The Bart Vanderveen Challenge Trophy is awarded annually to the individual, chosen by nominations, who has contributed most to the military vehicle preservation movement. Inaugurated and sponsored by After the Battle, publishers of Wheels & Tracks magazine which was founded by Bart Vanderveen in 1982 and edited by him until the 75th issue published in April 2001. The trophy is presented at the War and Peace Show, which is the world's largest gathering of privately owned military vehicles, held annually at The Hop Farm, Beltring, Paddock Wood, Kent, in July.

The annual award is made to the individual who is felt to have contributed most to the military vehicle preservation movement, and the name is chosen from nominations made by fellow enthusiasts. As a mark of respect, for the first year the award was made posthumously to Bart; in 2002, the recipient was Peter Grey; Rex Cadman and IMPS were joint winners for 2003; and in 2004 the award went to Tony Budge.

Since its inauguration, the award has been administered by After the Battle but, following discussions with Winston Ramsey, Kelsey Publishing agreed that the 2005 award would be jointly supported by both organisations. From 2006, the award will be made by Classic Military Vehicle magazine. The format and aims of the award will remain unchanged.

Nomination forms are available Classic Military Vehicle magazine. The postal address is Classic Military Vehicle, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berrys Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG. Please make sure that your nomination is clearly marked 'Bart Vanderveen Challenge Shield'. 'cmv.ed@kelsey.co.uk'

The Bart Vanderveen Memorial Trophy for 2005 was awarded to
Joe Lyndhurst.

Joe Lyndhurst (second left) discussing the finer points of a Jeep engine with members of his group.

This was Pat Ware's address for the presentation

The Bart Vanderveen Challenge Shield was inaugurated in 2001 by Winston Ramsey of After the Battle, publishers of Wheels & Tracks magazine, in recognition of Bart's huge contribution to the military vehicle movement.

Bart restored his first military vehicle in 1959, having already published his first book on the subject. During the 'sixties Bart's Olyslager books became - and remain - the essential reference works for enthusiasts worldwide. He went on to publish many military vehicle books and, from 1982 until his death in 2001, he was the editor of Wheels & Tracks magazine.

You could say that Bart was the founding father of the present military vehicle movement… and, if it were not for Bart Vanderveen, we might not be standing here today.

The Bart Vanderveen Challenge Shield is made to the individual who is felt to have contributed most to the military vehicle preservation movement. The name is chosen from nominations made by fellow enthusiasts and the award is made here at War & Peace.

As a mark of respect, for the first year the award was made posthumously to Bart himself; in 2002, the recipient was Peter Grey; Rex Cadman and IMPS were joint winners for 2003; and, last year, the award went to Tony Budge. Although sadly he is no longer with us, I can assure you that this year we have an equally worthy winner . . . another of the pioneers of the military vehicle hobby in this country.

Joe Lyndhurst, best known for his Warnham War Museum . . .

Joe was born in 1924 in Richmond, Surrey. During the war he was intrigued by the Jeeps that he saw driven by Canadian and American soldiers and resolved that one day he would own one. It took him another 20 years but, in 1962, Joe bought his first Jeep . . . from a film company!

He used the Jeep as his second car during the summer, but took it off the road and started to restore it to its original military spec during the cold winter of 1962/63. Other Jeeps followed and he entered three in the HCVS London to Brighton run in 1968, taking all three prizes in the military class.

Since the end of the war, Joe had been involved in running the family business, the New Beach Holiday Camp at Earnley near Chichester. The Earnley site meant that Joe was immune from the usual storage problems and by 1973, his collection had grown to 20 vehicles. Not surprisingly, Earnley had become the focus for other enthusiasts in the area, and dressed in US 5th Army uniforms whenever they attended vehicle shows, Joe's informal group became known as Lyndhurst's Army.

When the holiday camp was sold in 1974, Joe used his share of the proceeds to buy Tyldens at Durford Hill, Horsham. He had big plans for Tyldens . . . and at Easter 1976, re-opened Tyldens as the Warnham War Museum.

Joe and his wife, Yvonne, ran both the Museum and the restaurant.

As word spread among enthusiasts, the Warnham War Museum began to acquire near-legendary status. Back then, large private collections were unusual, private museums even more so. Aside from the 'official' collections held at places such as the IWM and the Tank Museum, Warnham was one of the few locations where enthusiasts and the general public could see a display of WW2 vehicles together with literally hundreds of other WW2 artifacts.

When I bought my first military vehicle in 1980, Warnham was one of the first places that I took it and I can still remember picnicking in the field at the back of the site . . . though I also recall that the restaurant did a fine line in afternoon teas. I will also confess to you that in 1980 I persuaded my new wife that we should spend one day of our honeymoon at Warnham . . .

In 1983, Joe wrote the definitive book on military collectables which was published by Salamander . . . even today, it remains a sought-after guide to this fascinating topic.

The collection continued to grow and expand and Warnham began to host a monthly militaria sale and the occasional auction. As inevitably happens, the collection grew too big for the Lyndhursts to manage and, eventually, the only sensible course of action was to sell-up. Today Tyldens is a nursing home and the collection has been distributed across the world. Curiously, the militaria fairs continue . . . albeit at nearby Kingsfold.

After a short spell in hospital, Joe died on 14 August 2000. During his 40 years of involvement with the movement he had seen the military vehicle world change beyond all recognition . . . but his passing has left it considerably poorer.

Joe was a real enthusiast. Generous with his time and his knowledge and always ready to lend a hand. He was almost certainly responsible for encouraging many to collect and restore military vehicles and Joe is a worthy recipient of the Bart Vanderveen Challenge Shield.

Sadly his widow Yvonne is not well enough to be with us today but a long time friend of Joe, George Kimmins, has kindly agreed to accept the award on his behalf.

Thank you. Joe Lyndhurst.

2004

In 2004 the trophy was awarded to Tony Budge. This was Winston Ramsey's address:

In the 1979 Military Vehicle Preservation Association member's directory Tony Budge was listed as having 'No military vehicles at present' - in stark contrast to his impact on the military vehicle hobby during the 1980s and 1990s.

Then, Tony was a successful businessman, his family being major players in road building, open-cast coal mining and plant hire. His interest in military vehicles started modestly but, as he had both the financial resources and also the facilities, he decided to build up a serious collection of military vehicles with a definite emphasis on armour, both wheeled and tracked.

Within three years he was topping the league of the 'super collectors' with over 200 vehicles - armoured and soft skin - at his base in Nottinghamshire, although this was no collection of hulks as Tony carefully selected many quality vehicles from collectors far and wide.

And he didn't just keep everything behind locked doors - as well. As his legendary open days, he supported many military vehicle events in the UK and abroad with rare and superbly restored vehicles, crewed by his team of enthusiastic and knowledgeable drivers and mechanics, always dressed in the distinctive Budge Collection black coveralls.

His son Karl shared his enthusiasm and was actively involved in the collection and soon over a dozen people were employed to work and manage the collection. The workshop facilities allowed the team to take on the most difficult restoration challenges and the finished vehicles from Budge became a benchmark for restoration quality.

The Budge enthusiasm for building a comprehensive collection had a considerable impact on the value of military vehicles and perhaps for the first time the investment potential of historic military vehicles was realised.

The acquisition trail soon led him to look abroad, beyond the well known dealers and scrapyards of Europe. This is where Tony made perhaps his most significant contribution to the hobby- he opened up access to the motor pools of Eastern European and other far flung museums and armies. With both purchases and exchanges, vehicles previously unseen in private hands began to arrive in East Retford. And it wasn't just vehicles for the collection as large numbers of vehicles were made available to private collectors and museums. He was able to deal with governments of all size. His reputation opened doors that would have otherwise remained locked forever.

As well as kicking off the enthusiasm for collecting Soviet Bloc armour and softskins, Tony rescued rare WW2 AFVs from Australian deserts to be restored to concours condition in the Budge workshops.

The 'Budge Effect' certainly spawned more traders and service suppliers as the hobby grew rapidly - his high profile as a businessman also got the military vehicle collecting some positive press coverage.

In the early 1990s his businesses were forced to downsize and sadly the collection and all the stock vehicles were sold off. It must have been a very difficult decision to make, having invested so much money and enthusiasm into the venture. The collection was split up, with vehicles being sold worldwide to discerning collectors and museums. Even that had a positive effect on the hobby as it unleashed a great quantity of mainly unrestored armour at knockdown prices to the private collector.

Happily, Tony Budge is still involved in the military hobby at Ryton Arms, and his son keeps the Budge name involved in the military vehicle business through Lionheart Vehicles. Tony's contribution to the MV hobby has been immense. Many of the vehicles in the rally fields and collections we see today have at some time passed through the hands of A. F Budge. Many collectors and enthusiasts have benefited - perhaps unknowingly - from the impact Tony made on the hobby. He was, and still is, above all a serious military vehicle enthusiast.

Tony Budge is a very worthy recipient of the Bart Vanderveen Trophy for 2004.

2003

In 2003 the trophy was awarded to the War and Peace Show itself — then in its 21st year. The award was received jointly by John Burford on behalf of the Invicta Military Preservation Society and Rex Cadman for War and Peace Ltd. This was Winston Ramsey's address:

Two years ago this trophy was inaugurated in the name of one of the founding fathers of the military vehicle preservation movement - the late Bart Vanderveen - and its purpose is to honour in a tangible way notable contributions to a movement epitomised by all we see here today.

The award is nominated by you and I'd ask everyone to send in their nominations for next year - the form is in the programme.

When Bart began restoring and writing about military vehicles back in the late 1950s, he could never have envisaged in his wildest dreams an event such as this.

This show had its early beginnings as a small rally organised by like-minded enthusiasts in 1980 at Chilham Castle. This first show led to the formation of the Invicta Military Preservation Society with the lovely acronym - the IMPS -represented here by its current chairman, John Burford.

The next show in 1982 was held at the Kent and Sussex Railway at Tenterden, and this combined military/steam theme continued until the show moved here to the Hop Farm in 1987. That year 185 vehicles attended.

Two years later it had grown to 400 vehicles and included tracked armour, and Rex Cadman came in to help organise a show which was growing in size and scope every year.

In 1994, 1,000 vehicles attended the 'Back to the Beaches' event to mark the 50th anniversary of D-Day, and there were even more entrants the following year in 'The Victory Show'.

The name War and Peace was adopted in 1996 and the show extended to run over three days. Like Topsy, it had grown out of all proportion to its early beginnings. I used to walk round with Bart who never ceased to be amazed at the variety of vehicles, some very rare, others which his discerning eye would quickly spot as not original.

Mock battles were introduced attracting much media attention, but behind the scenes the future of the show was threatened when the Hop Farm was put up for sale in 1997. Fortunately the new owners, Brent and Fiona Pollard, were very keen to see the show develop but the demands on IMPS to run it with more than 3,000 vehicles and hundreds of trade stands was getting logistically and financially impossible. So a long term agreement was put in place to ensure the future of the War and Peace show which is the now the largest event of its kind in the world.

There are over 13,000 exhibitors, traders and re-enactors taking part today, and some of the original club members organising the show today are the same as those at the first event 21 years ago.

Bart Vanderveen is no longer with us to see the show but I know that he would thoroughly support the nomination for this years award.

It goes to the War and Peace Show and I would ask John Burford to come forward accept the award on behalf of The Invicta club and its devoted members, and Rex Cadman to receive it on behalf of War and Peace Ltd and his staff who work so hard to make it such a success.

2002

In 2002 the trophy was awarded to Peter Gray. This was Winston Ramsey's address:

'Last year, when Bart Vanderveen, the founding Editor of Wheels and Tracks died, I inaugurated in his memory The Bart Vanderveen Challenge Shield. This is to be awarded annually to the individual, chosen by nominations, who has contributed the most to the military vehicle preservation movement.

Before Bart came on the scene with his Olyslager books in the 1960s, the preservation and restoration of military vehicles was virtually non-existent. Ex-Army vehicles were mainly bought by the construction and civil engineering firms, and farmers, but the thought of restoring them to their former glory never really crossed anyone's mind. So the seed was sown and the interest grew . . . but who 40 years ago could possibly have predicted such a scene that can be seen here today?

Ever since those early beginnings, the name of one individual stands supreme and he has overwhelmingly been nominated for the award this year. It gives me tremendous pleasure to acknowledge the debt that we all owe to Peter Gray for giving birth to the Military Vehicle Conservation Group in 1969. Peter's contribution to fostering the tremendous growth of the movement stems right from those early days, now half a century ago. I don't think Peter will dispute that his first love (military vehicle-wise) . . . is for Harleys. He has raced them at Silverstone; run a drag-racing team with them, and rebuilt many of them. He was an early editor of the Harley-Davidson Riders' Club magazine and worked at one time for a Harley dealer in Paris. He started a specialist shop in Worthing for Harleys in 1961 and I am sure there is nothing he doesn't know on the subject of Harleys. But that is just one aspect of Peter's interests. He has rebuilt assorted military vehicles and back in 1978 I had the opportunity to see him at work on his tank destroyer at Pounds, one of the first vehicles to come out of the yard. But Peter has also worked on Rollers, Mercedes, Jaguars, Bentleys, and assorted Yanks.

Peter formed, drove and rode in, his Hell on Wheels Military Display Team and then created the MVCG which has now grown to be the largest club of its kind in the world . . .

His dedicated work behind the scenes in planning and organising memorable tours to the Continent followed and, although Peter has taken a back seat in more recent years, I am thrilled that his peers have now given the recognition that he so richly deserves.'

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