Hi All

GENERAL

The Essex HMVA continues to grow, with a membership now of just under a 100, and to meet at the Bell Woodham Ferrers on the fourth Thursday of the month and of course Essex HMVA members along with MVT members or those interested in joining either or both groups are very welcome to attend.
We had our charity launch party which was a great success and created a lot of interest and also attended the Chelmsford Industrial Museum, where we displayed mainly radio equipment in support of the Marconi veterans who attended, in addition members have given presentations and talks in local schools which again has gone down well, with others now scheduled in. Many thanks to all who supported these presentations. In addition members attended the HAVCO event held by Havering Council to support sections of the voluntary community and provide a forum to show what some of the voluntary activites and opportunities on offer. Finally, we have also participated in the Local Authorities WW1 commemoration activites.

It's fair to say the show season has started in earnest, with many members just returning from the Normandy commemorations activities, initial reports have been very positive regarding to the event. June looks set to be one of the busiest months in the calendar at the moment with many shows and events requesting the attendance of historic military vehicles. I am attending two events in one weekend, something I have not done for a while although several members do it as a norm. We are also getting a lot of show/event attendance requests so keep an eye on our events page to see what's on. Event organisers can also put their event on the page directly using the online tool. Requests are still coming in for displays and vehicles from around the County for the Armed Forces Day; whilst we will do our best to help we cannot guarantee attendance.

It's now been a few months since we set up our new organisation and I am pleased to say that things have settled down. It was regrettable that events happened in the manner that they did, but we have found that the association has come back from it with so many very positive results, we are very happy with the direction we have taken. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all the support and good wishes we've received from individuals, organisations and companies within the military world and outside as well as the interaction with some newly formed or forming groups.

MILITARY AND FLYING MACHINES - 2014

Work is progressing really well with a new public entrance, enlarged public car park and access road we have added another entry point in to one of the display fields to make access easier. The new show layout that was such a great improvement has been tweaked and will make visiting the show an even better experience and visitors are much less likely to miss anything.

We have just released a twenty second taster video on the show and it has come out, we think, really well - it's on our web sites and Facebook pages, so have a look - it gives a good idea of what the show is about in a third of a minute!

The 2014 Show flyer and posters are available for download on the Military and Flying Machines web site under the "Downloads" Tab. If you would like some A5 flyers to hand out please contact me and I will have them sent out to you. In addition, the latest show info is also available on Facebook and we have over two thousand followers now so that's brilliant!

Full show programmes for the arena, flying display, live entertainment will be in the show newsletter which you can sign up for at the bottom of the front page on the show web site (www.mfmshow.org.uk) In addition, this year, we will be having a show program to help promote our exhibitors, program events, schedules and general information. If you want to put something in the program, be it information on your vehicle, Living History Group or advert please contact us via the show contact us link.

We have already confirmed and announced several interesting exhibits and aircraft including the DC 3 Dakota and Vietnam era Huey Helicopter, this particular example was captured in the Falklands war by UK forces. In addition we have the Spitfire, and Mustang and WW2 vintage training aircraft form the UK, US and Germany. Vehicle wise bookings are flowing in . Armour wise we have a pair of Shermans fresh from the "Fury" Brad Pitt film and other interesting exhibits to be announced.

Vehicle bookings are at a high, at the time of writing we have hundreds of vehicles booked in. including a WW2 DUKW, Bedford trucks both wartime and post-war variants and many other old British makers including Morris, Austin, Humber, The USA is well represented with a host of GMC's, Dodges, and wartime Jeeps and Harley Davidson. Post War vehicles, both armoured and soft skin are also represented with of course the Land Rover in its many variants as well as Alvis, AEC, Austin Champs and Daimler.

Living History wise we have many groups and displays with a thousand plus exhibitors and living history reenactors taking part in Living History displays and also a mock D Day battle (lots of noise and loud bangs!) We also have the usual and very popular tank rides so you can take a spin round in a real armoured vehicle! Also we have helicopter rides again for an aerial view of the show site and surrounding area - it can't be bettered! Stalls wise, bookings are coming in fast so if you want to reserve a good pitch I would book sooner rather than later. With many collectors, craft and family stalls there will lots to see and buy.

We have almost completed the live music line up with a few new artists to our show with a program to be announced.

We are excited to have the equally famous Polka Dot Girls who are one of the top performing 40's style Girl Groups in the UK and a lot more! More info to follow.

For more Military and Flying Machines info go to our web sites, join us on Twitter or go to our Facebook page.

Interest this year has so far been exceptional with a lot of media interest with some developments to be announced later once confirmed.

BARN

Currently the Barn is full, however there may be some movement in the near future, so if you have an interest in storing your vehicle there, please let us know.

SHOWS

We have had several new shows added to the events list so I recommend you go to www.essexhmva.co.uk, where you can see the latest info on up and coming events

Likewise, if you are an event organiser, please use our contact us form to enter your event details so we can add it to our web site in order that our members can see it.

Colin Tebb

Essex HMVA Chairman