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It was a really cold morning and Jessie didn't want to start. On and off across the year, the starter gear wasn't engaging when the starter button was pressed. It took a number of goes, having to wait for the spin to stop before each try. Something to look at over the winter! Lynne and I eventually got going and arrived at the school gates just before 9am. After being let in, we parked up behind the year 6 classroom as the field was fairly wet and being cut by the council. |
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Since Tanfield, Jessie has taken possession of the new light coloured canvas roof as it seems to go better with the light olive of the bodywork. I'll leave the darker original roof canvas with Hope. Still wearing the Red Cross markings, this time Jessie was also wearing the RAF markings on the side, back and front bumper, giving yet another slight variation in the look of the vehicle. |
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| Paul began the morning talks about the British airborne forces, taking the kids through the personal and field kit, before moving on to the weapons such as the Thompson, Sten and Bren guns. We finished off opening out a parachute which pretty much filled the school hall. That took us to morning break. |
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I had planned to have a talk about the German forces, but the guy had to drop out due to illness. Instead I did my 8th Air Force talk which I had prepared from previous years. This took us through to lunch. After lunch, John talked about ARP duties, evacuees, the home front, rationing, gas masks and the black out etc. |
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When John finished, he fielded a number of questions from the class for probably around another fifteen minutes. By this time we were half way through the afternoon, so we dressed up Miss Dodds in all my flying kit to give her and the class an appreciation of its weight, bulk and the effort needed to work wearing all of this. From there, we spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the Jeeps outside, with the kids getting in a few at a time for class photos. I took Hope onto the field for a quick drive around to show them the Jeep in action, up and down the small hill between the two school fields, and leaving tram lines all over in the wet, soft grass! We returned to the the class for the last fifteen
minutes and I fielded a number of general questions about World War 2 to
finish the day. |
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Once home, Hope was covered in mud and grass cuttings from the field, so I got the hose out for a wash down before putting both Jeeps away again. It had been another great visit and I'm fairly sure everyone enjoyed the day. |
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