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 -
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