Western Command Military Vehicle Historical Society

Next meeting will be held at the Royal Canadian Legion Br. #263 at 1025 Ridgeway in Coquitlam -- 8pm. For the Coquitlam-challenged that would be one block North of Austin and one block East of Blue Mountain.

We have quite a few things going on this summer, as most of you know. It looks like a large contingent of Western Command and the various other military/ military history clubs/organizations (we're up to, what...five?) will be heading down to the MVPA Convention in Portland, OR. in August. This takes after this year's Abbotsford Airshow so perhaps you won't even need to check your oil again between the two. For those who've never been to a convention before...they're fun! Many of the vendors you see in Supply Line and Military Vehicles magazine make the trip from those mysterious-sounding eastern backwaters listed beneath their display ads in the magazines and bring with them a good assortment of the goods they offer in the pubs, not to mention fellow collectors with tables full of treasures collected over the years or just from clearing out their attics and crawlspaces. We usually have a parade through town featuring everything capable of rolling under its own power (or at least being pushed presentably as often seems the case with the British stuff :) , and the last time I was at the Portland convention I weaselled my way on to a Columbia River WWII DUKW ("Duck") ride when Will MacArthur gave me his spot (thanks there, William.)

Conventions usually also have seminars on the history, restoration, collection etc. of all the different vehicles found within the greater MVPA ranks, a big barbecue, and a chance to see vehicles in the display area you may've only seen on magazine covers or in black-and-white WWII movies featuring actors whose upper lips never move.

Look in your Supply Line for the Convention dates. I'll put some more up on the Convention and the Airshow as we get closer to August.

WCMVHS member David Beale contributed a large number of photos of last summer's "Freedom Route + 62" event, and I've just posted the bulk of them. . If you want large versions of any of them emailed to you, just ask me and I'll forward them. I can't put large format pictures up on the site itself because we now have a storage limit quota in place which puts a lid on how much we can upload.

If you have some favourite pics of the trip you'd like to see posted, please email me using the adddress shown on the 'Contact Us' page.

As some of you already know, the Canadian Military Education Center has invaded the former CFB Chilliwack and taken over the old QM building as a place for WESTERN Canadians to get a look at Canada's military history without having to set foot in an armoury, with support from local collectors and well-wishers associated with a score of different groups throughout the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. CMEC had its grand opening on June 21st of this year, which, unfortunately, collided with the long-scheduled WCMVHS Galiano Campout and Target Practice event and the wedding of long-time WCMVHS member Colin Stevens.

CMEC is holding a campout event for the weekend of July 26th and 27th, and has invited the members of Western Command. Members are invited to arrive Friday night and overnight to Saturday, stick around for the public opening of CMEC on Saturday, then stay Saturday night over to Sunday morning. WCMVHS/ CMEC member George Clark can take over from here:

"We would love to invite every one to Two Nights at the Museum....July 25 ..26 and Sunday. We are hoping everyone from the Club -- the Island boys and the Washington state club can come too as we are on a fenced secure area with live-in security. We have all of the amenities and enough room for 50 people inside if the weather is bad .....also we are having JUSTIN's Famous PIG ROAST! I do believe Ian MacArthur suggested we put together a Convoy as there are endless areas to convoy around Chilliwack. CMEC will be open to the Public on Saturday and then lock the gates and the real party will begin. Let eveyone know also lots of room to camp so come one come all!"

I hope to have a map closer to the date(s), but in the interim, CMEC member Dan Jahn gives the directions to CMEC as follows:

"The museum can’t be found on map quest as we don’t have a street address. The building can be found on Google Earth.We are in the south east corner of the former base in sight of the Chilliwack/Vedder bridge. Off Keith Wilson road in Vedder you head south on Garrison which turns into a T intersection at the museum."

Billed as "150 Years of British Columbia Militaria 1885-2008", this show hosted by the Military Collectors' Club of Canada takes place at the Best Western Richmond Inn Hotel & Convention Center August 23rd from 10 am to 4 pm, and August 24th from 10 am to 2 pm. The Best Western facility is located at 7551 Westminster Highway, Richmond B.C., and is no challenge to find whatsoever. All nations' militaria will be represented, including everything from medals, badges, swords, bayonets, uniforms, books, field equipment, helmets, flying gear, prints, war souvenirs, trench art, model soldiers, homefront posters, military toys and much more - literally something for everyone! Indentification and appraisal services will be provided and militaria dealers from across Canada and abroad will be present for both days.

For more information or to book a table, contact Ian Edwards at iedwards@shaw.ca or phone (780) 449-1668.

Email correspondent Bruce Davidson sent some pics of a Russian T-34 tank being recovered from a lake in Estonia. This is quite a famous recovery now and there's even video on Youtube showing the rescue operation (search 'russian tank lake') if you want to hear the sounds of squelching mud in full living stereo. This tank had been captured during one of the summer battles of 1944 and had been placed in German markings for use by one of the indigenous units collaborating with the Germans. As the Germans retreated following a series of major military setbacks, the tank was simply put in gear with the engine running and allowed to drive itself into the lake. CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY.


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		Next meeting will be held at the Royal Canadian Legion Br. #263 at 1025 Ridgeway in Coquitlam -- 8pm. For the Coquitlam-challenged that would be one block North of Austin and one block East of Blue Mountain. In this era of lighting-fast communications - particularly email - we really shouldn't have much in the way of a problem in the information-sharing department. Unfortunately we're all extremely busy people and naturally assume everyone else has attended the same meetings we've attended, or are on the same 25-name email cc-list when events are discussed WCMVHS has three main organs for the dissemination of information concerning club functions, news, pics, acquisitions, events and other things of interest to club members: a) Meetings; b) The Newsletter; c) The Website. When yours truly, the webmaster, misses three meetings in a row thanks to work, it would still be nice to get a heads-up on events upcoming so that I may post them here for the benefit of others who likewise were not able to attend. That is not happening. The WCMVHS website works for the Club, and in order for me to do that, I need those in charge of events or their deputies or even just rank-and-file members to let me know what's happening if I'm not there to hear it myself. I'd rather hear about the same event six times from different people t han not hear at all, based on the idea that "oh, I thought XXXXX was handling that" - because XXXXX has a busy life too, so the more overlap the merrier, and the more people can find out from the site. Also, think of the website as a bullhorn. When you shrug your shoulders and say, "Don't ask me - contact such-and-such", it's like telling a bullhorn to go and find the voice that's supposed to be using it. I haven't the time to go chasing people down for dates and timings. Put it in writing, email it to me, and as with countless times in the past I'll make a .pdf handout or post the details and then everyone will be on the same page. I'ts a co-operative effort, guys, and feeding me the info so I can do my bit would be the co-operative part! (Ideally perhaps the Club Secretary could make notes at the meetings I'm not at, and forward a summary to both myself and Bruce McMillan, our newsletter editor?) We have quite a few things going on this summer, as most of you know. It looks like a large contingent of Western Command and the various other military/ military history clubs/organizations (we're up to, what...five?) will be heading down to the MVPA Convention in Portland, OR. in August. This takes after this year's Abbotsford Airshow so perhaps you won't even need to check your oil again between the two. For those who've never been to a convention before...they're fun! Many of the vendors you see in Supply Line and Military Vehicles magazine make the trip from those mysterious-sounding eastern backwaters listed beneath their display ads in the magazines and bring with them a good assortment of the goods they offer in the pubs, not to mention fellow collectors with tables full of treasures collected over the years or just from clearing out their attics and crawlspaces. We usually have a parade through town featuring everything capable of rolling under its own power (or at least being pushed presentably as often seems the case with the British stuff :) , and the last time I was at the Portland convention I weaselled my way on to a Columbia River WWII DUKW ("Duck") ride when Will MacArthur gave me his spot (thanks there, William.) Conventions usually also have seminars on the history, restoration, collection etc. of all the different vehicles found within the greater MVPA ranks, a big barbecue, and a chance to see vehicles in the display area you may've only seen on magazine covers or in black-and-white WWII movies featuring actors whose upper lips never move. Look in your Supply Line for the Convention dates. I'll put some more up on the Convention and the Airshow as we get closer to August. WCMVHS member David Beale contributed a large number of photos of last summer's "Freedom Route + 62" event, and I've just posted the bulk of them. . If you want large versions of any of them emailed to you, just ask me and I'll forward them. I can't put large format pictures up on the site itself because we now have a storage limit quota in place which puts a lid on how much we can upload. If you have some favourite pics of the trip you'd like to see posted, please email me using the adddress shown on the 'Contact Us' page.
		As some of you already know, the Canadian Military Education Center has invaded the former CFB Chilliwack and taken over the old QM building as a place for WESTERN Canadians to get a look at Canada's military history without having to set foot in an armoury, with support from local collectors and well-wishers associated with a score of different groups throughout the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. CMEC had its grand opening on June 21st of this year, which, unfortunately, collided with the long-scheduled WCMVHS Galiano Campout and Target Practice event and the wedding of long-time WCMVHS member Colin Stevens. CMEC is holding a campout event for the weekend of July 26th and 27th, and has invited the members of Western Command. Members are invited to arrive Friday night and overnight to Saturday, stick around for the public opening of CMEC on Saturday, then stay Saturday night over to Sunday morning. WCMVHS/ CMEC member George Clark can take over from here: "We would love to invite every one to Two Nights at the Museum....July 25 ..26 and Sunday. We are hoping everyone from the Club -- the Island boys and the Washington state club can come too as we are on a fenced secure area with live-in security. We have all of the amenities and enough room for 50 people inside if the weather is bad .....also we are having JUSTIN's Famous PIG ROAST! I do believe Ian MacArthur suggested we put together a Convoy as there are endless areas to convoy around Chilliwack. CMEC will be open to the Public on Saturday and then lock the gates and the real party will begin. Let eveyone know also lots of room to camp so come one come all!" I hope to have a map closer to the date(s), but in the interim, CMEC member Dan Jahn gives the directions to CMEC as follows: "The museum can’t be found on map quest as we don’t have a street address. The building can be found on Google Earth.We are in the south east corner of the former base in sight of the Chilliwack/Vedder bridge. Off Keith Wilson road in Vedder you head south on Garrison which turns into a T intersection at the museum."