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Live from The Gathering - John, Armour Dillo

Thanks so much to John from Armour Dillo for coming on air at The Gathering 2024. Find out more on their Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083290535188 Get In TouchSupport the Show.Pure247Radio.org is The Pure Choice, and Everyone's cup of tea even if yours is coffee! Facebookfacebook.com/Pure247Radio Instagraminstagram.com/Pure247Radio X (Twitter)twitter.com/Pure247Radio YouTubeyoutube.com/@Pure247Radio

Duration:
6m
Broadcast on:
15 Jul 2024
Audio Format:
mp3

Thanks so much to John from Armour Dillo for coming on air at The Gathering 2024.
 
Find out more on their Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083290535188 

Get In Touch

Support the Show.

Pure247Radio.org is The Pure Choice, and Everyone's cup of tea even if yours is coffee!

Facebook
facebook.com/Pure247Radio

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instagram.com/Pure247Radio

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twitter.com/Pure247Radio

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youtube.com/@Pure247Radio

Right, let's move on to my first guest. His name is John, and he actually has tanks, micro-drill tanks. So, tune in for this one. Hello John. Good morning. Right, it's 10 past 12, but that's fine. Okay, it's fine. So, I saw you setting up and thought, oh, they've got shears. This should be fun. What are you doing? But just tell us what it is you're doing here at the gathering. We have a massive radio control model tank battle underway. So, we've got a huge assortment of model armour here, tanks from the World War II, German side, the Soviet side, the Allied side, and these tanks will fight it out with loads of people controlling a tank each. Now, that to me, I don't think life gets much better. I used to have a remote control tank. It fired little like little ball things, and eventually it died. It wasn't expensive. It was just one of the best things I've ever had. It could cope with snow. It was just brilliant. What on earth got you into this? What you've got to remember is that boys never grow up. They just get older and get bigger toys, big boys toys. And I always wanted a radio control Sherman from Tandy or Radio Shackers it used to be. Never had it as a kid, but as an adult, I've got the money to buy the toys and the models that I always wanted to have. And so, I did. And I just kept going and I loved these model tanks and I decided to develop a collection. And I thought, right, this is getting out of hand here. You know, I'm taking over the house. So, I had to rapidly come up with a justification for having this excessive number of tanks. And I've found it. Well, hey, look, it's good that you got your reason for it. To be honest, I'm sitting looking at my studio. I've got the broadcast on one side and I've got tanks in the background ready to go. I don't think it's much better. It's just brilliant fun. How many tanks we've got today? We have got about eight tanks operational at the moment. We've got several more in reserve because there was fairly heavy battle time adjusted. The guys were getting completely carried away. They were ramming each other with the tanks. And I was like, hang on a minute. The idea is to shoot the other tanks, not drive over the top of them. But, you know, it happened in World War II. And it's happening here in the field in Swindon. You see, now, the gathering, it's a very authentic event. And I love it. And even the tank battle is authentic. Not only we've got tanks, we've actually got like real driving into each other. What's your engagement been with people? Are people like what you're doing? Or are they just, do they go into like child mode of six-year-old toddler on Christmas morning? Well, it's actually got very busy last night. It was the busiest it's ever been. I did it two years ago. And it had good engagement. This time, it has been really good engagement. And I came in at half seven this morning. And there were two guys, so he just started playing. And then I came back later on, just before 10, there were more guys playing. And they just didn't seem to be able to stop. But, you know, I think with the popularity of video games, world of tanks and this sort of thing, people have really got into it. And you can see how popular that is with the tank museum and their social media video feeds, which are worldwide sort of fame now. But let's not forget that Britain was the birthplace of the tank. We pioneered the tank. And I guess it's in our DNA and our military heritage. A friend of mine, actually, his name is Bill. He's a veteran. And he used to fix tanks out in Afghanistan and Iraq and all sorts of places. So I haven't got a tank bug, but my wife met somebody who actually did buy a tank one time. He's like, I can buy a tank. I can do this. To be honest, I have to say, I do need a tank. And it is, you know, I looked at them the other day, a scorpion tank, 75,000 pounds, it can be yours. And, you know, for getting to when the traffic's heavy, you've got to admit a tank is the way to go, really. Just drive straight over the top of whoever's in front of you. And of course, most importantly, it's emissions own irrelevant. It can, I loved the most civilian tank. Driving through London, I said, yeah, we're not without to pay the emissions own tax because it's an old vehicle. Absolutely. Classic vehicles are Yula's exempt. And if it does three masks to the gallon because it's a 1960s Chiefsden tank, they don't care. They're quite happy with that. So, yeah, I went to a military show recently, the war time in the Vail show in the Cotswolds. And there are a lot of guys there who bought these tanks and they restored them at a great expense, you know, but they're historical artifacts now. And they actually keep them road legal, demonstrate them at these shows. And it's brilliant that we've got people who love and care about it so much to do that. I say this about different situations, but it's the same. We forget our history, our peril. We don't even have to like the history, but we need to remember the history. And part of that is going to be in some way, acting that out, living it out, we're demonstrating in a physical way, because whilst we can say to people, this happened, you know, a real life tank of battle damage, driving across in front of you. Yeah, this isn't just a story now. This is real. Absolutely. And the World War II reenactment shows the reenactment societies where they play the part of allied soldiers and German soldiers and demonstrate a battle. That is really important in educating the next generation. And I grew up with that sort of level of engagement because my grandfathers were in World War II. But the next generation doesn't have that and they rely on that really to keep the history alive. Yes. And it's true. And I love that you're doing this remote control tanks here at the gathering in a famous windin with the gallery in 2024. John, thank you so much. Oh, is there a somewhere that people can get hold of you if they want to find out what you're doing? Maybe to do the same way they are or just get involved with you. One of the guys he helped me two years ago on this has actually taken it on. And he's running a similar sort of radio control model tank thing for men's groups and churches in his area, which is brilliant. And he's back this time helping me Peter Brand. And if people want to hear more about us or even actually invite us to come and do stuff with their men's group, a youth group or a church event or something like that, then our Facebook group is Armadillo. That's Armares in Tankama, A-R-M-O-U-R and then Dillo, D-I-L-L-O. Fab, if you want to know more, that is where you got to go, John. Thank you. Did you know Pure 24/7 Radio has a shop? Well, we do. You can buy merchandise while supporting the work that we do here. Simply head over to www.pure247radio.org/shop. That's www.pure247radio.org/shop. (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING]