1940's events in 2022 - yes or no

If that's how people feel so be it but it seems a wee bit twitchy to me.
One railway did turn their 1940s event into a 1960s one last year and this proved to be very successful.

 

No strong feelings about whether or not it’s right, but as I regard those events as reasons to avoid visiting, my view is perhaps not totally helpful.


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I'm another person who avoids that sort of event like the Plague. Have heard enough first hand accounts from Family members of what it was actually like at the time to give them a wide berth!

 

I too have always chosen to avoid events such as these. To me they seem to cherish war-time with too much rose-tinted nostalgia and flag waving from many not old enough to have witnessed war. I have more elderly family in their mid-90s who still have nightmares from what war really involves.

 

I totally agree with the above posts. I have no objection to railways staging these events but one particular way where they fall short is that they totally fail to depict just how hard it was for railwaymen during these years, especially footplate crews. Every time they drove a train, there was the risk of a German plane attacking them, bombs could create craters and destroy bridges while stations, particularly the larger ones, were often targeted. My grandfather was based at Ashford shed during the war years and I remember him telling me that on one occasion, he worked more or less a 24 hour shift on the footplate because the trains had to run and due to the chaos of operation in wartime, there was no one to relieve him.

Passengers weren't safe either. Near Newick & Chailey, only 2-3 miles south of Sheffield Park on what is now the Bluebell Railway, a lady lost an eye when a German fighter attacked the train she was travelling in. Things could have been worse had the driver not been able to get the train into Cinder Hill Tunnel and stay there until the aircraft had gone away.

It was an awful time for the railways. Furthermore, you only have to read a book like OS Nock's Four Thousand miles on the footplate, (which was published in 1952), look at the logs of even the crack express trains and compare them with the 1930s, to realise how long it took for the railways to recover.

 

As I said over on the GWSR thread, they're all ahistorical rubbish for a certain brand of jingoistic rubbish. Over on the RailUK thread @35B has waded into, people have tacitly admitted these events are little more than right-wing tumescent affairs for people who go weak at the knees when they hear Vera Lynn. And then theres the issue of people turning out in full nazi gear which the NYMR got pelters for banning (rightly tbh).

War is hell and it touched everyone in the UK and inflicted generational trauma we're still feeling the effects of as parental behaviours get passed down. I don't have any family left that remember the horrors but my great grandad stayed behind in WW2 as a farmer while his brother went off to war and unfortunately was killed in action. Even better is that the flag-wavers missed out on conscription that seems to be popular with certain members of that generation spend their time screaming for.

Unless we're going super historical by underfeeding everyone, scrapping railings, pickpocketing the dead and living in the terror that an aerial attack could come out of nowhere especially around railway infrastructure, we're doing no one any favours for "how it was". It could possibly be turned into a VE/ VJ event further down the line if people want that warm fuzzy feeling but in their current state, just the pits.

 

Personally war events on a railway doesn't interest me. The extended timetable on offer however does.

 

Yep, each to their own and good that @35B is happy to stand up to the xenophobes. I'll happily attend other events where their isn't an old fat bloke trying to look like Winston Churchill

There is a book long since out of print : The Fall of Hong Kong by Tim Carew. My uncle features in a historical account of Christmas 1941 and he manned a machine gun as part of the Middlesex Regiment. Upon capturing he was taken to Japan as a PoW. He survived but died in his 60's a complete wreck of the man he had once been teaching me that war is not to be celebrated, yet peace must be grasped and savoured at every opportunity.

 

For context, I tried (and failed) to join the RAF as aircrew, and have military relatives in previous generations (and not just wartime service), one of whom was heavily involved in creating the National Army Museum. I have also had the very odd experience of encountering aspects of that family history when abroad, and having to consider how what I take some pride in might be seen by others on the receiving end.

A friend is very involved in the “vintage” scene, and I understand from talking to him how many facets to that scene there are. The music, fashion, etc celebrated by them are of no interest to me, but my reaction is “each to their own”.

My problem with WWII events is the interposition of conflict, but in a curiously sanitised form which owes little to the reality of the situation. If I liked the music and fashions, I might be persuaded to overlook it; but as it is…


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Surprisingly, theres some copies on Amazon, I'll pick myself up a copy. Sadly your uncle wasn't unique, plenty turned to drink, others to knocking the kids from room to room but he is absolutely right about peace.

 

I heard today that allegedly the HRA are advising against holding any WWII themed events, which feels an interesting thing for them to be advising on.

 

Personally I prefer '40's' / 'home front' events rather than 'wartime'. I'd hate to see history being ignored because a few people feel sensitive about such things. Other than galas (something that I'm sure the Ecowarriors will have a lot to say about!), there are very few other 'events' that come even remotely close to re-creating a part of railway history. War is everywhere, all the time, let people make their own minds up with their feet! Quite why the HRA feel the need to (allegedly) get involved - god knows!!!

 

Our 1940's weekend has historically been extremely successful and in my time at least (last 10 years) has never been marketed as a "war weekend". The focus is on music, vehicles from the period, antique sales and demonstrations of rural food and living practices from the period. Whilst it's true there is a large focus on military vehicles and dress, there are none of the "skirmishes" or staged battles that I've seen at other lines.

I think the ditching (directly at least) of the "war theme" has made for better events that, in my opinion, are less susceptible to being compared with modern warfare. But I've been wrong before!

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As has been pointed out by myself and a few others, its been ignored anyway for some cosy Little Englandism. Railways were even more dangerous in war time than the usual background level of danger. I mean, Exhibit A which I'm not sure many would advocate for recreating:

 

That only happened down the road from where I now live, it’s rather surprising how few locals have knowledge about the names Gimbert, Nightall and Bridges.
Although for rather different reasons Soham is now associated with a completely different loss of life.

 

They aren't remotely accurate re-enactments, as has pointed out. I'm not at all sure what you mean by "sensitive", this looks very much like trying to avoid giving any justification of your position.

War is not (thankfully) everywhere, and strangely enough, I consider that to be a good thing.

The "part of history" is also questionable. You don't see many 1920s reenactments or even WW1 or Boer War re-enactments do you?

What do "eco-warriors" (whatever they are) have to do with it?

 

Noticed this morning that the MHR "fun on the line in 39" and "War on the Line" events have disappeared from the special days page of the website.

As I said in a discussion on a MHR group yesterday, the issue isn't with the 1940s aspect of these events, it's the emphasis on the war side of things.

EDIT: War on the Line cancelled: War on the Line – Update – Watercress Line

 

I'm struggling to draw a correlation between an 'Ecowarrier' and someone who choses not to celebrate killing each other? I'm also not sure if 'war everywhere' is what some prefer to imagine rather than the much harder ambition to achieve, peace!

 

Thank goodness that there won't be war on the MHR!

I am of the opinion that we have probably been subjected to an oversupply of Dad's Army over the past 50 years