News from our desk

30th October	Remembrance Day 2007	2007
It is that time of year when we remember again British and Allied armed forces, past and present, who have represented their country and in many cases made the ultimate sacrifice. Here in South West England, we particularly remember Harry Patch who is resident at a local nursing home. He is now the sole survivor of an entire generation and the last to have experienced the horrors of fighting in the trenches in the Great War. We will remember them. Christmas demand appears to be starting early and if you are struggling for ideas, we can recommend Bob Stanford Tuck's replica wartime log book for the aviation enthusiast in your life. This was published as a strictly limited edition of 2,500 and we were fortunate to be able to secure a number of the final copies direct from the publishers. These are on offer at below recommended retail and provide great value at £35.00. Once these are gone, there will be no more and they are likely to prove a sound investment as the replica of Guy Gibson's log book by the same publisher has already proved. In addition, we have just listed a range of competitively priced and unique items which may just solve your Christmas present dilemma for the person in your life who already appears to have everything!
2nd August	Passchendaele Remembered	2007
On the 31st July, we reached the 90th Anniversary of the slaughter at Passchendaele when 70,000 lives were lost over 99 days of combat. Our local hero Private Harry Patch, now aged 109, returned again to the killing fields to honour the fallen combatants from both sides. Here at home we have been experiencing the wettest "Summer" on record which has put a dampener on many of the seasonal events. The sun, however, made a welcome appearance for a classic "Legends" Airshow at Duxford as well as at our local RNAS Yeovilton display. The team at Oldnautibits have been kept busy throughout with orders from film companies, theatres and a multitude of national and international collectors. We have been fortunate in securing a private collection of RAF and USAAF items which are due in shortly and will enable us to freshen up the available stock on the site, so keep watching! We are trying to help locate the Flying Logbook of the late Flt. Lt. Richard Henry Collishaw who served with 58 squadron. Shortly before his death, he loaned his logbook to an enthusiast and then became too ill to remember who this was. His daughter, Jo, is desperate to have it returned for sentimental reasons, so if any visitors to the site should know where it is, please could they contact us and all information will be forwarded in confidence, so it can be returned to the family where it clearly belongs.
20th June	The Falklands - 25 years on	2007
They say time speeds up as you grow older and can it really be a quarter of a century since our troops liberated the Falkland Islands? Our thoughts this week are very much with the veterans who survived and nearly 1,000 military personnel from both sides who did not, as well as the Islanders who died in the conflict. It was a pleasure to meet so many existing and new friends at the Popham Aerojumble in May and it was just a shame that the good weather decided to break on that particular Monday. At least our marquee kept us relatively water tight as well as giving the Oldnautibits' sales team a captive audience! Now that the airshow season is upon us, we are very much hoping for a return of some decent weather so we enjoy to the full the activities, both on the ground and in the air. We continue to work at sourcing quality stock for the site, but it is proving to be a struggle to find appropriate items at the right price. We have, however, spent much time on the road and have procurred some fresh items which we will be listing on the site. To conclude as we started with another anniversary, we would like to wish Mr. Harry Patch of Wells, Somerset, the last surviving British veteran to fight in the trenches in WWI, best wishes on his 109th birthday! He served with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and fought in the mud of Passchendaele while still a teenager.
25th February	Spring has Sprung!	2007
We can only endorse those endless reports on the effects of global warming, as here at the oldnautibits HQ our windows have been flung open and the Spring flowers are already in abundance. This leads us to thoughts of Summer and we are pleased to confirm that we have already booked our tables at the Popham Aerojumble and Fly In scheduled for Bank Holiday Monday, 7th May. If you have not attended before, we can recommend the event with the opportunity to get close to the aircraft, see a range of classic cars and of course the opportunity to check out a range of aeronautica as well as the autojumble stalls. We have also been out and about attending auctions and fairs and whilst the quest for quality stock continues to be a struggle, we have been successful in securing a number of quality items, some of which we have already listed on the site with more to follow. Our Luftwaffe customers will be pleased that at last we have freshened the German listings and in particular have been fortunate to secure the most original Netzkopfhaube flight helmet with Auer oxygen mask that we have ever had.
9th January	Happy New Year!	2007
The officers and crew at oldnautibits HQ would like to wish our customers and friends very best wishes for the New Year and hope that 2007 will exceed expectations. As mentioned in our pre-Christmas log, this year we will be concentrating our efforts via the web site and will not be attending, on a regular basis, the fairs as we have done in previous years. We will still occasionally take the show on the road, (not least to escape from the office once in a while!) and we will publish details of these outings when known. Many thanks to all our customers who placed pre-Christmas orders with us. We can only apologise to those who are still awaiting delivery, but it seems, with growing internet sales, the postal services have not improved their operations to match increased demand. Amid much depressing news over the holiday period, it was nice to read of the success of Michael Perham, age 14, who became the youngest person to sail solo across the Atlantic - albeit with his father keeping a watchful eye on him from a distance! The ranks of "The Few" continue to decline and it was sad to note Wing Commander Wilf Sizer received his final posting on December 22nd. He had a spectacular wartime career and will be sorely missed. We are continuing to follow up leads on interesting new stock and with the British Government's recently announced Royal Navy defence cuts, we are considering tendering for surplus type 22 frigates, type 42 destroyers and possibly an aircraft carrier! Whilst the Navy's major enemy in the 19th century used to be the French, it now appears Whitehall and the current Government are a far more dangerous threat.