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It's all my Dad's fault really. He's always had an interest in World
War Two as his father (my granddad) served in tanks in the Royal Scots
Greys. It was 12 years ago that my interest really took off as my
Dad went out and bought a World War Two Jeep! His plan was to take
it and his father and father-in-law back to Normandy for the 50th
anniversary of D-Day. It was a trip none of us will ever forget it
was one of those 'once in a lifetime' opportunities.
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| Bradley:
It all started with a Jeep... |
Once back
we started to go to the local classic cars shows and people kept saying
that the Jeep didn't look right with someone dressed in jeans behind
the wheel. That's when the collecting of uniforms and associated paraphernalia
started. As the Jeep was ex-British Army it only felt right that it
should be British uniforms we'd buy.
As with all these things, the net began to widen. In 1995 my Dad organised
a VE Day celebration dance in the local village hall which turned
out to be great fun and looked superb with the village hall decked
out with flags and full of people in period dress. The interest just
kept getting stronger and so we started to go to more wartime weekends.
Haworth's 1940s
weekend has been going now for ten years and is the first
of the events organised throughout the summer, so has always been
a 'must'.
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| Bradley
(middle) in front of his Dad's truck |
It's
a great opportunity to meet up with my friends who are also avid collectors
of militaria. We're able to see each other's new acquisitions from
over the winter and chat about our plans for the summer months. My
Dad's collection has also grown as he has acquired a 1943 three-ton
Canadian Ford truck and a 1944 James ML motorbike. It's now quite
something to get all the vehicles to these events.
Once there, all the effort is well worth it because when the vets
see them they start to talk about their experiences during the war.
They talk to us about the uniforms and the weapons and so on. You
can see in their eyes that they are so pleased that their efforts
haven't been forgotten and are appreciated by a younger generation.
It is very humbling to hear them talk in a matter-of-fact way about
something to me that is just truly remarkable. Ordinary men and women
doing extraordinary things, unbelievable... 
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