Lovers of military history can take a step back in time and enjoy a weekend full of displays and action this summer at the White Horse Military Show.
The show, at the Neston Park Estate south of Corsham on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th August, will feature arena displays and re-enactments from over 40 living history groups that stretch over 200 years of history including the Napoleonic War, America Civil War, World War I and World War II and the Gulf War.
Created by military enthusiasts, the show is back after a year off due to a waterlogged venue last year and organisers say they’ve been hard at work to make the show even bigger and better than before.
The event is the brainchild of Westbury man Richard Dalton, a TV and film production designer and art director. The show has reclaimed sets from different film and TV shows and productions to upcycle them into vibrant stages and venues.
Richard said, “Visit Napoleon’s army and then venture on into the American frontier town and civil war. Go through the trenches of World War I and through to the home front and the 1940s street with a cinema and houses.
“Visit the women’s land army farm with cooking in the farm kitchen and onto a village green with a cabaret club and live music and dance from the ‘40s. Jump to the other side with the German U-boat dock and crew then move ahead a few years through to Vietnam and to the Cold War with the Berlin Wall and Cold War vehicles.
“This show is for families, which is why we are a non-profit organisation where the entrance fee is only £10 and those aged under 18 can get in for free. This is to allow everyone access to all the amazing things at the show as I want to keep it for the people.”
New to the show this year is a 1940s farm, complete with 30 land girls working the farm who will be ploughing the fields to demonstrate what civilians were doing in war-time. There will also be a town square complete with an ice cream parlour, 1940s houses, a cinema, a copy of the top of Bath Abbey Tower, a bomb disposal unit and much more. There will also be a liberation parade with convoys of troops and vehicles.
“We’re recreating sets from various time periods so that the re-enactors can fully sell the experience of a living history festival,” added Richard. “After speaking to producers in the film industry, it became apparent that there is a lot of waste where people can’t recycle sets, so what we do is upcycle the sets that have been donated to us, which are then worked on to repurpose them.
“Some examples of this include us creating a 1940s pub from an old set and even the cinema we have built – there is so much room for creativity at our show. ”
The show has a team of 50 volunteers that help bring the sets to life who have backgrounds in film and television, amateur dramatics and history and reenactment groups. This year, immersive plays will run in between the reenactor groups.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://shorturl.at/EKMRS
