War & Peace show 2009 - General

Hey, its war and & peace season in the town of Paddock Wood in Kent, England. Where I live. The war and peace show is the biggest show of its kind in Europe, there are tens of thousands of military vehicles for show, wide ranging from a Tiger tank, to Willy's Jeeps. Thousands of re-enactors who have painstakingly acquired the right equipment, vehicles and uniforms from the time period they have chosen to represent. And full scale mock battles spanning 100 years of conflict with full pyrotechnics. There are also hundreds of stalls selling guns, equipment, uniforms, knives's, and everything else. I've been lucky enough to be given a pass allowing me to see go to the show everyday its on, from Wednesday to Sunday next week. As well as access to the behind the scenes of the show, for a week either side of the event, and in the event itself. I can go there for free and see anything. I'll even have access to the social tents after hours, with a cheap bar. =) I'll go around and take pictures over the next couple of weeks and post them here for the more interested people here. (If someone could recommend a good image uploader and tell me how to embed images on here it would be great.) But the main reason I've set this up is this. Is there anyone here working behind the event over the next couple of weeks, or visiting the event when the shows start? Trip 1 Not much of the heavy stuff had arrived yet, must alot of the gun dealers had and were set up. Very wide range of firearms were for sale, including a Mini gun and large calibre rifles. I will get pics of these, they weren't for public sale though. Most of the guns there were de activated. However some weren't, and you needed a full UK firearms licence to buy them. You need no paperwork to own a deactivated weapon. They are a little out of reach for me prices wise, but I'm going to ask my parents to meet me halfway here and pay for half and I'll pay for half, as my birthday present or something. I had my eye on an AKSU, for £130. I haven't looked around properly yet but I'm sure there's loads more weapons. Not all are terribly expensive. I bought myself a real M16 bayonet net for £7, I was happy with my find. Other bayonets for L85's or old ones from the 2WW were between £25 an £85. I also picked up a L85 magazine, (A1 style) and some 5.56mm rounds to go inside it :) for a fiver. None of the re enactors, apart from the German group with the Tiger, have arrived yet. Still, the show starts Wednesday, and that's when I'll go again. The "Barmy Army" are there. A die hard group of British collectors, (with a re enactors section due to arrive) And started to cause chaos straight away, tearing up the road with a Centurion ARV. (pics will be posted) Trip 2 The day the show officially started. Most the re en actors have set up, but still most the heavy armour hasn't arrived. At noon there was a 15 round salute from 75mm pack howitzers firing live rounds at some field 550 yards away. Although there were no mock battles today but there were firepower demonstrations. AK74s, RPD's, RPK's, L1A1 SLR's, M16A1's and a 50 cal were all fired. Being 15 feet from the 50 cal during its initial 8 round burst did my left ear in. These were live rounds. Used a Scoped rifle and a SUSAT for the first time, sniping is NOT easy. Went around some of the trenches, chatted to some guy about his Lee Enfield .303 No.3, his 1938 Bren gun, and Vickers 303. The record for the most shots fired in a minute from a Lee Enfield is 38, and that's in a 6 inch grouping at 200 yards. It includes reloading time. Another cool story, this time on the Vickers, after the war 2 men decided to see how long before the gun jammed. they fired it 24 hours a day for 7 days before giving up. And lastly, the Bren gun, the only machine gun you can get a British army marksmanship badge on. It was deliberately made less accurate so it could fill the LMG role better as a suppression weapon. Went to the German trench later on. Was just as interesting. Panzerfausts are really light, seriously, really light. MG42's weigh a tonne. And the MP40 was only handed to NCO's. It was a good gun but shook itself apart after firing a while. Meanwhile, on the re-enactment field, were vehicle demonstrations. Mostly wheeled and light armour. But there was a Centurion tank, a T72 and a T54. As well as some 2WW Allied Armour. Both the Russian tanks broke down. :siren:Lots of photo's, more will be added!:siren: [I][B]Information is from what I was told by the vehicle owners. [/B][/I] What I believe is Europe's only working Tiger Tank. Heavily armoured block of metal with an 88mm gun mounted on it. First used in Africa in 1942, and performing reasonably well on the eastern and western fronts. Most Allied weapons couldn't scratch it. The British 17 pounder did well, and was mounted on British Sherman's to make the Firefly, specifically designed to take this beast out. [IMG]http://i26.tinypic.com/m99c1w.jpg[/IMG] Sturmgeschütz III, (Literally Storm gun, or assault gun) A tracked 76mm assault gun designed to support German infantry, or act defensively as an anti tank vehicle. On the eastern front these were more common than mainstream tanks. They were effective, easy to produce and tough. The other gun in the picture is a 37mm PAK Anti Tank gun, a small infantry weapon used through out the war. It had its career extended in the mid 1940's by adapting it to fire a shaped rocket assisted charge. Other than that, by 1941 it was obsolete. [IMG]http://i25.tinypic.com/2d8qr1c.jpg[/IMG] Hanomag Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251 Sd.Kfz 251 3 quarter track. On of Germans famous and successful half track designs. Very tough, well armoured and often seen with 2 or 3 7.92mm MG34/42's. Captured 50.cal were seen, as well as light cannon, anti tank guns such as the 37mm and the 75mm. These vehicles form the basis for the Infra Red night fighting system, where its guns and the drivers window had the first successful night vision sights. Typically designed to transport a standard German squad, which is 9 men, plus a 2 man LMG team. [IMG]http://i30.tinypic.com/of7y44.jpg[/IMG] Panzer V Panther. What is often deemed the best tank of the war, the Panther was a powerful heavy tank, fast, well armoured, and with a high velocity 76mm gun. Many were used after the war by French and Swiss armies where they served in the front lines well into the 1950's. [IMG]http://i30.tinypic.com/2cy5gf4.jpg[/IMG] Panzer IV The workhorse of the German army. If Germany had another 4000 of these instead of Tigers many historians agree that the war on the western front would have been pointless. Even this outclassed the Sherman. The Panzer 4 was reasonably well armoured, and armed well enough to take on Allied armour at range with its 75mm gun. This was a very numerous and common German tank, and over the war years the Allies learnt to respect it. However in the last couple of years of the war stresses on the Panzer 4 design were started to come through. Newer allied tanks such as the British Cromwell and the Soviet T-34 were pretty much equal to the Panzer 4. Whilst not as tough as the Panther or Tiger, this tank was very well made and extremely effective. This particular tank was found abandoned with no fuel in its engine, and only 50 rounds of machine gun ammunition left (one belt). It was covered in battle damage, but this has been faithfully restored. The Sherman it bumped into however, as you'll see below, was not so lucky. [IMG]http://i32.tinypic.com/34rx5at.jpg[/IMG] This be the Sherman this tank took out. Its seen better days. Although it can't be seen, there is a patched up hole about 8 inches across at the rear of the tank. [IMG]http://i25.tinypic.com/2gvrhw5.jpg[/IMG] Sd.Kfz 222 Leichter Panzerspähwagen (roughly "Light Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle") A successful armoured scout car design armed with 2 machine guns and a 20mm cannon. Fast lightly armoured but very well armed, these vehicles were popular with both the British and the Germans. The British highly prizing any captured models. The 222 suffered in the desert due to its poor off road performance, but really excelled in the European theatre. The 222 was often used for reconnaissance, or two get in front of a German attack and onto the flanks, or get behind an Allied attack, and onto the flanks, and harass infantry and light armour. It was often paired with 250 or 251 halftracks, or the other famous German armoured car (with the 8 wheels) in teams to do this. [IMG]http://i29.tinypic.com/34t672e.jpg[/IMG] Stalwart Based on the Alvis Saracen APC Chassis the Stalwart is an amphibious off road HMLC (High Mobility Load Carrier) capable of transporting 30 troops or half a tonne of cargo. As with[B] all[/B] British Wheeled vehicles of the 60's 70's and 80's. The Stalwart has NO reverse gear. Instead it has a lever, which when pulled turns the whole drive train around, so the Stalwart then has 5 reverse gears. All British Wheeled vehicles with the possible exception of the Land Rover has this feature, and it means it can go the same speed backward as forward. In this case, 45mph. The Stalwart is lightly armoured and often carries 1 or 2 GPMG. It is now out of service. [IMG]http://i28.tinypic.com/103ec6g.jpg[/IMG] BMP-2 This is a former Czech army BMP-2. Designed to supplement the BM1 the 2 is a moderately successful Soviet APC capable of carrying 7 troops. It was stuffy, dangerous, and uncomfortable to be inside because the troop compartment armour is hollow, and fuel is stored inside the space. [IMG]http://i26.tinypic.com/s3ngo6.jpg[/IMG] FV 721 Fox A Ferret scout car in steroids, the Fox has a 2 man turret added on top with a 30mm RARDEN Cannon and a 7.62mm MG Coaxial to it. The RARDEN has since become the standard weapon for all light armour in the British army because it is capable of penetrating MBT armour up to 1000 metres. A new 40mm version is now being introduced. The Fox was nicknamed the "Commander Killer" because it was top heavy due to the turret. At 70 mph the vehicle was liable to overturn and squash the commander under it. Hence it is now no longer in British service. [IMG]http://i25.tinypic.com/ot3pcn.jpg[/IMG] Scimitar CVRT. Replacing the Ferrets, Foxes, and Vixens in service were the Alvis series of tracked vehicles, Scorpion, Scimitar, Sabre, Sultan, Striker, Spartan and I'm sure I've missed some. They all share the same chassis and hull but have different roles and different turrets. The Scimitars are 30mm RARDEN armed versions. (The Sabre is too, but the Sabre was created from placing Fox turrets onto the empty hulls.) The Scimitar is a fire support vehicle still in service and has an excellent combat record. Its speed is around 65mph. [IMG]http://i29.tinypic.com/rir9rs.jpg[/IMG] M6/M7/M9 "International" Halftrack A updated M3 "White" halftrack made by the Americans specifically for the British and Soviets. It wasn't until the Arab Israeli wars that it became famous though. Armament was variable, but 1 M2 50.cal, and 1 30.cal were often carried, and armour changed depending on the on duty foreman's mood at the time. [IMG]http://i27.tinypic.com/21etf0l.jpg[/IMG] CET The CET is a successful British made battlefield workhorse for the Royal Engineers. The well armoured, fast, tough, and fully amphibious CET was used in many roles such as recovery, digging in artillery, and clearing obstacles before being replaced in the early 2000's. What is interesting about the CET is that it has a driver each side of the vehicle, and the rocket propelled anchor, so it can pull itself out of trouble if it gets stuck. [IMG]http://i32.tinypic.com/fljxc3.jpg[/IMG] More to come later.

take lots and lots of pictures. i wish i could go. use tinypic or filesmelt to upload.

Isn't there a load of nazis that go but just hide behind legit stuff

Yeah there was a thing about that a couple years back on the BBC. Last time I went I saw David Irvine. (famous Holocaust denier) and almost hit him in the face :)

[QUOTE=Darkhorse01;16121164]Yeah there was a thing about that a couple years back on the BBC. Last time I went I saw David Irvine. (famous Holocaust denier) and almost hit him in the face :)[/QUOTE] You should've oh how i would envy you if you did

[QUOTE=Armotekma;16121338]You should've oh how i would envy you if you did[/QUOTE] It was the absolutely massive bald headed thug sitting behind his book stall that made me think twice.

As promised, photos included. I have dozens, I'll upload more later. All of those are in working order and will take part in the re enactments, apart from the Sherman of course.

:krad:

oh my god. this sounds like the greatest thing ever. I'm serious. Buy a thompson!

I went in 03 or 04, it was a good laugh, but I can attest to the notion that 'the closer to modern day history you get, the more dickish the people reenacting seem to be'

I'd like one, they are about £400 though The actual mock battles and stuff start tomorrow and last till Sunday. I'll get some photos and video. I still got loads more to upload even now. :)

Content update.