No More Vehicles for me....
Model kits in my youth progressed to 1 to 1 scale, the found that there was not enough good info available on Australian kit, so started hunting government files in the archives.
Had several vehicles - Blitzes, jeeps, armoured car, etc, and helped others on various tanks. But it was the 'primary sources' research that got my attention in particular.
Started writing articles in the late 80s on what I found in the archives, and have been writing about it ever since. Lost count of the number of articles in magazines like Army, Ironsides, CMV, Army Motors, Wartime, etc etc. Plus appearances on History Channel and in Keith's videos, as well as several books, with hopefully more to come. Was able to spend extended periods in the field with various army units as an observer on exercises like Northern Predator, and others. Fantastic!
Was offered a job at the Australian War Memorial in 1999 on the strength of my research and publishing (I had already done two consulting jobs for them on the vehicle collection), and was there for 10 years. That provided some unforgettable opportunities: time at sea on HMAS Brisbane, including live-fire naval gunfire support, doing the qualifying course for the Army's Leopard AS1 tank license, and deploying as a curator to Kuwait and Iraq - the first AWM curator to do so.
When we decided I'd retire and we would move from Australia to the USA, I divested my self of the vehicles, spares and other collectibles - the Yass boys got a few bargains - and only retained all the paperwork, which filled a sea container. (But I now miss my jeep!)
I'm still at it, but hope the years of research will be 'handed on' through the writing, publishing and answering the numerous queries that seem to come my way each week.
Mike C
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