It’s not every year that a local vehicle enthusiasts’ club celebrates its 40th anniversary, so something special was planned at Waiouru at Easter this year by the New Zealand Military Vehicle Collectors Club for its special day.

The event, held on the Waiouru Military Training grounds, was months in the planning by Alex Denby and his team in association with Offlimits Charitable Trust, the basic idea to ‘turn back time’ by returning as many ex-military vehicles to their former home as possible.

It was not an easy task rocking up to the NZ Defence force and asking to come and play in their training facilities, especially after the events of March in Christchurch and the country still on high alert, but with volunteers from within the Army to chaperone the groups it all came together on the day.

Over 200 registrations were received with many ensuring there was a large cross-section of ex-military vehicles from around the world, including armoured vehicles such as Bren Carriers and Scorpion tanks that once ruled the tracks of the Waiouru training area. You don’t have to own an ex-military vehicle to belong to the Club, so there were a few ‘civilian’ vehicles as well.

Good (Friday) start

The rally started on Friday with people and vehicles arriving from all around the country and heading to the first of the activities, a gymkhana with several different events to participate in, then in the evening dinner was followed by an official welcome onto the base, after which the NZMCC members held their annual AGM.

While most of the vehicles were parked on the parade ground, the heavy trucks and armoured vehicles were parked at the northern hangers with the armoured vehicles stored inside the heated hangers.

The range of different ex-military vehicles from around the world is huge and while most of those attending had previously had some connection to the NZ Defence Force there were also a few odd ones from overseas. Included in that list were a couple of Mighty Mites from the USA, a 1951 Land Rover Minerva from Belgium, 1967 M715 Jeep Ambulance, huge 6x6 M932-A2 truck (again from the USA) and a 1959 CJ750 motorcycle and side car from China. 

NZ service

Most of the vehicles that had NZ service were the more ‘common’ ones such as WWII MB Jeeps, Land Rovers, and the odd Dodge and Chev trucks. There was even a heavy M816 6x6 recovery truck and a similar M818 6x6 tractor unit from the same year.

Saturday started off with a briefing about what is and isn’t allowed ‘on base’ plus a reminder that while you are there you come under military law at all times. Vehicles were lined up in groups with all the armoured and tracked vehicles in their own group which would be led by Manawatu Branch member and serving officer in the army, Lew Skelton, who has his own Bren Carrier and WWII Jeep.

The groups were loosely based on how much off-road driving they wanted to do as many of the vehicles were now very old, immaculately restored and rather valuable. I joined one that consisted mainly of WWII Jeeps, with three ex-NZ Army Mercedes Unimogs and the M923-A2 6x6 cargo truck.

As well as driving the various tracks, part of the attraction was to look around the sights of the training grounds as many owners had previously served in the military or had done basic training at Waiouru. 

First stop for our group was a climb up over the hills above the horse yards where the Kaimanawa Horses are rounded up. Under a cover of very low cloud hanging over the area our convoy then crossed the Moawhango River and climbed up the hills from the Argo Valley to the historic Westlawn Hut for a morning tea stop.

From Westlawn it was climbing higher and deeper into the training grounds heading for Koroneff’s or White Hut. To get there we were going to have to negotiate the infamous swamp and with several large and heavy vehicles in the convoy it was going to be fun.

Taking to the tussock was the way around the bogs, but you had to stay out of the tracks of the vehicle in front. While several vehicles got stuck and had to be recovered, our military chaperone in a 6x6 Pinzgauer showed how good the modern vehicle was and easily drove through the difficult areas. 

The rest of the day involved more tracks before crossing the Moawhango River again, this time above the lake. 

Hitch’n a ride

For Sunday I hitched a ride with the armoured group and first up I went with Lynn Eades in his 1941 Bren Carrier which was number six of 40 and built in January 1941 at the NZ Railways’ Hutt workshops. 

This was the first time Lynn had driven the vehicle after spending 20 plus years restoring it. He got it as a rusted hulk with bits missing and it was one of the few that were riveted together rather than welded like the later ones. He had to make several components from scratch over the years and he should be well pleased with how it’s turned out. The Bren carrier has Ford running gear and is powered by a Ford V8. 

Another interesting vehicle which was used by the NZ Army was a 1943 ACV-IP II, a wheeled armoured carrier powered by a rear-mounted Ford flathead V8. The IP stands for Indian Pattern as the originals of these ACVs were built in India by East Indian Railway and Tata Iron & Steel Company on a Canadian Ford military chassis, though the NZ pattern ones apparently had a different chassis.

Amongst the armoured group were two Alvis FV101 Scorpion Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (tracked), better known as Scorpion Light tanks. The NZ Army acquired 26 of them in 1982 and these were subsequently sold off in 2000. 

The Scorpions have a 4.2 Jaguar engine and can accelerate very quickly, sound awesome under power and therefore have a thirst for fuel, as most tanks and Bren Carriers do. The Scorpions relished the conditions, sounding really good as they accelerated off into the distance but had to be topped up with fuel at the fort. 

That night was a themed night, dressing up in your 1960’s gear and some put a real effort in. There were many presentations and sponsors products handed out to deserving recipients.

It was a fantastic weekend for all involved and certainly brought back memories for many as they relived days gone by. For a couple of days at least it was if the clock had been turned back on Waiouru military with the many old vehicles that once saw military service there return once again.