From the IOWMHM through CHARM to the Isle of Wight Military and Heritage Museum part1

 I wrote this for the members of the Central Whidbey Sportsmans Association so bear with me . 

 Hi all .

I am as far as I know the only English member of the CWSA . I also own the biggest privately owned gun in the club ( if not the county or the State ) The 120mm high velocity rifled tank main armament on a Conqueror Tank   ( all be it I have no ammo for it ) I also own four other tanks .Picture of me in my Centurion .

Lots of other members have asked me what I have been doing on my trips to the UK . I thought I would put this in the newsletter for those interested .

Firstly some background . I moved to the USA and obtained a green card for myself and my family by investing lots of ( borrowed ) money in Urban Storage - This partnership built a storage building on the site of the old Ranier Brewery in SODO Seattle . I came in search of Liberty and freedom ( but I am a bit late it seems ) I was disturbed at the loss of the traditional liberties in the UK and decided for my children s sake ( Son Adam and Daughter Emma ) that we needed to get out before things got much worse . I am a strong believer in the US constitution .

I have a residential lettings business in the UK that I was intending to sell but the worldwide housing market crash has forced me to keep it going and thus I have to visit England occasionally .

I also was the primary investor ( and hands on builder ) of the Isle of Wight Military History Museum . This took years to come to fruition and years more before I realized that the managing director had become corrupted ( a new " lady " was involved ) and was basically ripping me off as landowner , shareholder and investor .

I made the mistake of confronting him on his crookedness by letter in my absence . I believed that logically he would have curtailed his deception and paid the rent that he could easily afford ( despite his failure to do so and protestations of poverty ) He decided instead to cut and run taking with him everything he thought he could get away with ( and so far it transpired he was right )

I ended up owning everything he left on the 14 acre site as the receivers transferred it all to me in lieu of rent . This included about a dozen ex military vehicles ( many of which I already owned ) . I also ended up being responsible for the taxes on the site which were over $ 30,000 .00 per year which was as much as I have to live on .

I could have given up on the museum I and many others had worked on for decades and believed on . Instead I met Stan a charming man who was introduced to me as a British Legion case worker helping ex service people . He proposed the establishment of a charity that would both operate the museum and , work with ex service people and use any " profit " to support those people and others who could benefit . CHARM was born .

We came up with the name The Conflict History And Remembrance Museum . I worked on the paperwork and Stan had free range to get the museum back on its feet . There was loads of scrap on site and steel was selling for $ 170.00 a ton. He used the British Legion Riders - a motorcycle " gang " of mainly ex service people as his workforce and many also donated and loaned monies and worked tirelessly on this new endeavor . There were many successes - A bar and cafe were opened and everything seemed great .

Soon there were issues though . The trustees of the charity that I had recruited were being ignored and Stan's " management team " seemed to do whatever they wanted . No rent was received from the cafe and not so much from the bar . Finally it became evident that Mrs Baker ( who was operating the cafe ) was either lying about the takings or was running the place very badly . It became evident that anybody who questioned Stan became “ public enemy no 1”. The trustees and others who saw cracks in Stan's " halo " were threatened by some of Stan's minions . It came to a head when Stan started the season with a well publicized “ fun day “ He did not consult the trustees at all and opened the actual museum for free but both the bar and the cafe and other “ franchises “ he had given to his “ management team “ operated for profit” . The charity received nothing except a small contribution from the bar . Stan wanted to erect a mini tank course for a friend and was told to submit a business plan – It was laughable with almost all profits to go to the operator – He was told no but never the less had it built without the agreement of the trustees or me the landowner .

Last April fools day I flew back to the UK and had a secret meeting with some of the trustees . It was agreed I needed to act and act with decisiveness I did .

I levied distraint against the charity with the agreement of the trustees and locked Stan and his associates out of the whole site . The police got involved to prevent a breach of the piece . I told Stan his game was up and I would be willing to thank him publicly for his input but he had to go . He would not accept this and instead went to the press threatening a court case for unfair dismissal .

He pleaded with me to allow his associates to remove personal stuff from the cafe and I agreed ( foolishly ) . By appointment his associates turned up but not a few with a van but a mob of over 25 people who were more than mildly threatening , destroying the cafe sign and also it transpired taking many donated and loaned items . They hung around for hours doing very little but working themselves up . Punches were thrown and the police arrested one of them but then left the site ( and the trustees ) unprotected .

By late afternoon I had had enough . I walked past the mob and saw one individuals twirling a hammer One called out to express his support for the previous management and dislike for me and my actions . There was no sign of them leaving or even moving anything which was their whole justification for being present on my land .

I informed them that I was in no way threatening them but my hobby was practical shooting , it was my land and I was licensed to shoot vermin on it I intended to relax by shooting a few cans . I opened the door of my van and got out a Saiga 12 gauge with a ten shot magazine and loaded it up . I then emptied the magazine in a safe direction . I believe this was a shock to many of the mob as there are only about twenty people on the Isle of Wight who do not have their right to own long magazine shotguns denied .

I then walked down to the bottom of the site to cool down . I returned ten minutes later and they had all left . I left also - The police arrived just minutes later but thankfully did not bother to take further action . ( Firearms law in the UK is a minefield - the police just jailed a man who legally possessed a shotgun simply because he had it loaded in the back of his car ) .

The worst was over . There was a Facebook campaign of intimidation but nothing actually happened . Low point was when Stan warned me on Facebook that there was a storm coming my way ( he hosted a biker meet ) and 120 people liked it . I spent the next six weeks sleeping at the museum for security . I let it be known that I had both a .22 rifle with silencer and a Mossberg 8 shot pump 12 gauge to shoot vermin as I was licensed to do and that I knew the law on self defense in the UK where you can still use deadly force if you can not retreat and have a reasonable fear for your own safety ( ie being public ally threatened by a biker gang ) .

The Charity continued to run the museum with the position of acting manager for a trial period filled by “ Sid Michalski “ who had assisted in the take over period from Stan and his inner circle . - Another story -