that I know of: apparently the CWM has one, there is one in here in the RCA museum Shilo, and a fourth one surfaced from the collection of the Reynolds museum in Wetaskiwan AB, and has since moved to a private collection closer to Calgary. Not bad: 4 of the 51 Ford pilots have survived.



I know of one Chev pilot located in Saskatchewan, and I think I heard of another in Ontario a few years back. I wonder how many of the 50 chevs survived.

CMP seminar
 

Here are a couple of pictures of the 15cwt from its movie days. This was from "Firing Squad" the truck was supposed to get stuck fording a river and get pulled out by a jeep. Of course it wouldn't get stuck so we had to sink a large steel plate under the nearside rear wheel so it could spin and spray water, meanwhile the other wheel was chained up with a long bar across it so it wouldn't turn. It was in the fall (November?) and the water was VERY cold- all the guys in the river were wearing wet suits under their uniforms. Second photo at the bombed out buildings tgghat were actually made of plywood and vacuum formed plastic brick/stone work. A couple of days after this was taken it all froze up- there are probably 3or 4 hundred tentpegs in the ground that we could not get out after the movie ended and the ground was frozen solid!
B.P.
Attachment 104261

One man’s army
 

Original Toronto Star caption: “One man's army: Bill Gregg of Milton who collects and restores Canadian-made military vehicles, now has more than 40 on his farm. The pride of his collection is the caravan used as field headquarters by Lt.-Gen. H. D. G. Crerar. (1981)”

Attachment 128906
Source: https://digitalarchive.tpl.ca/people...g-bill/objects

I just dropped off that C15TA that is in the background to the CATP museum in Brandon for the weekend along with 3 other pieces. The long period of sitting during covid shutdowns has not done these trucks any favors, so it is nice to get them moving again.