Wartime Re-enactments, ex-Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends - Time to say "Goodbye"?

Couldn’t see if they were wearing nylons under their fatigues.

 

I remember a writer rather suprised to see climbers wearing tights under their trousers - for warmth

 

Not much chance of getting the girls then, dressed like that. Fake G.I's I guess.

 

One winter around the early 70's it became known that certain Liverpool police officers had taken to wearing tights under their uniform trousers. Supposedly one officer kept a card in pocket which, in the event of an accident, explained that he wasn't gay ('cept that wasn't the word he used) but that it was bloody cold on his motorbike!
Ray.

 

I suppose it depends on how authentic you want to be with your " Wartime Week end " and on what time your actually intending to depict, after all if your wanting to show evacuated children etc, and say 1939- 1940 then you would have not seen American troops, or even German POW'S , But if your wanting to show the later part of the war, say after D day, or just before, then you can have Americans, Canadians, in fact almost any uniform, and even groups of dejected looking, unarmed sullen germans being shouted at and marched to POW camps, but no tiger tanks, or half tracks, 88's etc, and of course the odd 8f, Austerity 2-8-0 Austerity 2-10-0 and S160 at the head of a very, very long freight would be very authentic.
And as regards people who like to pretend their Nazi Storm troopers, part of Hitlers elite, well they clearly must have something lacking in their daily lives, either that, or they live in an fantasy world where the white skinned, blue eyed blond hair Arian, Nordic race( there is no such thing) is in some way a form of master race. destined to rule .

 

As another point of view, here in Italy there are many events with all sides with a good 30% in German uniform. Nobody gets upset, nobody is offended and everyone has a great time. Just look for videos and photos from Ternavasso.

 

The difference with that is, unless I am grossly mistaken, that German soliders ended up in Italy, possibly about 30%. We didn't get all that many here, and the ones we did get didn't stay armed for very long if the authorities had anything to do with it.

 

The point I wanted to emphasise was in the second sentence. Sorry if that was not clear.

 

Ah, fair enough - My mistake.

 

There is, I am sure a different perspective in Italy. After all, they did, officially, support both sides at different times during WW2. There are many there I am sure that were disappointed when the Allies appeared to be winning.

 

Italy has a national holiday on the 25th April know as Liberation Day. I got in a lot of trouble when many years ago my eldest son said "My Dad calls it Changing Sides Day" at a school function. Good job that was his last year at that school.

 

Or ANZAC day, as it is known in our household

(Interesting co-incidence of dates).

Tom

 

Visitors to Dartmouth, Devon - probably arriving by ferry from Kingwear after alighting from one of the Dartmouth Steam Railways trains, might seek out Anzac Street. A very small, ancient street but with many historical associations.
https://philscoblehistorian.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/whats-in-a-name-anzac-street-dartmouth-devon/

 

A reminder what WW2 German soldiers looked like on some British streets.

 

I think in the LNER 150 book there is a section taken from the experiences of the shedmaster at Neasden during the tail end of WW2 into 1946. (Maybe Bill Harvey, I don't have the book to hand).

Apart from the fact that he seems to have no locomotives available because everything was run down, it does seem that Italian POWs were used to fill in for the labour shortage. There is an incident when during coaling I think, and one of the POWs is left badly injured.

So perhaps those who want to dress up in German and Italian uniforms ought to do the really horrible jobs on the railway that no one else wants to do.

I half wonder if the F5 new build team aren't missing a trick by not enabling it to be pseudo-armoured and creating a recreation of the WW2 armoured trains, (Perhaps the braking system might violate modern safety rules). But with all the war on the line events an appropriate armoured train with suitable troop (or public carrying trucks) might be a good money spinner (although they have enough on their hands and it would cost a lot to develop) and it could actually run on some of the branchlines where the trains did run.

 

The RH&DR had this famous train - no Axis forces in sight, although, it is said, due to a misunderstanding by the German pilot of the trains real size, he ended up crashing. 1 up for the RH&DR! There were standard gauge armoured trains in Britain, principally based in the areas believed at risk for enemy troop landing areas.

 

There is a really good book published many years ago about the development of armoured trains in the UK and Ireland (as well as some material on South Africa, Russia, Poland, Belgium and France).

The F4/F5 was the loco used by the WW2 armoured trains. Also, for those who like dressing up, the Armoured Trains in Britain were for a long time staffed by and under the command of Poles. (And if we are interested in reaching out to new communities the Polish diaspora is one that could be reached)

 

I went to a military vehicle event in southern Essex about 3 years ago and one of the "re-enactor" groups present was actually composed of Poles who were recreating those Polish forces that ended up as part of the 8th Army in the Western Desert, so there is obviously an interest there from the Polish Community in the UK.
Having been to the Armed Forces Day parade in Warsaw back in August this year, they certainly embrace the concept of "re-enacting" as something like 1500 people (and 800 horses!) took part in the parade (as well as the current forces from Poland and several other NATO countries) , covering from the 11th Century (or thereabouts) up to the Warsaw Rising in WW2.

 

As were several RAF squadrons - particularly 303, the highest scoring Hurricane squadron in the Battle of Britain...

 

"Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle would have been the same."

Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding