harry:
Afghanistan, Andorra,Bhutan,Liechtenstein,Monaco, Nepal,Paraguay,Portugal,Republic of Ireland,Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,Turkey, Yemen were a few of the countries that stayed neutral in WW2
Bit before my time, so I’ll take your word for it H… 
Although the Republic of Ireland remained neutral in WW2 plenty of Irish soilders fought alongside the British.
Approx 5000 Irish soilders left Ireland to fight in the War against the Germans.
On their return home they were outcasts.
I`d say more than 5000 Fodentanker.
Whatever the number it is true about the outcasts, but I think mainly they were deserters from the Irish Army which puts a slightly different slant on it. Nevertheless, if anything they deserved prosecution, there was no excuse for a lifelong persecution of them and their families.
And all I did was to ask about yellow headlights!!!
Ossie
OssieD:
And all I did was to ask about yellow headlights!!!Ossie
That’ll teach you 
Ross. 
That will teach you to ask about yellow !! headlights ha ha ha as i appens i like france for the food and wine
shame im retired now but i do miss it
Jonboy
Ahhh the Merc 1626 used to own one in the eighties GOO 214T bought it of robin at Freightwise
of Bishops Stortford (wonder where he is now) it was a Bloody Pig !! but i tell you what ! it always
got me up and down the Blanc (well,just about) for about a year then i done Swiss for another year
or so for Asia Shop what was his name ■■? always had his dog that used to run behind his car bloody
hell i cant remember for the love of money Help !!!
OssieD:
Just been sent these pictures by Ian Gibbs ex of Hangartner, It’s the customs area at TU Muttenz in Basle Switzerland, it is now closed and awaiting demolition, they are going to build a college or school on the area. Had a lot good nights there, with a lot of good drivers
remember everyone used to fancy suzi in the resturant
john.nicholls:
That will teach you to ask about yellow !! headlights ha ha ha as i appens i like france for the food and wine
shame im retired now but i do miss it
Jonboy
Same for me Jonboy, miss the food and wine but still managing to keep the Calvados manufactures in business all by myself.
Spit, I think Garry Glitter had a thing for Elizabeth.
Ossie
john.nicholls:
Ahhh the Merc 1626 used to own one in the eighties GOO 214T bought it of robin at Freightwise
of Bishops Stortford (wonder where he is now) it was a Bloody Pig !! but i tell you what ! it always
got me up and down the Blanc (well,just about) for about a year then i done Swiss for another year
or so for Asia Shop what was his name ■■? always had his dog that used to run behind his car bloody
hell i cant remember for the love of money Help !!!
■■■■■■ Rasputin was his name!!! & he was a merc-lover! 
Racine (spit every time you say its name!!)
john.nicholls:
Ahhh the Merc 1626 used to own one in the eighties GOO 214T bought it of robin at Freightwise
of Bishops Stortford (wonder where he is now) it was a Bloody Pig !! but i tell you what ! it always
got me up and down the Blanc (well,just about) for about a year then i done Swiss for another year
or so for Asia Shop what was his name ■■? always had his dog that used to run behind his car bloody
hell i cant remember for the love of money Help !!!
Hullo,
Wow! I,d forgotten about him too. As Harry said Rasputin, his name was Eugene Racine, a funny sort of bloke but he always paid up.
Cheers, Archie.
Give 'im a call.
CH Asia-Shop E.Racine Internationale Transporte
Neptunstrasse 11, 4123 Allschwil
work 061 301 82 92
harry:
Give 'im a call.CH Asia-Shop E.Racine Internationale Transporte
Neptunstrasse 11, 4123 Allschwil
work 061 301 82 92
Hullo Harry,
No I don,t think I,ll bother, he,s probably loading all of his mates from the Commie Bloc now. I got a call from Brian on Skype yesterday. If I,d thought about it I,d have given him your regards. He,s still enjoying the life in Crete.
Cheers, Archie.
Brian is worse than Racine in my book ,Archie because as you say Racine always paid -Brian didn’t.He knocked me then told my mate that I had knocked him!. Funny about Brian , he was brought up on island -Mersea & he retired on an island -Crete.
Evening all, funny how things hit you, when I was working in France, Italy, and the Benelux in the 70s and 80s, the one thing that would always make me homesick, was to see the Ken Berresford, or Ron Carman (Brit European) lorries. No one elses, just those. Im with Spardo on the French thing, once you have lived and worked there, and become part of their society, oh dear, it becomes a super place. But I have had my moments with the locals! But I always found that once I had explained that they only became "civilised after our occupation of Acquitaine, (an d most of the rest of France) the conversation normally became more “reasonable”! I am reminded of my old colleague Daniel Laffly, (who was Deputy Managing Director of Saviem UK, and later was to become the importer of M Lamberets most excellent Refrigerated Trailers), and the father to many children, with his American wife Chris), returning from a Canadian holiday, bristling with indignation because the Quebecoise had accused him, a Parisian, of being an Englishman "trying "to speak proper French!!! You know the real problem is that we , the Brits, and the French are similar, we are proud, have colonised and influenced much of the Globe, and primarily only see our own point of view. Today, well they own most of our water supply, and infrastructure, we own most of the Dordoigne , Brittany,and Paris, but their major point they do not apologise for their Empire, and the cultural benefits that it, as our own, has given the world. Cheerio for now.
Knowing Brian Hogg he probably owns most of Crete, it’ll be his rate cutting that’s got Greece into the enconomic mess that its in now.
chazzer:
Knowing Brian Hogg he probably owns most of Crete, it’ll be his rate cutting that’s got Greece into the enconomic mess that its in now.
Can only hope he’s holding loads of Greek Euros…
Saviem:
You know the real problem is that we , the Brits, and the French are similar, we are proud, have colonised and influenced much of the Globe, and primarily only see our own point of view. T
I also have pointed this out to many of my friends, describing both nationalities as chauvanistic, which results in a devout refusal by many to speak the other’s language, which is where the usefulness of the Dutch and Germans comes in - as interpreters.
The Quebec thing rings a bell with me too. I served a couple of years on the village Comité des Fêtes and one of our number was a Quebecois, Igor ( 
). When the President had to give up calling the numbers at the Loto because of a loss of voice, Igor took over. There were soon calls of ‘quoi’ and ‘répétez’ as the faithfull failed to understand his accent. Guess who replaced him? It seems an English accent is better understood than Quebec one - in Aquitaine anyway, because as Saviem says, this used to be English territory and the local accent is often akin to a bad English attempt at French.
Back to the 80’s, this talk of linguistic capabilities reminds me of the time when the Blanc was closed due to avalanches and Ventimiglia was inundated by hundreds of drivers from all nationalities struggling to clear customs, burdened themselves by a newly introduced system that even the local drivers could not understand. We would all still be there, parked on that hillside where we were all diverted, were it not for the Dutch and Flemings standing tall and sorting the whole mess out between them. 
bigr250:
Believe it (or not) this gutless wonder of a V6 1619 Merc had just returned from Gdansk in Poland having taken ships stores to a new ship Harrison Line had built in 1981, (The Author) along with three other vehicles from the firm. A Scania 81 also a day cab, a 2600 Daf (sleeper) & a 2800 (sleeper) pulling fridge trailers.
Is this the same Acock that’s now Transworld at Widnes?