[Tony Wheeler]

Hi all,

As a newbie to MLU forum I'm not sure of the protocol, but I guess I should introduce myself properly.....starting from the beginning. I confess to being a certified CMP tragic, having first caught the “blitz bug” in my early teens. The roots of my affliction can be traced back to a particular sawmill in Warburton (Victoria) where my folks had a holiday house at the time. Exploring the area by pushbike one day with my childhood friend and neighbour Keith Webb, we stumbled upon a number of strange looking truck wrecks, which in their varying stages of decrepitude we found not only highly photogenic, but also strangely captivating in some way. Returning to the site often to photograph and clamber over these unusual vehicles, we soon became thoroughly hooked.

In the years to follow, driven by a strange irresistible urge completely unfathomable to our parents, we spent every available weekend and school holiday ranging far and wide on our pushbikes, through the countryside around Warburton and to the furthermost suburbs of Melbourne, seeking out more examples of what we now knew were WW2 “blitzbuggies”. Initially satisfied with simply photographing them liberally and spending hours in the darkroom processing B&W blitz prints (our other hobby) we soon came to covet the real thing. Eventually the inevitable happened and I bought one – to my parents even greater astonishment! Shortly thereafter Keith's parents found he'd brought a blitz home too!

My first blitz was an F60L, which interestingly enough turned out to be Canadian built, having a circular roof aperture and the distinctive dot/dash chequer plate floor. It set me back $60 in 1973 money – which amounted to several weeks pay pumping petrol at the local servo after school and on weekends. It was followed soon after by a second F60L purchase, this time for an outrageous $100, which I bought primarily for the chassis.

The plan was to build a Ford blitz ambo, to which end I shortened the chassis to medium wheelbase. My dream at the time was to quit school and drive around Australia, picking up work as I went, and camping in my blitz ambo! Unfortunately real life intervened – I'd just gotten it restored to cab & chassis stage when I had to leave home, and having nowhere to store it I had to sell it. Moving interstate I lost touch with Keith and all things blitz-related, and for the next 35 years became distracted by such trivialities as career, girls, cars, motorbikes, beer, football, overseas travel, and even marriage!

Having assumed after all these years I'd been cured of my adolescent blitz obsession, I've been shocked to find recently that the “blitzbug” has merely lain dormant in me all this time, and at the ripe old age of 55 has broken out once more to produce adult blitz fever – a far more serious condition, the unmistakeable symptoms being a compulsion to purchase every available blitz and make ever more ambitious plans for their restoration! Sitting in my backyard now are four running blitzes plus an additional three wrecks, with further remains purchased yet to be recovered. These projects alone threaten to occupy me for many years to come – in fact I suspect my case of blitzbug may be terminal this time!

I take comfort however in the knowledge that my syndrome is not unfamiliar to others in this forum! Since joining your community recently I've been enjoying several past threads detailing various CMP projects, which I hope to reciprocate in due course. I shall post some pics shortly of my current collection for your interest.

Having failed as usual to be brief I shall now endeavour to conclude, but first I'd like to thank all contributors here for many hours of enjoyable reading, and the wealth of information contained in these threads. I've been amazed to discover the level of CMP interest these days, compared to when Keith and I first caught the bug. Our preoccupation with the humble blitz back in those days was most unfashionable, even amongst MV collectors who generally viewed them with some disdain, dismissing them as little more than commercial workhorses. And yet was there any vehicle type, softskin or armoured, which could be said to have contributed more to Allied victory in WW2? That should start some interesting arguments on MLU! Anyway it's very pleasing after decades of ignominy and abuse in sawmills etc. to find CMP military heritage widely recognized nowadays, and exemplified in so many wonderfully restored variants in museums and private ownership around the world. Hopefully I can add to the total in the not too distant future by completing my long interrupted blitz ambo project!

Cheers,
Tony