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Old 14-12-10, 11:04
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Jan Thompson Jan Thompson is offline
Corowa Project 30
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Posts: 519
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History of the GPA Swim-In and Military Vehicle Gathering
Annually a group of ex-Military Vehicle Collectors gather at Corowa Airport and Ball Park Caravan Park in Corowa on the beautiful Murray River to display their lovingly restored military vehicles, conduct a parade, swap meet and have a ‘swim-in’ with amphibious vehicles. The event attracts collectors from throughout Australia and the world. There are clubs in each state. March 2011 represents the 32nd year of the gathering at Corowa. The theme will be Year of the British and European Vehicles. We also encourage ex-military vehicle owners with other makes and models of vehicles to attend the event where they can exchange information and parts. In 2012 it will be Year of the 6X6, in 2013 it will be Year of the Towed Equipment and in 2014 it will be Year of the Ford and WW1.

The event was initially organised by Ian Grieve [Qld] and Alan Newton [SA] and was for Amphibious Jeeps [Ford Model G.P.A. ¼ -Ton 4X4 Amphibian] but with so much interest amongst military vehicle enthusiasts it became a large-scale gathering not only with GPA’s but also other historic military vehicles.

People have asked “Why was Corowa chosen as the venue of this event?” Corowa, on the Murray River, just west of Albury is a fairly central location. It has fresh water, with easy river access and is an historic town. The collectors enjoy the wrecking yards and disposal stores in Albury and Wodonga. There are a variety of shops, wineries and antique shops to make this a family orientated event. The townsfolk of Corowa have always welcomed our presence and we look forward to returning each year to enjoy their hospitality and support.

The majority of vehicles attending are of World War 2 vintage. They include many Jeeps, Blitz’s, Dodge Weapon’s Carriers, Studebakers, GMC trucks, White Scout Cars, Chev trucks, Ford trucks, Bren Gun Carriers, Harley Davidson Motorcycles, Amphibious Jeeps, DUKW’s and many more. The event also attracts members with post-WW2 vehicles including Landrovers, Saracen Armoured Cars, Ferret Scout Cars, HUMVEE [Hummer], ACCO Internationals and many others.

In 1999 we achieved recognition by the Guinness Book of World Records for “the largest gathering of Ford GPA amphibious vehicles since the Second World War”. This number being 16 including the famous Amphibious Jeep “Half-Safe” which circumnavigated the world during the 1950’s and has been donated to the Guildford Grammar School in Perth. In March 2002 we achieved recognition by the Guinness Book of World Records for “the greatest gathering of privately owned Ford and Chev Blitz trucks since 1945”. In 2003 the theme was to get as many WW2 Studebaker trucks together. We had 21. In 2004 the Theme was ‘Year of the Dodge’. We had 34 Dodge’s. In 2005 our theme was ‘WW2 Pattern Carriers’. We had 21 Carriers. The theme for 2006 was ‘Armoured Cars’ and we had a variety of rare types of vehicles. In 2007 the themes were ‘Year of the Cycle and Year of the Staff Car’. In 2008 the theme was ‘Year of the Tracked Vehicle’. This was the first time people were able to view tanks driving down the main street of Corowa. 2009 represented the 30th year of this event and the themes were Year of the Amphibian and Year of the Blitz 2. Vehicles in the amphibian section included GPA’s, DUKW, LARC and a Buffalo. There were 43 Blitzs. A total of 194 vehicles participated in this commemorative year. There was a record number of vehicles for Year of the Jeep in 2010. A total of 266 vehicles which included 180 Jeeps. This has now become the largest gathering of ex-military vehicles in the Southern Hemisphere.

The main days of activities are Wednesday 16th, Thursday 17th, Friday 18th and Saturday 19th March 2011. There is a trip planned on Thursday 17th March to Oaklands and Berrigan. We will be visiting the Oaklands Central School and sightseeing at Oaklands before going to Berrigan for lunch and viewing machinery owned by a collector in Berrigan. On Friday 18th March we are going to North Tuppal station which is approx 130kms from Corowa to look at the famous shearing shed and the town of Tocumwal. We will be in the town of Tocumwal for lunch. We will have a guest speaker talking on a trip to Alice Springs involving a number of military vehicles who travelled from Nerang in Qld. On Saturday the day commences at 9.00am sharp with a Procession through Corowa to the airport where there is a vehicle display and Swap Meet. In the evening we have Presentations and an auction.

There is a website where people can obtain information and see pictures of past and future events. www.corowaswim-in.org
For further information or registration phone:
Jan Thompson on 0423 943010 or Email: kveinc@optusnet.com.au
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Jan Thompson
Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Research & Development
THE COROWA YEAR 30 PROJECT
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