Detling Military Odyssey 2006
Other highlights included the woodland diorama by the 514th QM, who with their bofors emplacement and Red Cross Clubmobile surrounded by Red Ball Jimmies really made you feel like you were in France in the Autumn of ‘44. The impression was enhanced by the regular visiting GIs to the Clubmobile for tea and doughnuts from the adjacent encampment of the Screaming Eagles and Pathfinders re-enactment groups. Even Patton turned up for a cuppa and doughnut at one point.
The inevitable spectacular finale involved Germans fighting both British and American troops in a Normandy battle re-enactment, supported by artillery and armoured vehicles, whilst allied and axis fighters made straffing runs before having their own battle overhead. Maybe the variety of armour present was not as numerous as at previous shows, but everyone went home happy after seeing the show organiser’s newly restored M16 halftrack blasting away with is quad 50cal at attacking german aircraft, and a brief but welcome appearance from the SdKfz Foundation’s Jagdpanther (which presumably had to leave the battlefield early, else the Germans might have won this time around).
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