May 2023
The first event of the season for us at Tilford Village at War, near Farnham. It has always been a favourite of ours and this year was certainly no exception. It was the first outing for our Emergency Shop display and it went down a storm. I will not bore you with the ins and outs of putting this together, the months of research, planning and creating the merchandise (designed and reproduced from original photos). Nor will I go on about the months of researching prices to get it as authentic as humanly possible, but suffice to say that the vast majority of visitors we extremely complimentary.
It was lovely to see old friends, forge new friendships and meet new people with a passion for the 1940s.
Our next event will be Ironbridge and has always been a great event for us, now under new management Paul Bull has been working extremely hard to make it as good as it has always been and has introduced a new Home Front area in a much more prominent place, which we feel has always been a bit lacking in the past (not to do down the previous organisers, who were fantastic).
We have been invited to lots of events this year, most of which we have had to turn down. Through experience we now only do dedicated 1940s events, so no steam rallies, air shows, multi-period, village fetes or those with a travelling time of over 1.5 hours each way. Our time and dwindling funds dictate the few events we now attend.
Lots of people ask us why we do this, sometimes strange, hobby. The answer is simple, we absolutely love sharing our knowledge and educating the public about some things which are often overlooked by historians. There is no bigger thrill than talking, particularly to children, and giving them information that they find surprising, interesting or even funny. We hope they will be inspired to find out more, you never know these could be the re-enactors of the future.