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Trucks join vehicle enthusiasts for military parade

Trucking operator Kel Baxter took five ex-military vehicles for a parade through Corowa’s main street.

 

Two hundred ex-military vehicles took part in a parade through Corowa in New South Wales on March 14.

The parade was the highlight of the Khaki Vehicle Enthusiasts’ (KVE) 36th Corowa Swim-In and Military Gathering.

The vehicles took up both sides of Sanger Street as they travelled through Corowa to the local showground for a static display and swap meet.

There were Jeeps, old military ambulances, motorbikes, Land Rovers, Humvees, scout cars and even amphibious vehicles.

Trucks included about 15 Blitzes as well as Studebakers, Internationals, Dodges, Chevrolets, Macks, Austins, Bedfords, Unimogs and a Kaiser Wrecker.

Many of the trucks had been used in wars and conflicts dating back to World War II.

The week of KVE activities also included a parade through Albury and a display at Mulwala.

Kelvin Baxter Transport owner Kel Baxter had five ex-military vehicles in the parade. He drove his ex-Army 1945 left-hand-drive Studebaker while friends drove his 1997 Land Rover, Mercedes Benz Fire truck and two Jeeps.

Kel’s attraction to military vehicles dates back to his days in the Army Cadets. His own collection began when he bought and restored a Jeep to drive his father Bert Baxter in ANZAC parades at Berrigan, Jerilderie and Finley.

Bert had been a prisoner of war in Germany at the end of World War II.

“He used to talk about the Jeeps coming into the prisoner of war camps and liberating the prisoners,” Kel says.

Bert passed away in 2003 but Kel still drives the Jeep on ANZAC day.

The 2016 Corowa Swim-In and Military Vehicle Gathering will take place at Corowa again next year from March 14 to 20.

For more information, visit www.corowaswim-in.org

See the full pictorial report in the April edition of Owner//Driver.

Photography: Tamara Whitsed

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