Funny you should say that Moggy. This is another family car that dad said was a van conversion.

An Austin A40 of some sort -the second batch of A40 models, possibly a Somerset? Traveller versions were all the range so it’s entirely possible someone would have built their own. Nowadays it’s unusual to see any other than the still-ubiquitous Morris Minor.

Adrian

Current Archaeology 228 (March 2009) states (referring to the battery at Shooters Hill in London) “…by 1943 these manpower-hungry sites were operated largely by the Home Guard.”, suggesting they were in place earlier – as does someone reminiscing to me way back who joined the RN in 1943, but described to me what sounded like a Z battery on the north Kent coast while he was still in the Home Guard.

Prompted by the above, some Gurgling has found this:
http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=6749.0

Any help?

Adrian

Possibly not the most helpful of posts, but the island of Flotta in Orkney has the well-preserved remains of a Z Battery.

Adrian

According to The Last Blitz by Mackay and Parry three Mistels were used against UK targets. On August 10-11 1944 one crashed at Binley in Hampshire, while on the night of September 1-2 one crashed at Warsop in Notts and another at Hothfield in Kent. No mention is made of the intended targets – I presume that there was no documentation covering it, and apart from Hothfield being near Ashford there seems no reasonable targets anywhere near. So all three ended up making smoking holes in a strategically less than vital piece of countryside.

Adrian

I’ve got a lemon in the fridge I’ll donate to the project!

Adrian

That’s Legends bu**ered then! Pity, but I guess it keeps the mechanics busy.

Adrian

At one bang per telegraph pole, I bet the Gold Star covered the distance between poles mighty sharpish!

I wonder how many Brisfits there were on the civil register between the wars? I know Maitland Emmett had one in Oxford (indeed, I have a photograph that may have been taken from it), it sounds as though there were several.

Adrian