On manoeuvres

Last weekend Time Was... was on manoeuvres with Battlegroup North at the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington just outside of York.

The Battlegroup had marched into town with their bands playing and tanks thundering along. This living history event happens every year and together with a wargaming event in the Canadian Memorial hanger it makes for an enjoyable weekend.

The weather on the whole was very good, alot warmer this year and it really only rained during Saturday night. As we returned on the Sunday morning many of the troops were coming out of wet tents and dodging the puddles on the ground, but were they bothered? It didn't look like it. Alot of them already had their rations on the stoves and the smell of early morning fried bacon and eggs was something to relish, and would make anyone hungry.

If you've never been to one of these events before then you're in for a treat. This year on the Saturday there was a flypast by a WWII Hawker Hurricane as well as a couple of jets, that we were a bit too slow in getting out of the hanger to see. The hanger contains the last of the Handley Page Halifax bombers in the UK, only one other exists and that's in Canada. The Museum is on the site of the old RAF Elvington station and still has many of its original buildings such as the Control Tower and Naafi, along with a variety of planes, but then you'd expect those at an Air Museum.

The Battlegroup themselves have plenty of jeeps, trucks and tanks from WWII along with other original equipment from both World Wars.

It's a very friendly event, the participants are there to interact with, otherwise it wouldn't be living history. If you come along next year we'll see you there as Time Was... will be back, for us it's a very good event.

Thanks to the Museum and Battlegroup North for an excellent event and thanks to someone else for some warm weather this year.