Ex-soldiers start road trip in 80-year-old WW2 Jeeps

A 1,600-mile road trip retracing the route of Allied forces across Europe in 80-year-old WW2 Jeeps has begun.

Dorset veterans of the Light Dragoons are following in the tank tracks of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars in three 1940s vehicles to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day.

They are making their way from France through Belgium and the Netherlands, to northern Germany, and will lay wreaths and crosses at cemeteries where more than 200 of the regiment are buried.

Former Capt of the regiment Jason Dalley said the journey had been "fantastic so far".

The veterans will be travelling with military vehicle enthusiasts for three weeks, beginning 26 May.

Capt Dalley is one of the passengers on the journey and said he would spend three days with one of the drivers, retired Lt Col Robert Wiles.

He said the first day on the road had been "quite wet".

"When you're running on 80-year-old vehicles, they can be quite temperamental and we had a little bit of a breakdown issue," he said.

"But we got it fixed, lots of cups of tea, sitting on the side of the road and cracked on."

He added that the group had been stopping off at every cemetery where the 13th/18th Royal Hussars had war dead.

"We have laid drew crosses and a wreath or had a small ceremony at every cemetery," Capt Dalley said.

Lt Col Robert Wiles said he was "very confident" that the vehicles would endure the journey.

"They might be 83-84 years old but we've done loads of preparation on them," he said.

"We can almost rebuild a jeep with the volume of spares we've got."

He said the problem they had faced was a "charging problem with an antiquated charging system that is quite fragile".

"That was rectified within an hour," he added.

The group will be auctioning the passenger spot of the cars for each day of the trip to raise money for veterans' charity, the Light Dragoons Charitable Trust.

Lt Col Robert Wiles called it "a really ambitious and unique tool that's never been done before" and said they were trying to "raise a significant amount which would make a difference".

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