Detling, England, United KingdomWe were up early for this show, I remember the queues for
the last show we went to, and even in the morning it was busy
This time we wanted to be there before it actually opened
We had bought our tickets online, but there was still quite
a line to get in, but it never lasted long
I last came to this show in 2014 (must have been in between
trips)
When we got in, it seemed smaller; there were a lot more
stalls selling stuff though (why people buy some of this stuff is beyond me)
They had seemed to crammed exhibits in, I thought they had a
German and parachute regiment out in the woods, but I couldn’t find them here,
the American exhibits seemed very cramped and there wasn’t much to wander
around, there was a lot less armour and trucks (German and American)
We wandered around and found some exhibitors weren't there
this year, (No Spartans)
They had a few shows/displays we watched, taking into
account, these battles were fought with hundreds and most times thousands on
combatants, these are reenactors and they don’t have the numbers, so
imagination has to play a great part when watching, no one dies or is wounded,
but they still put their hearts into it, they flourish their swords and spears,
they load their weapons the same way
(with a musket, 3 shots a minute) they drill the same way, they even come under
Queens regulations of the time and the sergeant majors remind them if anything
is wrong
There were plenty of re enactors wandering around, all
waiting for their time in the arena
We watched the American Civil war (Confederates fighting for
their lives against the Union Army) they had plenty of cannons on both sides
We watched Saxons fighting it out, then Hoplites taking on
the Persian hordes (use your imagination, please, there was 4 Hoplites instead
of the hundreds there would have been in the past, the same with the Persians)
There was a Japanese display of drumming and sword man ship,
he cut through wet straw than simulates limbs with a samurai sword (they are
all original swords he owns, no reproductions)
Unfortunately these are just in videos so the website can’t
display them yet
They had 79TH CAMERON
HIGHLANDERS fighting and performing drill
We watched the
Grenadier Company 3rd Battalion Guards take on the Boers in Africa;
again imagination plays a big part in watching this display
We had a walk
through the woods at the Union camp and defending against the Confederates,
lots of rifle fire and black powder smoke, there were 3 guys laid out with
really serious injuries (in real life they had no chance)
They didn’t have a
lot of the vehicles I had come to expect of the Red Ball express, a matter of
4-5 trucks (even the NAFFI wagon was tucked away)
The ‘village’ was
very cramped and not laid out very well and the pub didn’t sell beer this time,
but it was still worth taking photos of, they had a couple of Matchless motor
bikes, they were in pristine condition, still with the original makings and
number plates
We didn’t see as
many Germans ‘strutting their stuff’ , no ‘Nam vet waking around, No Paras, no
WW1 or WW2 troops, very few modern day soldiers, everything seemed to be taking
over by stalls selling stuff
I can’t knock the
show, everyone puts a lot of time preparing for this show and it attracts
thousands of visitors, the displays are good, the detail of uniforms is
excellent, the drill of all the troops is very good and I guess pretty accurate
(we watched a couple of red coats getting a bollocking about their drill)
They only had one
aircraft on display, a Hurricane Mk3 and that was crammed in
There are plenty of
‘hands on ‘displays, fire a musket for King George, 22 rifles, bows and arrows,
knife throwing, airsoft weapons, wood
carving, helping the Vikings get their Long ship ready
There is a lot to
see and you really need more than one day, but it’s all we are doing, I was
just disappointed in this show (War and Peace was a lot better, with the amount
of weapons, armoured vehicles, soft skinned vehicles, tanks (both German and American,
British) there was a lot more in the arena going on, troops would be
‘patrolling’, regardless of the time frame they we in
Red coats would
protect their area, the Vietnam was protected by barbed wire and check points,
there were lots of troops walking around, German Officers ‘strutting their
stuff’ German Paras marching in groups, There would be parachutes hanging from
trees, Red Devils brewing up, preparing defenses
As I said a lot of
work has gone into this Military Odyssey, but it seemed lacking, maybe because
they have so many eras to cope with
As usual plenty of
photos, but no videos yet
If you want to see
all the groups that took part, I have listed them all below,
WARNING; it’s a very long list
DARK AGES - 18TH CENTURY:
PHOENIX
MEDIEVAL REENACTMENT SOCIETY (14TH CENTURY),
THE HOPLITE
ASSOCIATION (ANCIENT GREEK)
TEMPUS
EXPERIENTIA AND SHEPPEY PIRATES (17TH - 18TH CENTURY)
KENSEI RYU
(15TH CENTURY)
SHRAPNEL
BATTERY AND ARTILLERYMEN (18TH CENTURY)
CRUSADE
(12TH CENTURY)
REGIA
ANGLORUM (10TH CENTURY)
MIQUELETS DE
CATALUNYA (SPANISH 18TH CENTURY)
44TH EAST
ESSEX REGIMENT (NAPOLEONIC)
YESTERDAY ON
PARADE (NAPOLEONIC)
79TH CAMERON
HIGHLANDERS (NAPOLEONIC)
3RD EAST
KENT REGIMENT (THE BUFFS) (NAPOLEONIC)
EAST KENT
HISTORICAL ORGANISATION (MEDIEVAL)
42ND
HIGHLAND REGIMENT (NAPOLEONIC)
INFERNA
PEDITUM (MEDIEVAL)
HEARTS OF
OAK (BRITISH SAILORS 18TH-19TH CENTURY)
THE NINTH
COMPANY (10TH CENTURY RUSSIAN ARMY)
19TH CENTURY - PRESENT DAY:
SPEARFISH
CREEK (AMERICAN WILD WEST),
SOSKAN
(AMERICAN CIVIL WAR)
THE QUEENS
ROYAL WEST SURREY REGIMENT (VICTORIAN)
GENERAL
RINGELS GEBIRGSJAGER ELITE (WW2 GERMAN)
VHU (GERMAN
EMPIRE 1871-1918)
AIRBORNE
RESISTANCE (WW2 ALLIED)
514TH RED
BALL EXPRESS (WW2 AMERICAN TRANSPORT UNIT)
STURMPANZER
(WW2 GERMAN TANK UNIT)
SUFFOLK
REGIMENT LHS (WW2)
AUXILLARY
FIRE SERVICE AND CIVIL DEFENCE (1949-68)
PANZER LEHR
(WW2)
HEIA SAFARI
(WW2)
VOLKSSTURM
V3 (WW2)
LES
PARACHUTISTES (WW2)
SOUTH EAST
REENACTMENT GROUP (WW2)
WW2 HISTORY
GROUP (WW2)
9TH SS
PANZER DIVISON (WW2)
SIERRA ALPHA
REENACTMENT GROUP (1990'S)
PANZER
GRUPPE 111 (WW2)
EAST MEETS
WEST REENACTMENT GROUP (1950'S - 1980'S)
BATTLE GROUP
BANDITS (AFGHANISTAN)
82ND
AIRBORNE (VIETNAM) (VIETNAM)
MENEFREGO (WW2)
FRENCH ARMY
REENACTMENT GROUP (1970'S - 1980'S)
DAS
REICH-FRAU (WW2)
KG44 (WW2)
MEDITERRANEO
(WW2)
THE DIEHARD
COMPANY (VIETNAM)
HOME OF THE
BRAVE LHG (WW2)
FALLSCHIRMJAGER KAMPFGRUPPE (WW2)
WE'LL MEET
AGAIN (WW2)
1ST
BATTALION THE GREEN HOWARDS (1970'S)
AN AIRFIELD
AT WAR (WW2)
THE GREY
FUNNEL LINE (WW2)
FIRE SERVICE
PRESERVATION GROUP (WW2)
FALAISE GAP
LHG (WW2)
SOUTHERN
SKIRMISH ASSOCIATION (19TH CENTURY)
39-45 LIVING
HISTORY SOCIETY (WW2 ALLIED)
SECOND
BATTLE GROUP (WW2)
2ND GUARDS
RIFLE DIVISION (WW2 RUSSIAN)
43RD RECCE
(WW2 BRITISH)
KOMPANIE 1
(WW2 GERMAN)
DIE SOLDATEN
(WW2 GERMAN)
REFORGER
REENACTMENT GROUP (MILITARY VEHICLE CLUB)
MEN OF
EMPIRE (WW1 BRITISH)
THE NINTH
COMPANY (POST WW2 RUSSIAN)
416TH RIFLE
REGIMENT RKKA (WW2 RUSSIAN)
SWEATING OUT
THE MISSION (WW2 AMERICAN)
THE BURMA
MULE (WW2 BRITISH)
WW2 BRITISH
AIRBORNE
THE
CAM-O-LOT (MODERN BRITISH)
SCREAMING
EAGLES - 101ST AMERICAN (WW2 AIRBORNE)
DAIMLER
FERRET OWNERS GROUP (WW2)
YANKS AND
LIMIES (WW2 BRITISH/AMERICAN)
DESERT RATS
(WW2 BRITISH)
FORWARD TO
VICTORY (SOUTHEAST HOME FRONT WW2)
NA ZAPAD
(WW2 RUSSIAN)
FELDGENDARMRIE 39-45 (WW2 GERMAN FIELD POLICE)
DAUGHTERS OF
BRITAIN (WW2 ATS)
ROLLING
THUNDER (1960's AMERICAN VIETNAM WAR)
JUST
ORDINARY MEN 1ST AIRBORNE RECCE (WW2 BRITISH)
AXIS 39-45
(WW2 GERMAN)
FIREFORCE
RHODESIA (20TH CENTURY AFRICAN FORCES)
1ST ASSAULT
BRIGADE WORKSHOP R.E.M.E (WW2 BRITISH)
AMERICAN
FORCES - VIETNAM (1960's AMERICAN GROUP)
mmbcross
2017-08-28
Hi Derrick. Great entry with lots of detail. I'm a bit of a pacifist myself. Put a gun in my hand and I'd probably drop it like a hot potato. I'm looking forward to more of your travels on TraveArk.
Derrick
2017-08-28
Hi Martin It's interesting walking around and seeing how warfare has evolved over time The re enactors are quite passionate about it, more so the red costs There is somethings I learn at these shows, how they treated the injured, honey features highly, both as good and a medicine I have put some of the videos on my FB page if you want to see them
Peggy
2017-08-28
So glad you found a place to record your travels and outings. Looking good.
derrick241
2017-08-28
Thanks very much Peggy, It has a few glitches that I have to sort out, but I am getting there This is just a practice before I go away in November
greekcypriot
2017-08-29
A very informative entry indeed. Looking forward for what is to follow in November.
Anne
2017-08-29
A really good day and weather was great
Stewart
2017-08-29
Good to see how it lays out i will put my little trip on here and see how it goes as well Derrick