Miss Drop 44
Member Biographies
These are the members of Miss Drop 44. If your bio is missing or incomplete, it's because you haven't written it yet! You can wait for me to write it, but lord knows when that will happen or what it might say! Far better to write your own...
Brown, Harry - Pvt
Written by the editorial staff at the MD44 press office!
Well… I’ve known Harry a long time now… so long that when he used to buy things from me, he was so young that his Nan used to Paypal me the money on his behalf! A fact my wife likes to remind me of from time to time and is often referred to in our house as ‘Little Harry’, bless him… although he’s not that little anymore. Harry is very new to re-enacting/living history, and it wasn’t until I bumped into him at Stoneleigh Militaria Fair when looking out for my Garand I purchased that I mention it to him in passing. I didn’t really think he would be that interested in it… but he dived head-first into this hobby and is one of the most reliable members of MD44, I jokingly referred to him as ‘the rock’ when talking with Sam about what members are coming to which events as he is always coming to everything. I first met Harry through relic hunting in Extreme Relic Hunters (now deleted, only their publishing name exists) that I used to run with a friend. Harry was one of the very early members to join and was always active on the chat despite his young age when he joined. He had some interesting run ins with some of the morons over the years… then again, didn’t we all.
Harry started in MD44 as a rifleman and quickly jumped into Sam’s boots as S/Sgt when Sam went up to company HQ as Cpt. Quite a fitting role really for his mean scary look that he pulls for most photos! As well as being one of the founding members of MD44, he is also one of the most entertaining… also a bit like Sam (who gives his impression of members), Harry likes to play along too. One of his stupid voices is still my ringtone after most of the group was taking the piss out of me! Along with his Indian voices, Harry can do some interesting animal noises which came about after he blew a seagull out the sky and it made an interest squarrrrkk-squarrrkkkk noise. However, his most entertaining moments are when sitting around the campfire in the evening and he starts to tell us a story of something he has done. I think most members would all have their favourite and most would probably be the ‘Nazi Harry’ story. I won’t give it away here, but if you’re ever around the fire with him, feel free to ask him about it.
In his normal life when he is not out scaring girls in an effort to remain single forever, he works as a sparky and goes to some desperate measures to talk to people about it… like smashing his car into others, just so he can have a conversation with an old man about doing electrical work. When I say ‘car’ what I mean is, his monster truck that gets 2 miles to the gallon. Although it does come in really handy in blunting all the thorns through the narrow hedge entrance to the top of the re-enacting field… makes some nice patterns in his paint work, too. With the added bonus of carrying a lot of kit and people hanging off all the bars and steps on the outside… even if some people get thrown off along the way “bye Max...*waves*”. Harry enjoys keeping himself active, including doing a bit of boxing. He also likes to test how fast he can run by using those speed camera signs that tell you what speed you doing… yes, it really does work.
Harry has had a couple of highlights since joining MD44; the one that will always spring to mind is his jumpsuit after he did the CC2 treatment… instead of using wood decking oil, he used wood varnish! The trousers and jacket could stand up on their own, it
felt more like a suit of iron and was probably near to bullet-proof as fabric can be. The other would be the following: I asked a lot of people’s parents or partners to write a letter like they were actually away at war. I would then do a mail call and hand them out. They all had to keep it a secret and I would surprise them all. Harrys Mum agreed and sent me a letter, which I put in an old looking envelope, put an old stamp on it, franked it and wrote sensor marks on the back. Lots of the other members got them too, except for Callum, who had a
whole story line in letters all planned out by me, which involved many different people (written by me, my wife and my daughter). I wrote the role of his Dad. When Callum started reading them, he was convinced his Dad had written them as his Dad and I apparently have identical handwriting… an odd coincidence. When Harry got his letter from his Mum, he then assumed it was also written by me and took some convincing that it was, in fact, from his mum. Even then he was suspicious that it was actually from her… then all of sudden it clicked in his mind that I had been talking to his Mum without his knowledge and I said, “Yeah, I talk to her all the time!”… I’m not sure if he was terrified or horrified!
Harry comes from Oxford; oddly enough so do a few of us in MD44. As well as boxing, I got him interested in dirt bikes when he was at mine one weekend and since has purchase one with a friend.
Birthday - 2nd April
In infraction book – no
Smokes - yes
Hunt, Sam - ?
Written by the editorial staff at the MD44 press office!
Well what we can say about our beloved captain… I don’t know where to start. Sadly I can’t even how exactly we discovered Sam. He was certainly one of the very early members who was in fact going to join ‘the old group’ that I was inn previously. Before we all jumped ship and set up MD44, with Sam taking a very early leadership role and supporting myself in the very early process of 'should we do this or not'. Thank god he said yes! He then jumped into the S/Sgt role when we were just doing ‘platoon HQ’, before the plans for MD44 grew and we formed ‘company HQ’ in which point his rank exploded to that of captain… save the jokes for later, please. We all know my gags about Sgts and Cpts! Sam squared away most of his officer's kit really quickly, with a little help from Nigella his very amusing fiancée… who when they do eventually get married, the members of MD44 will go in A-Class… or not go at all! That’s an order from me by the way, and not Sam… and certainly not Nigella! The WhatsApp chat is sometimes full of amusing videos of Sam teasing Nigella with his many comedy voices… that is when he’s not doing impressions of currently and past members! Much to everyone’s amusement. Poor Josephine the pizza girl being the usual target of most of Sam’s jokes!
Sam is by far the most grown up member of the group, despite not being the oldest… albeit that isn’t exactly hard since he holds a very sensible and important role within the NHS babysitting doctors and surgeons (my words… not Sam’s) just in case the NHS gestapo somehow find this. Whilst Sam is certainly a bright spark and very capable of managing staff and being in charge of people, it’s a very different kettle of fish when it comes to being hands-on in a practice sense. Some people are just born to wear a shirt and tie!
Sam instantly clicked with all members of the group and many consider him a good friend. His collecting areas have altered a few times, but the stable factor in his interests is the Warwick Regiment.
Sam and Nigella are one of those odd couples who like dogs… or is it just me that is in the minority here… they have a dog thing called ‘Bundy’, who Sam regular says, “A buzz for Bundy” whatever the hell that means!
As well as living history and his career in the NHS, Sam used to referee in football! I guess someone has to! He and Nigella have also started an antiques and collectables company, a hobby they both enjoy. He is also looking at going into the reserves… how the hell he finds time for everything, I have no idea… just putting up with Nige is hard work enough (just kidding Nige, don’t hit me)!
Birthday - 22nd April
In infraction book – no
Smokes - no
Mackay, Dan - Sgt
I have been involved in Miss Drop 44 from its creation along with the core members when we founded it together after breaking away from another group which wasn't ever going to be as authentic or accurate as we wanted to be.
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For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with military history. I can recall talking with my grandad and uncle from a very young age and being amazed by the stories they shared with me. As well as learning of tales of family members long since passed, like my great grandad who had three ships sunk out from under him by a U-boat three times in one day during the first U-Boat engagement of WW1. Collecting militaria at a young age had never even crossed my mind; that was until I started asking for books on WW1 & WW2 for things like birthday and Christmas, much to the bewilderment of my father. I started to notice all the thousands of different types of uniforms, equipment, medals, badges, guns and helmets and I wanted them all!
I started like most collectors, buying everything I saw that I could afford and so failing to specialise in anything. That would all come much later. In 2010 I unexpectedly won a metal detector in an online competition. I took my new ‘toy’ to the nearby woods for a play and was surprised to find hundreds of .303 casings. A quick check online when I got home revealed the area was used by the Canadian Engineers during WW2 as a training ground. I met a few likeminded folks online and soon we became a close-knit group. I set up our group, ‘Extreme Relic Hunters’ [ERH], on Facebook as a means for the few of us to share photos and information on digs. Before we knew it we had over 100 members, then 500, then 1000…
Since forming ERH I have been involved in some pretty incredible things. A couple of us were invited out to Latvia where we helped recover over 20 soldiers lost in battle during WW2. These soldiers, mostly Germans, were recovered and from the middle of nowhere and reburied later with military honours at the huge military cemetery. The bodies that contained ID-like dog-tags would be given named graves. Although nothing could compare to the work a couple of us did in Croatia years later! Recovering over 100 German soldiers in just under a week. A very humbling experience.
My most treasured moment that spawned from relic hunting was a simple Canadian WW1 dog-tag found in the UK in a rubbish pit. Once I was home and the research started, I was amazed that he lived just up the road from where I was currently living. He then emigrated to Canada where he enlisted at the start of WW1. He caught pneumonia on Salisbury Plain and was taken to the many military hospitals in the colleges in Oxford where he sadly succumbed to his illness. He was then buried on the very same road I lived on for many years of my life. Fate has somehow intertwined our lives. After checking census records it would appear he even once lived on this very same road. As someone who served and died for his country during a time of war, he would be on a war memorial. I contacted the local historian [Rob] from the town he was born and lived and ask firstly if he knew the family or had any history about them. He soon showed me a photograph and informed me he was the local butcher and had checked the war memorial for his name. It was missing! So between the both of us we were determined that this wrong should be put right. After 5 or 6 months, and just in time for remembrance day 2016 his name was on the memorial and read allowed in front of all those present, including myself, the local historian and the soldier’s descendants.
As well as that I am trying to return all the dog-tags from the forgotten army dog-tag projects as well as finishing countless more books. The next is to be a comprehensive guide in how to re-enact a 101st Paratrooper in Normandy properly. No Farby bullshit here, thank you! The first book is about how to understand German Dog-tags and the second uncovers stories behind the items I have recovered, like the dog-tag mentioned above. As well as lots of others... including Field Manuals, Technical Manuals and Intelligence Bullets, those can all be seen on this website.
My main areas of collecting militaria are Canadian WW1, Germany WW2, US WW1 & WW2, NAAFI items, Combat photography, Dog-tags and named items from both world wars. I also collect family-named medals from both world wars and going back as early as the Crimean War.
A recent discovery that I should mention would be a small, tatty cigarette case owned by a Canadian soldier who won a Victoria Cross (VC) during WW1. I have tracked down which museum displays his VC and it has been sent to them and they have even mentioned me on their website. YAY!
I hate cars but love motorbikes and have my beloved Honda CBR 600 Leyla edition for getting up to no good on the UKs roads.
When not being a living historian, working on military books, making items for the re-enactment community and militaria do-gooder. I can usually be found in Oxfordshire with my friends and family. Nope, I don't have a real job, neither do I want one, no I don't claim benefits either. I'm like an anomaly in the governments system... where did that guy go? He used to work a 9-5 job and pay us tax, then he vanished! You're goddamn right I did. I don't give to them and neither do I take from them. Nothing I can do sadly about Council Thievery, sorry, I meant Council Tax.
There is enough rubbish about the other things I have done all over this website, so that's enough rambling on about me. I have changed roles twice now in the short time that Miss Drop 44 has been in existence, I am hoping my current role will be a permanent thing. I am certainly not going up a rank, no I don't want to be a f'ing Captian!
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My kit comprises almost everything anyone could want, which gives me some flexibility in exactly what role I want to be within this rank. As well as the basic webbing of pistol belt, riggers, Carlisle pouch and tin, suspenders, canteen set and musette, I also added a set of wire-cutters (1 in 25 got a set), the compass pouch (as I am an officer), map case and binocular case. The riggers are currently full or carbine mags either side of a carboard box of .30 cal ammunition and one pouch containing 2 original HE fragmentation grenades. I chopped the leg ties off my M42 trousers using that as one of my minor quirks and the private purchase dog-tag 'Rayon' cord is my other oddity. As well as these, I have a Denix M1A1 Carbine, Original old spec M1 Garand, Denix M3 grease gun (as the company HQ had 6 and none were assigned to anyone), just used as necessary.
For some more interesting items, I have an original SE-11 Signal Lamp gun, 1 per company HQ... or wait, that's us! :) An M209B decoder, for ciphering and deciphering coded messages as well as extra sets of webbing, M42s and other bits and bobs that I drag out the collection for various different reasons.
I recently added 10 Zeltbahn sections... despite being German, these are ideal as PuP tents were not in Normandy and I want to sleep under something; and these would have been prevalent in Normandy!
I don't re-enact as most liars state, "I do it to keep the memory of those soldiers who did it for real alive" or, "I do it to honour the veterans" and then wear Farby fuck-me-sideways gear and do nothing more than playing dress-up. I do this because I weirdly find it really enjoyable. No explaining this hobby will ever do it justice. After all, when you tell people about it you can't help but tell them about all negative points...
- Is everything you wear comfortable? NOPE
- Is what we carry about useful? NOPE
- Is it cheap? NOPE
- Is it warm? NOPE
- Do you get cold? YUP
- Do you get tired? YUP
- How's the food? TERRIBLE
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What you also can't explain is how little you do over a weekend, yet how fast it flies by! The weird sense of comradery we all have together and the way we work as a team to get everything done. We all look out for one another, and as much as we'd never actually admit it, I do care about these bunch of odd-balls and miss fits... someone jokingly referred to us as 'Miss Fits 44' and in an odd way, it couldn't be closer to the truth; what a varied bunch of guys we have in the group. In a way, resulting in the same sort of eclectic mix a draft would have produced when it was introduced all those years ago on September 16, 1940. All men from the ages of 21 to 45 had to register for the draft!
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That is why I do this hobby. No bullshit excuses about honouring people as a reason to do it, no crap about it preserves history for future generations. If you re-enact properly, those should just be the results and rewards, not a reason to do it. Or is it just a thing Farb's say to hide their piss-poor impressions...
Murray, Max - Pvt
Written by the editorial staff at the MD44 press office!
Oh dear… here we go. Where do I start with Max… our loveable buffoon! Even when he’s doing some idiotic, you can’t help but love him and even I would feel bad telling him off… and I’m a heartless bastard! Max usually has us banging our heads on the table at some of his daft comments, or laughing our arses off. That is when he’s not being put in the infraction book for saying things that he is not allowed to say, which at this rate will include every single month of the year. When given a question about if he can attend a show in any month, his reply would always be, I will be there in September. Nobody was asking about that show. Eventually we got fed up with this. So he was banned from saying the word September… he couldn’t remember this rule and said it again… HURRAH cake for everyone! Thanks Max. Although next event you owe the group a crate of coke and a cake (02-03-2022). Being currently the only person to make it into the infraction book TWICE!
Whilst he’s not recalling all the months of the year to us in an effort to fatten us all up like a Xmas turkey, Max can be found at work and his job… a Microwave technician; or a ‘cook’ in public house at Normanton on soar as normal people may call it. He studied catering at Loughborough College. Although we are still waiting to see any sort of evidence of his cooking skills out in field, if you need some ‘Hexi’ lighting Max, I’m sure Callum would give you a hand. When not at work Max is probably with his girlfriend Jode, who was one of those willing volunteers who wrote period letters to Max as a surprise during one event. Not only that, but his family sent a HUGE parcel that I had to hide from him and everyone else until it was time to distribute the mail.
When he asked me what was inside, “how the hell should I know” was my reply. He was utterly baffled as he carried this huge parcel away from my desk. It contained all sorts of food and other really useful goodies like candles. Not that he share any of the food with anyone in MD44!
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Max was one of the founding members of MD44 and was new to re-enacting/living history like a few of the other members. Just like the others he was at the bottom of two sharp learning curves, first of the re-enacting world and the 101st/502nd PIR learning curve that we’ve all had to climb. During the early re-shuffle he went from Bazooka-man to T4 radioman at company HQ and is working on the BC1000 set being converted from a British Army Set that I started (before losing all interest and patience). An interesting to role that is hardly documented at all in Normandy and the only photos we can find are of the 82nd with the BC1000 and there are NONE of the 101st with them.
Max like many MD44 members is full of... CHARACTER! He has the momentary flashes of genuinely hysterical lines. One that is repeated by my son’s girlfriend… and she has never even met Max! She even does his voice impersonation, too “can I touch your boobs now please?”… which won’t mean a damn thing to anyone reading this, however. Say that line out loud slowly whilst holding your nose and it’ll resemble the creepy way it should be said. Another of his antics came after I scared the life out of him one morning at about 4am. For some reason he was smoking outside the stable block we were sleeping in. I woke up needing a piss… not wanting to get out my nice warm sleeping bag, I jumped through the stables like I was in a sack race and to the door.
Max then turned around as I was leaping towards him at some speed! He looked terrified as I made him jump… much to my amusement I had my piss and went back to bed. I won’t go into details of the very odd conversation that he started when we all got hunkered down to sleep earlier that evening… it involved anacondas and certain members ‘members’ being so long that they could take themselves to the toilet! I do worry about the guys in the group sometimes!
As well as having a weird obsession with months of the year and members 'members'… he also has a fondness for guitars. Although we have no idea if he can actually play one or not though, however there are quite a few photos on FB of him with them. Although Max likes to volunteer to help with things and I know his heart is in the right place… I’m still waiting for some research he agreed to do on the 13th December 2020! Yes, Max… I haven’t forgotten.
Although Max struggles to get to many events, his presence is always missed when he’s not there! Max… learn to drive FFS!
Birthday – 28th May
In infraction book – yes
Why? – Constantly saying the names of months!
Smokes - yes
Abbey, George - PFC
Written by the editorial staff at the MD44 press office! Either people like reading what I have to say, or clearly, I wasn’t horrible enough to scare everyone into writing their own!
George, or Little George (LG) as he also gets called; along with a variety of other loving adorned nicknames, such as Pvt Idiot for saying some really stupid things and Pvt Ghoul for digging himself a perfect coffin size and shaped foxhole!
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George came to Miss Drop 44 via his Dad Russ of 'The ShackRats', the very same ShackRats whom we do joint events with and who weld on our helmet bales. After a chat with Russ one day about needing people to pose for different roles for the 101st Normandy book, he happily volunteered George for a part... George being none the wiser at this point! However, he happily agreed and was dragged round to mine, thrown into some slightly oversized M42s and a shirt, a helmet plonked on his head, decorated with some webbing and told to hold a small piece of paper (a page from a message book) and then do various different poses! After a chat with him about joining Miss Drop 44 he was keen and so for the next event, he was there using the very same oversized clothes of the groups. In fairness, he does look young, but then again, a lot of the real guys where only around 18-19 years old. So, him being only a couple of years younger than that wasn't an issue for us. He also acts a lot older than his actually age and has a solid sensible head on his shoulders; albeit at times you do wonder if there is anything switched on in his head when he asks some of his ludicrous questions. A bit quiet at times, but a good character to have in the group. I've always had a rule in life (which may sound odd), "I will never have a beer with someone I don't like". I don't know where it came from, but as far as I can remember back, I've stuck firmly to that. So much so, that if someone I don't like buys me one, I'd put it down and leave the bar or give it away. There is no member of MD44 I wouldn't have a beer with; this includes LG and for a young lad he certainly can hold a fair amount of alcohol. Although he did look at me one evening when someone poured him a JD after he said, "no", and I gave him some old man wisdom, "If you said 'no' to that drink and you don't want it, don't take it, ever put up with that 'peer pressure bullshit', just tell him you said no." and fair play to him, he did. ​​
George being a total 'gun nut' and his ambition is to become a gun smith; and why the hell not. Although I think he is completely suited to the role and it is perfectly obtainable, he needs some convincing and I recall one very late night of playing cards and drinking well into the early hours of the morning setting the world to right and I hope my worldly wisdom soaked in a bit. When choosing his role within MD44 it came as no surprise that he got excited about the .30 cal that I had just purchased. So, he jumped at the chance to be the 1st Squads LMG gunner and likes to wield and sleep with the giant lump of ludicrously heavy steel, along with the boxes of ammo and the tripod.
Now one thing that is guaranteed in MD44 is lots of friendly banter and what I can only describe as loving piss-taking. Of course, some people bite quicker than others when someone mentions how attractive their mothers are... isn't that right Harry (love you). Now going through George's Facebook, a great tool when it comes to picking interesting of laugh worthy photos, I came across this one. George... I can only imagine now how many times you're now going to hear these words
"George, you're sister is fit!"
p.s. If your sister ever happens to see this! Yes, I'm an arsehole, you are a stunning bird... sorry, not sorry! ;)
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anyway... back to whom we are supposed to be writing about.
Since join Miss Drop 44 George has attended every single event... he has become our new rock in the group... especially since Harry has gone over to the dark side! That reminds me, I need to update Harry's page on here! We've only done 4 events this year, but he attend every single one. I'm not sure if he is just after those blue cloth jumps wings, loves the hobby or something else... having beers with us or the gambling. Honest folks, we are a good influence on him, I promise!!! LG, do you remember ogling all those air hostess's and the German Beerfest woman, or getting you to explain pegging to one of the more senior (sorry Rob) members of the group... as I said! We are clearly a good influence.
Although everyone in Miss Drop 44 gets along really well, a weird thing has always happened. People seem to get paired up. Harry and Max were our first 'MD44 couple', I guess Sam and I were probably the next (sorry Nige), then Tom and Tai, Rob and Rod, Mark and Marcus.... however, with Sam stepping down and away from the hobby... I think George has become my partner in crime and despite a fairly hefty age difference (maturity level is about the same, possibly LG's is higher!) we get along so bloody well and I'm quite lucky to have Pvt Idiot as my sidekick.
You've come a long way in such a short time! You can just about put up a shelter with a parachute section and some drop rope... you can't use wet matches or remember to bring your own... you win far too much at playing cards, but at least you let everyone else win at pool to make up for it!
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Birthday – 7th January
In infraction book – I don't think so
Merit book - YES!!! (one of few)
Why? – I can't remember, and I don't have the book to hand right now.
Smokes - nope
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McFall, Callum - Pvt
Written by the editorial staff at the MD44 press office! Either people like reading what I have to say, or clearly I wasn’t horrible enough to scare everyone into writing their own!
Callum has to be the most loved member of Miss Drop 44, nobody has ever said a bad word about him and I don’t know how many times I’ve heard comments like “Callum is such a nice lad!” and even said so myself on multiple occasions. He still has his odd moments when you want to hit him with a stick though… it just doesn’t happen as much as some of the other members. Callum was one of the early members who contacted me when I was recruiting for the previous group (we won’t go into what happened) but the decision was to form MD44. I’m hardly known for having an impressive memory, so when asked “what were the names of the guys I had recruited?”… I stumbled on Callum and I simple said “Trippy!”, well, it’s kind of like McFall.
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Callum comes from the Chipping Norton and went to school with Prince William… at least that is what you could be mistaken for believing when you first meet him (ignoring the age variation between them) he has a certain ‘posh boy’ look to him and is very nicely spoken. Unlike the rest of the yobs! Due to his amazing education he had, he is at university and is training to be an officer in the Army… yet struggles to light hexi?!?! I guess that is what his Sgts will be there for. However, to his credit, he is one of the few in the group who does his own sewing! He probably had a tutor for that at home.
A strange fact about Callum’s Dad… I have the same handwriting as him! Discovered when I wrote mail to Callum as part of a back ground story. Whilst the other member of MD44 got actual mail from family members and g/fs… Callum had a whole bundle of mail from his Mum, Dad, Brother and a psychotically obsessed woman called Sally! All written by myself, daughter and wife and unfolded into a crazy story. It took him ages to read it all!
During one of our early meets, Callum was asked about the girls in his profile photo on Facebook. He said he had just split up with his girlfriend. We asked which one she was, neither was his answer, one of those in the photo was his previous ex! Likes living on the edge… although in fairness he almost never uses FB. In fact his FB consists of a load of birthday wishes to him, 2 photos of him and 1 of his dog! That’s pretty much it… Callum, your Facebook was fuck all use for helping me to write this!
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Malvern was last weekend and Sam and I spotted a guy known to us as ‘the Hay-Man’. Overlord show 2021 we had a tent and were promoting a website and the group, however the ground was sodden and the organisers had put bales of hay around the site. When the show had closed I went and got one of these and put it in the tent as we were going to be sleeping in it later… on the floor! There was one left, I asked Callum to grab it also as there was 3 of us in the tent, we’d need it between all the space we had to cover. Well, Callum clearly wasn’t as subtle as me. The short miserable prick
on the stall next to us suddenly shouted “Did you pay for that?”. Callum looked a bit baffled and said “No”. This jumped up hay Nazi declares that he paid £4 for his bale of hay and went on to say that “Dave won’t be happy with you take the hay… he’s on the committee!”. Unknown to both Callum and the straw obsessed dwarf that ‘Dave’ is the Dad of the girlfriend of the persons who’s website we were promoting. Callum, ask were this Dave would be and said he would go and give Dave the £4. However the tiny angry man kept going “you can’t just help yourself to hay… it doesn’t belong to you!”. Callum again asks him where Dave is or is there anyone else he can pay for this super-valuable dead grass! The vertically challenged guy eventually shut up and Callum left this bale of gold plated straw behind. Sam and I were no help what so ever, I sat in the tent giggling like a moron at the whole thing. This was day 1… the rest of the weekend was spent shouting “HAY” (hey) loudly at each other. Callum didn’t look too impressed when we did this. He even went as far as asking one of the other stall holders if he paid for his hay… nope. Everyone else just took it… all except our jolly neighbour. It turns out we found the one person on the planet who doesn’t like Callum!
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I have no idea why this photo exists? However, due to the lack of amusing photos I could get from Facebook, this will do. Shame I didn't get naked photos of you in the hot-tub!
So far, Callum has certainly been the hardest person to write about on here… I even asked some of the other members what I might have forgotten to include… I didn’t get anything great to write about, but I did get these funny snippets from Whatsapp to include!
Callum, you need to start attending more and doing some stupid shit…
Birthday - 31 August
In infraction book – no
Smokes - no
Borland, Tom - S/Sgt
Written by the editorial staff at the MD44 press office!
So nobody writes these and its all left down to me...
So where do I start with Tom... Tom joined the group after being binned from another group for basically having tattoos. Thier loss.. and certainly our gain! For Tom burst into Miss Drop 44 with lots of character, humor and enthusiasm, although he did bring Tai with him who has since been almost dorment in the group and we've only met him once. Tom started out as a PFC in the LMG section and soon took on board extra duties in the group; he took on the task of running the groups Instragram 'thing' and has done amazingly well with it. He was then asked if he would like to be the S/Sgt in 1st Platoon HQ, to which he accepted. 2023 has been a fantastic year for Tom in the group, not only for all hes put into it, but he also won the 'most improved 2023 member' award that we awarded at the Capel Show. A small bunch of random goodies were presented to him as a well done.
So what about Tom as a person... well to say he has a rather interesting sense of humor would be far too simple... I would describe his humor as unique, see the above for a glimpse. When he isn't doing Bruce Crompton impressions (also did it while standing next to Bruce) he can be found doing other impressions... that consisting of things like USAAF crew, RAF, US Tanker (yes... Tanker), Infantry... his other life is spent as a 'TED'. To which when I spoke to Harry he said "I don't really understand that at all"... me either Harry! Tom is another member of the group who can play a guitar... or maybe he just holds it in photos?
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So I asked the members what they had to say about Tom... apparently hes a shitter during winter... oh GRITTER! Tom was one of the 'Miss Drop Whurzles 3', no its not a terrorist group, although they possibly should have been arrested for noise pollution. Tom, Harry and Marcus all sang some weird some about farm maschinery at a karaoke at the Capel Show and they all got really into it... and so did everyone in the beer tent! The place went bonkers!!! Tom also certainly lives up a member of a drinking group with a re-enacting problem.
Tom was described today as a loveably rogue; not sure if I should be upset by that as it was 'my' Fluffy that said it! Although I'm sure Max would agree, he has 'used' Tom as a hot waterbottle and often mentions how Tom kept him warm! Needlessly, I didn't ask for more details. Since Harry went to the 'dark side' he left Max on his own and now Tom and Max are just as unseperable as Harry and Max once were. The most consistant things people mentioned about Tom was -
1, Dancing
2, Drinking
3, Karaoke
Although my favourite comment was one made by George and its so true
..."always offers to do the things nobody else wants to do"
"Oh god!! Funny, just an all over great bloke"
"All round decent guy with an awesome sense of humour."
"...has a fetish for collecting rusty things!"
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"Tom. Keen sense of humour, but is always committed to giving a very high standard of impression. Possesses an ability to put smiles on faces, no matter the conditions. Never far from his cuddly bear! (Max). No stranger to living history. Superb team player, in that he will quietly take on tasks as they arise, without hesitation or complaint. He understands the big picture and is extremely reliable.
Liked and valued by the whole group. A great asset.
Show me someone who doesn’t like Tom and I will show you an imbecile!"
I was reminded of something Tom does which we think is great. He has a British Brodie helmet that he takes to shows and when he meets veterans he always asks them if they would mind signing it. Certainly a unique item of militaria.
Birthday – 17th September (Market Garden)
In infraction book – no
Why? – n/a (but I will expect this to be filled out one day)
Smokes - yes
Wormald, Alec - Pvt
Written by the editorial staff at the MD44 press office!
So nobody writes these and its all left down to me...
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