I was in the UK a couple of weeks ago and attended the "War and Peace Revival" Show. It is basically an event for reinactors, but they have lots of equipment on display, and they also have a flea market. It is located at the old Folkstone Race Course, near Dover in the South East of England. The event runs for a week, I arrived on Monday, and helped set up the radios, and all the reinactors set up their camps. The weather was fine, but on Thursday a cool wind built up. There seemed to be about 10,000 people there, the tents went on for acres.

Tents

I helped with the "Vintage Operators Group" which was organised by Mike Buckley of VMARS, he put up a kahki tent and displayed military radios, mostly Clansman equipment. He also ran an amatuer radio station on 80, 40 and 6 meters, and contacted many stations, in the UK, in Europe, and others in the camp istelf (and even a VK3). He also put up another tent that we slept in. He had his Austin Champ there, with some Larkspur gear set up in it.

Radio Display Tent

Wednesday was for school groups, Thursday for Veterenas, and the Mums and Dads arrived on the weekend. Many people came in 1940s uniform and period clothes, factor workers, dads Army, Policemen, RAF pilots, soldiers from the Boer War to Iraq, VietCong, Japanese and many Germans complete with SS uniforms and machine guns except when you spoke to them they had cockney accents!

WW1 Trenches

There were many vehicles, lots of Jeeps, Landrovers, Champs, Dingos, Ferrets, Volkswagens, and motorcycle despatch riders. But what impressed me most, was the tracked vehicles. All privately owned! About 5 half tracks went past, some small tanks like the Russian BMP and English 432 APC, American Stuart, and the the bigger ones like the Russian T34, Sherman, and a Panzer MK2. Then the really big ones, the Centuion, Russian T55, and some I have forgotten the names of. The tanks generated clouds of dust, and the Russian tanks clouds of blue diesel smoke.

Sherman

Centurion

T34

T34 Fires

T55

Chieftain

There was a German Panther! (not running unfortuantely) and I found in the carpark, a Tiger (that had just been delivered).

Panzer Tanks

In the display aera was a Lancaster cabin you could climb inside for 2 pounds, it had its R1155 T1154 and H2S.

Lancaster

In the flea market there was maninly uniforms and guns, but there was plenty of webbing to hold radios. The stalls were only about 10% radios, but quite a variety, WS19, PCR, Clansman, Larkspur, American, even some German WW2 radios, most were not cheap.

Radios

I did see a German tracked motorcycle for sale, and a Valentine and Cromwel tank.

Guns

There were also a few motorcycle traders, mostly 350cc Enfields, but a few BSA and AJS. I found the front mudguard for my 1950 500cc single AJS!

Motorcycles

There were the normal food outlets, noodles, kebabs, hotdogs, but also the NAFFI van and the Spitfire Cafe! There was a Spitfire, Hurricane, and Messerschmit 109 (but only full size fibreglass replicas)

Spitfire

I watched the mock battles, the WW1 trenches (English vs Germans), the burnt down WW2 French Chateau (Ameicans vs Germans), the same chateau (Americans vs Viet Cong), and the Russians vs Chechnyans. Lots of explosions going off, and loud gun fire. The WW1 trenches had about 100 feet on track, and a small WW1 diesel train delivering supplies. Now I enjoyed the vehicles, the equipment, the radios and the uniforms, but I'm not so sure about the mock battles!

Mock Battle

The US Army display had a faulty field phone (between the hospital an the trenches) so I fixed that for them. It was great to see the tanks running around.

Close to the Tanks

There were only a few radio setups, but one had some replica German radios and an Enigma cypher machine.

TornEb

Enigma

There were Tank rides during the day, and bands at night, Rock, 40s, or Jazz.
The artillery fired the noon day gun.
An enjoyable event.

War and Peace website here.........

Ray Robinson