07 Jun 08 - 1940's weekend, Derbyshire
On the weekend of the 7th and 8th June, CI Tait, Flt Sgt Thornton, and Cdts Boyle and Coates traveled to Derbyshire with the RBL and their spitfire to display her at a 1940's weekend, hosted at a railway museum. The idea of the weekend, like many others similar to it, was for re-enactors to gather and display their costumes, eqpuipment and even vehicles to the viewing public. As well as re-enactors their were many stalls selling WW2 toys, models, and even authentic patches and uniforms from all forces.
During each day the museum was completly open to the public. Both days were very successful with regards to the amount of people coming through the gates, and the amount of interest shown in the spitfire. On saturday evening, a 1940's dance was held with a live band. The cadets were prepared for going, but certainly did not expect to be asked to dance! Despite being suprised, they were more than happy to dance with the re-enactors who knew what they were doing. After a few lessons, they caught on quite well. The highlight of the evening was when everyone gathered outside to have group photos taken in front of the beautifully flood lit spitfire.
The weekend could only have been made better if more re-enactors had managed to get there. The Spitfire had a great impact on the weekend and the organiser thanked both the legion and the cadets for helping to make such a successful weekend possible.
