Christmas 1947 No1 on my wish list was??

[alamein]

I'd seen a clockwork Model of a Sherman tank in a toyshop and how I wanted that above all else!

Lucky seven year old as Father Christmas must of read my night time bended knee wishes, cos' he delivered one by my bedside on Christmas morning. ( I didn't really believe in Him at 7, just hoped I was wrong? )

I thought it was absolutely fantastic as when wound up it would run for a good few minutes, and fortunately my Dad had remembered to get some ciggy lighter flints to keep the Shermans HMG sparking away for a realistic effect? Well I thought it looked realistic anyway?

Now I'm happy just to play tanks with my grandson when he visits, with the wonderful Taigen Tiger1, and that flashy Bulldog.

No I haven't got that clockwork model anymore,(probably it would be worth a few bob maybe today) but alas I didn't keep it!

However I did sign on at 16yrs with the JLR's RAC at Bovvy, and possibly some of this was down to that whizzy toy Sherman that I loved all those years ago?

[PainlessWolf]

Good morning,
An early Merry Christmas, Alamein. ;o)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wind-up-Tin-Lit ... SwPe1UHI33
regards,
Painless

[alamein]

Interesting models there PW.:

[DOG]

Do you mean to tell me father Christmas isn't real

[ryderbike]

Hi , from a fellow JLR RAC survivor , though I imagine from much more recent than you from your Christmas wish list .

[jarndice]

DOG, Don't you take any notice of that nasty Alamein, of course Father Christmas is real.
And Alamein shame on you,
I was going to buy you a Tamiya King Tiger but I shan't now.
Shaun.

[43rdRecceReg]

According to Freaking News.com (source) ...he's already on his way, but a few reindeer short of an eight-pack..

[alamein]

Hi' Ryderbyke, Good to meet you here.

For my sins I was allocated Waterloo Troop, (Black Flash), Next door to Blenheim (Maroon Flash,) both troops were accommodated in all wooden spider blocks at Stanley Barracks at that time, until the building of Balaclava's (Red Flash) new home in brick?

But that was only being built brick by brick when I left for 5RTR.

[43rdRecceReg]

..And what's on your wishlist for 2016, Alamein? I remember the wind up tin-plate toys, but never saw the Sherman. My favourite Christmas stocking filler, though, was a diecast 25-pounder (probably Corgi) that could fire dead match sticks (live ones too, but we weren't allowed them ). It had real rubber tyres too: and that meant endless fun prying pulling them off and rolling them back on. Also, In those days, a sock would have been mended several times,
and would probably contain a few mixed nuts, maybe an orange, a bar of Fry's Five boys and one toy...perhaps a lead soldier (imagine the elf 'n' safety tut-tutting these days!), a swoppet toy, or a Matchbox car.
Quite why my 21st Century grandson would expect an Xbox, or a 3-D headset, I really can't imagine ...but I'd love to see his face if I presented him with a typical sock from the 1950s

[Woz]

..And what's on your wishlist for 2016, Alamein? I remember the wind up tin-plate toys, but never saw the Sherman. My favourite Christmas stocking filler, though, was a diecast 25-pounder (probably Corgi) that could fire dead match sticks (live ones too, but we weren't allowed them ). It had real rubber tyres too: and that meant endless fun prying pulling them off and rolling them back on. :

Reading that reminded me of a match firing 25 lbr I had as a kid-