Carrier World Record Attempt

[Lew Skelton]

Ill get onto it later today. Best day ever yesterday as en masse a ton of carriers charged down the grass

[Ben]

Well done. Looking forward to the pictures. Did both the Brens make it?

[Andrew H.]

Here are some pictures. It was a great gathering on a stinking hot (35 degree) day. To qualify for the record they all had to complete an off-road course over a nearby hillock and I understand all but two or three managed it. I think the successful number was 26.

[Lynn Eades]

As per previous post, 27 completed the distance (not the above suggested test track, but a trip down the road a bit, and then around the edge of the air field. Two had trouble and stopped, I believe one was (ignition?) overheating, and the other had a gear selector problem. On checking afterward one had well covered the 3.2 kilometres required, before stopping, and so the total was 27 carriers doing the distance.
Yes Ben I have photos of HMH 243 and HMH 244 lined up. The carriers ran roughly in model order from oldest to youngest, and so Bruce led the convoy out. I was in the gunners seat.
Keith, I will get photos up soon although there will be better ones than mine.

[Lew Skelton]

Hopefully this works, if not they are on you tube
"Bren gun carrier Airfield run en masse Masterton 2015"
"Bren gun carrier world record, Masterton 2015"

http://youtu.be/qdbKpumq_QQ
http://youtu.be/FMwhait6x9U

[Lew Skelton]

heres a photo from late in the afternoon after the crowd dispersed.

[Lew Skelton]

And then this guy appeares, camera in hand.....

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

As per previous post, 27 completed the distance (not the above suggested test track, but a trip down the road a bit, and then around the edge of the air field.

Sorry Lynn
that was second hand information

[The Bedford Boys]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

As per previous post, 27 completed the distance (not the above suggested test track, but a trip down the road a bit, and then around the edge of the air field. Two had trouble and stopped, I believe one was (ignition?) overheating, and the other had a gear selector problem. On checking afterward one had well covered the 2.3 kilometres required, before stopping, and so the total was 27 carriers doing the distance.
Yes Ben I have photos of HMH 243 and HMH 244 lined up. The carriers ran roughly in model order from oldest to youngest, and so Bruce led the convoy out. I was in the gunners seat.
Keith, I will get photos up soon although there will be better ones than mine.

3.2km Lynn

[Lynn Eades]

Alex and others, post corrected to 3.2km.

[Rob Beale]

The total number of carriers on site was 30.

We measured the course around the perimeter track and along the runway at 3.4km, but the Airshow people extended our run to go around the grass cross strip as well, so it was closer to 4km in total!
Alex and I re-ran the route in my ute to verify the distance run to each breakdown.
29 carriers attempted the run, and one had a water pipe loosen at the head at about 2.5km, and another had ignition issues at about 2.9km.
(The third was at 3.5 km, so well beyond the 2 mile mark).

Keith, we have Historic Aviation Film Unit working on a DVD which will be released later in the year. I hope to include historical info and extra features, as you did in your most excellent Year of the Carrier DVD.

The list is not exhaustive but we had:
The worlds only two Bren No2 Mk1 (I checked the data plate)
Four Universal Mk 1*
One 3" Mortar MkI
One AOP MkIII W
Three Loyd
Five LP2
and a large number of LP2A including
One MMG and three 6 Pounder tractors.

Five Carriers came from the South Island, and the rest ranged from Wellington to Waikato and Gisborne and points between.

I was on site with Alex and Steve for five days and have the suntan to prove it! The Warhorses display included Re-enactors and a WW1 trench, 18 pounder and Krupp field guns and the Mk IV WW1 replica, a team of horses towed the 18 pounder, and a 6 pounder was used in the mock battle to knock out a Stuart and a halftrack with quad .50 cal. All told the vehicle count was about 90 including the carriers.

Well done to all who participated. It was a great weekend.
Rob