Check the video and pictures. This guy could storm Normandy. Free Cymru.
FBI? I don't think they can legally operate outside the U.S. I find it weird that the Secret Service did this.
Posted on 08/21/2020 3:44:02 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Llewelyn Pritchard's collection of World War Two weapons earned him a knock on the door from the FBI when Barack Obama visited Newport
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.
It was back in 2014, not long before Barack Obama flew into Newport as part of the Nato Wales summit, that Llewelyn Pritchard got a knock on the door.
Men in dark suits belonging to the American secret service had somehow heard about his ever-growing arsenal of World War Two weaponry and, given that the 44th President's helicopter was soon scheduled to pass by overhead, decided to check out the contents of his barn.
"They – the FBI or whoever they were – took one look at my anti-aircraft gun over there in the corner and told me, politely but very firmly, that if it moved an inch outside of these four walls I'd know about it," says the 71-year-old with a laugh.
"They said that I'd be dropped upon from a great height and wouldn't even realise what had hit me."
Tucked away down narrow lanes on the sprawling Gwent Levels, outside Newport, there's initially very little to differentiate the former miner's small holding from any other farm in the area.
Dogs bark and scurry round the cow pats in the yard, cattle graze in the fields out the back, and next to them a tractor idles with its doors propped open to prevent the inside becoming a sweat-box in the strong summer sun.
Then you notice how the metal flower pots either side of the farm's front door weirdly resemble the kind of bomb the RAF would have dropped on Dresden in 1945.
Also, through the living room window, there's a mounted machine gun taking pride of place where most other people would position a vase of freshly-cut flowers. At which point you realise Llewelyn's not really like other people.
"Seen this?" he begins, pulling a purple bed sheet from atop of a formidable looking hunk of metal which resembles a small tank.
"This is a Bren Gun Carrier T16, which was used for transporting personnel and equipment in World War Two. It also served as a machine gun platform.
"And the trailer it's sitting on was found by a friend of mine in some bushes in Dunkirk where it had probably been sitting for the best part of several decades."
Towering over both, though, is a desert-coloured Scammell Pioneer, a 15-tonne tank recovery vehicle that Llewelyn spent a decade completely rebuilding from the wheel base up.
"I saw it down Salisbury Plain in 1990 – it was rotten right through," he says.
"So I had a chat with the local army sergeant and told him I wanted to take it home. I ended up buying him and his boys a few pints and managed to get it on the back of my low loader and brought it here.
"I stripped it right down and put it back together again using new bits from all over the world."
Elsewhere in the corrugated-roofed war-time wonderland are wooden boxes of ammo and weapons stacked head-high housing mortars, grenades, machine guns – "about 50 or so" – missiles, bullets, and shells.
"There's even some 40mm shells from the HMS Bronington, which is the Royal Navy mine sweeper on which Prince Charles once served.
"A couple of Irish lads were among those charged with stripping that ship back in the day and, coincidentally, they ended up living on the nearby caravan site and passed it all my way."
But, as Llewelyn is keen to point out, none of the items in his possession are live with all of them being either dummies, defused, or decommissioned.
"Stay well away from that box though," he whispers, pointing to a crate nestled against the wall. "Blow your head clean off that will."
I ask what's inside while edging away slowly.
"Vintage wine," he laughs. "Strong stuff."
With few immediate neighbours to speak of – "Who in their right mind would live near me?" – Llewelyn reckons he's spent countless thousands over the years pursuing his hobby, the fruits of which he shows off at various events and expos to raise money for children's charities.
"Oh, I'm known in the area all right," he adds. "Occasionally someone from the local police will knock the door and ask to have a look around, out of curiosity mostly.
"And they'll inevitably have a friend with them who, more often than not, will work in explosives. Most of them can't believe how much stuff I've got."
Luckily, though, he doesn't live alone or else we wouldn't be talking at all right now.
"About five years ago I was working on the Bren gun carrier when I slipped, fell inside, and landed on top of the gear stick.
"It went in here," he says, pointing to the deep V-shaped scar on his left cheek, before moving his finger across to his right temple.
"And it came out here. When I came round I couldn't move my head and realised I'd impaled myself."
Nevertheless Llewelyn somehow managed to lift himself free before staggering into the kitchen and passing out on the floor.
"My partner Bernice came in and thought I'd been murdered – there was blood everywhere.
"At the hospital the surgeon who stitched me up told me the gear stick had missed all the ocular nerves and my brain by millimetres – a fraction to the left or the right and I would have been blinded or killed."
Having lived on the farm all his life Llewelyn remembers his father volunteering for the Home Guard – the armed citizen militia which supported the British Army during World War Two.
"There were slip trenches dug all across this area in case Hitler and his armies planned on invading," he says.
"Our boys would sit in wait with machine guns and pick them off if they got close.
"And, as a result, the attic of our house was where most of the weapons were stashed and I remember being told not to mess about with the grenades in case I pulled the pins out.
"I think seeing all that hidden away is what set my fascination off in the first place."
Llewelyn hands me a can of fizzy orange and nods his head at the garage tucked away behind me.
"Forgot to tell you about this one," he says, opening the door to reveal yet another tank.
"Bought this the other day from someone I know from Portsmouth – it's a World War Two Canadian model. Had to take the wings off it to reverse it inside – barely a fag paper's width in it."
Llewelyn, I tell him, when you forget to tell someone that you've just bought a tank it might be because you've one too many tanks already.
"That could be true," he says, chuckling. "But it's my hobby and I love it.
"God knows how much I've forked out altogether – I've certainly been offered a load of money for my collection.
"But I don't want to sell it, see? I've got a living connection to an important part of history here – why would I chose to give that up?"
Check the video and pictures. This guy could storm Normandy. Free Cymru.
FBI? I don't think they can legally operate outside the U.S. I find it weird that the Secret Service did this.
I’d open a Theme Park!
Only liberals, idiot journalists and gun control politicians calls this a news article
I’d love to visit such a place.
What’s his FReeper handle?
In the U.S., at least we can pay the insane $200 tax and have live cannons and tanks.
great looking collection!
he is preparing to move to NYC/LA/SF/Chicago?
It is good to see you posting again.
I’m a surplus store
Junkie!
When an Original Jeep
Goes by,
I chase it like
The Neighbors dog!
I love military surplus stores as well but I am tired of piling up stuff that sits around.
Looking is more than enough.
I’m going to start
Going to Shows soon...Buy,Sell-—Trade!
Mostly Sell good Junk.
That’s the plan or Beneficiaries can have a
Yard Sale!
Thanks!
Me and my dad have talked about a fairly large yard sale.
I’d love to lighten the load around here a lot.
WWII canvas,
Vietnam LC1 gear
Should be having
a boost in popularity!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.