1940's events in 2022 - yes or no

I was on the fence about commenting on this, but I've ended up chipping in.

I've been a Second World War re-enactor on and off for most of my adult life (I'm 34). Firstly US infantry and then Royal Artillery with the Garrison Artillery Volunteers (who for my money are one of the better groups out there as they are run by an ex-gunner, do proper training and drill to work together for an educational display of old techniques and methods that would otherwise be lost).

I volunteer with a group preserving 1940s vehicles and armaments and have participated in the restoration and operation of many of these.

For 5 years I was one of the key organisers of a 1940s home front-themed event near Bristol (not run since a fallow year followed by a pandemic).

Until a couple of weeks ago I was working on a smaller-scale 1940s event to educate the public on the city's contribution to the war effort as a major port and the privations suffered by its population. This event was cancelled due to the news coming from Ukraine.

To be perfectly honest, I agree with the decision to cancel. I don't think 'our' event would have been glorifying war at all, but it just wouldn't have felt right to be using conflict as a fundraiser for the railway at this time.

 

The 60s weren't so swinging in Viet Nam though. Nor in Northern Ireland and dozens of other places around the globe.

 

Only the sad sacks getting their draylons and surplus gear in a twist and cant see past their own hobbies. Every single one of them grew up in unparalleled peace and prosperity in Europe but few have seen any actual military action and even less have experienced what its like to be a civilian caught in warfare. The hate on the SVR War event page is a tragic insight into how these people think. Not one of them has a solution, its just Disgusted Of Bridgenorth at its saddest. The event could absolutely be brought forward to a less contentious era. If my first thought in relation to an event being cancelled for sensible reasons was to sue, I'd have my kids take me out back do an Ole Yeller. So sorry (slightly) if I'm snide at these people but every single of these crybabies need a reality check and a shot of empathy.

 

I can absolutely get behind a lot of that Corbs. I do think education is important but it really needs to be relevant. British port cities were major targets from bombing raids which I can't even begin to imagine the horror of being in the maelstrom of.

 

I'm afraid you do really lose the argument if you stoop to insults to try and make a point.

 

Well if any of them tried an ounce of solidarity or mutual aid, maybe I would give a toss about their sad little tantrums.

 

before you start hurling around random insults,please try to understand the people you are insulting,there is a world of difference between cosplay and enacters. I have indulged in both forms, as an enacter with the sealed knot and as a steampunk cosplay. With the sealed knot I was an assistant armourer ,as I held a pyrotechnics licence in my day job I was allowed to handle and store black powder used in the muskets, the dressing up was just a minor part of the fun the real buzz came with watching the general public watching the battles and then talking to them after. Due to pressure of work I was not able to commit enough time to it so I gave it up and have not enacted since the 80's.
Cosplay is a whole different ball game which mainly revolves around the costume aspect of the Hobby IE the dressing up is the point not what you do after dressing up, which usually involves drinking tea and eating biscuit. there is a whole universe of cosplay most of it revolving around Japanese comics and superheroes, personally I like to indulge in Victorian retro futurism.
I also like to build model trains and it bugs the hell out of me when people call me a trainspotter as in my 65 years I have never spotted a single train and would be hard pressed to remember the numbers of the 2 steam locos and 5 DMU's I am a shareholder in
So maybe a little more thought before indulging in ill directed bile.
and as a final thought what would you class the people who dress up every weekend as porters and station masters and sutch like on our heritage railways? cos player or enactors

Colin

 

I have made it clear who my ire is aimed at because theres plenty of cosplayers and LARPers that are fine and do good. The cosplaying comment was a little off I'll concede and a little poorly explained. Its the ones who think the world revolves around them and that their little event should be in its own safe space from the world around us that I take umbrage with. Have a read through some of the comments that have caught my attention here: https://www.facebook.com/svr1940s/posts/980404022581683

I have made my character judgements on them and if I truly wanted to insult them, I would have started by now. So many comments full of raw unfiltered Tabloid fuelled hate. "I'm Alright Jack" seems to be the overarching theme.

 

The responses to the SVR announcement seem to make something of a case for not running these events in future if that is the attitude of the supporters

 

This is a curiously hostile response bearing in mind how much of the heritage railway business is essentially cosplay at scale. It also lacks a bit of empathy for traders presumably at least partially dependent on income from a benign hobby. Can they sue? Probably not. Is it reasonable for them to be frustrated at lost income? Probably yes.

I can see arguments for and against cancelling events, and certainly for curtailing some of the military dimension inherent in any 1940s themed reenactments. For good or bad the mood of the nation has changed and sadly the impact of a war in Europe has been greater on the population at large than war in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria or any other perceived far away places.

But personally I expect that sufficient changes could have been made to de-militarise things with no harm done to the reenactors or joe public visitors. After all, it’s not as though anyone is (hopefully) seriously suggesting that other 1940s settings on our railways are forbidden - station furniture won’t be updated to the 50s or 60s, wartime black won’t be painted over, or the WD locos hidden away until peace breaks out.

Simon

 

They seem quite moderate in comparison to discussions here about diesels on the back, liveries, or the WSR…

Simon

 

It's possible to walk around Southampton, Portsmouth or Bristol (or many other cities) and pick out the bomb damage repairs.
Education is an important aspect, but I suppose the problems are 1) not to glorify war, 2) make it interesting, not like WW2 history taught at school and 3) make it relevant to the local area.
Recreators (not just wartime ones) can achieve a lot of the above ideas.

At about the age of eight or nine I found my father's photos from the RAF "Cooks Tours" in 1945 to show the damage inflicted on Germany to bomber crews. I suspect that the affect was traumatic, all they had seen was flashes and smoke from 15000 feet, then were shown the utter devastation they had delivered. I then realised why there were gaps or new buildings in the rows of houses when visiting relatives around Wimbledon and Mitcham.

In my early years at work in Southampton Docks, one of the people I worked with had been an Eastleigh based guard in the 1940's. He told the tale of with the loco crew and shunter being trapped at Dock end in the Eastern Docks while the docks burned, including the refrigerated butter store. They were rescued about 36 hours after the start of the raid by boat.

Cheers, Neil

 

I think you have made a good point here. My wife used to reenact and I have attended a few of these events, but I can't help feeling they have run their course and at best, need a refresh. Railways are well placed to run period events and there are plenty of other ways to frame an event and other decades to choose too. Celebrate the culture, the people, the music - excellent.
I have never been comfortable with glorifying war - no we shouldn't ignore it - but it should be tackled with sensitivity and accuracy, something (some) reenactors lack. I am not sure a festival celebrating it is the best way, especially this year, but perhaps not at all.
It is a very British thing to look at the war with a sense of nostalgia, my British born but Germany living, aunt was quite visibly shocked that these events took place when visiting the UK a while ago.

 

It appears the WSR 40's weekend's going ahead this year.

 

I thought they'd been at war for years?

 

This might be a niche question, but is it nostalgia when those participating wouldn't be able to remember the events / era in question? To remember the Second World War you now have to be well into your 80s.

Sent from my SM-G770F using Tapatalk

 

Quite - it's a point I've made before in other contexts. Not sure of another word for "nostalgia" when it refers to feelings about events before the memories of those participating, but clearly for the overwhelming number of people, 1940s events are not specifically about rekindling childhood memories, even if people subconsciously think they are.

Tom

 

I had a family member who passed away at the start of the pandemic in 2020 who would often relive tales from wartime and how awful it was. "The youngsters of today have no idea!!" She was born in 1943

 

Without any coal will HR be able to run other than at weekends? Swanage has (again) postponed Project Wareham ;Railways that operate big locos are going to "cut their cloth according to their means" and so the question ,as I have posed on the Project Wareham thread is: Can HR continue as before? Is it a genre that has come literally to "the end of the line" Big Changes ahead!!