How You Got Started And How You Are Passing It On

[The_Stainless_Steel_Rat]

A friend had rebuilt a lovely carrier, I was intrigued, we had seen these pulled
from the bush/swamp/lakes but at that time they were not much to look at,
when it was done, it was stunning. I quickly realized I would not fit where soldiers
who were much smaller than I had fit to drive most vehicles, but enjoy helping where
I can. A Boat was fixed up, let me know I could commit to a project. and then was
thinking of a Jeep, (but everyone has a jeep) and again did not really appeal to me.
So then I got a chance to see and drive a Mule, it was FUN and looked like it would
fit in my limited space and be easy enough to work on. So I got myself a mule,
M274A5 with 4 wheel steering. It started out not looking pretty but sure ended up
that way (Thanks Lance). So now my son (14) has learned to shift so he can drive it,
now you must understand, he does not often show much emotion, but when he drives
it he smiles bunches. (I think a hook has been set) he is in High school now and has
taken one auto-shop class and has signed up for 2 more, gee wonder why...

(PS It was the bottom one in the stack, a friend owns the top one)

[Mike Cecil]

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

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

I think Airfix and Tamiya have a lot to answer for!
The model building all stopped when I bought my first Land Rover and discovered the delights of going bush, as well as discovering a hitherto unknown mechanical ability.....
Unfortunatley after my first daughters initial foray into the wilds it was decided that the camping would be on hold for a while and to keep busy I decided to build up a 4x4 truck. The Blitz was the first truck I could remember being able to recognise as a young tacker, so the search was on.
Along the way I found that my desire to "Improve" all my Four Wheel Drives was replaced with the satisfaction of finding and restoring all the missing bits, and that maybe the original designers got a lot of things right.
I find the Pommy vehicles of the '50's era endlessly fascinating, and can't quite get over the fact that I not only bought a Champ, possibly the most maligned military vehicle ever built, but that it was the best thing I have ever done.
Rich.