Remembrance Day London 11/11/2013

Members of the Diggers LHG went to London on Remembrance Day 11/11/2013. These photos were taken by our good mate Mo Stokes and also Ned. The first picture shows the lads with Corporal Daniel Keighran VC after the ceremony. Lest We Forget.

Pickering 12 October 2013

The Diggers Living History Group attended Pickering 2013 and enjoyed a day's leave in this picturesque Engish village.

The Victory Show 2013

Blue on guard duty and looking very smart in steel helmet, 37 pattern webbing, KD with Bombay Bloomers with SMLE.

Blue multitasking - shaving and smoking at the same time.

Digger keeping to regulations

The Diggers were at The Victory Show again - 6-9th September 2013. This year as the 2/30th Battalion in the early war period in Malaya and Singapore. The 2/30th were the last battalion to be raised for the AIF and were short lived being posted to Malaya where they fought the Japanese, withdrawing to Singapore and spending the rest of the war in captivity in Changi. The 2/30th website is located here: http://www.230battalion.org.au/index.htm

Yorkshire Wartime Experience July 7/8 2013

A First World War event for the group at this show. Taking turns between manning a section of trench (not quite deep enough for our liking!) and showing troops at rest in a field of bell tents the Diggers stood alongside The Manchester Regiment and the Gordon Highlanders. Plus on the Sunday the Lancashire Hussars.

The battle - over a realistic length of ground, but not churned up by years of shelling - was a spectacle, troops arrived by an original Albion truck on Saturday and by an original Thorneycroft on Sunday. D Troop, the Lancs Hussars provided a scouting party. Blue, Joey, Digger and Vic provided a contrast to the British troops (the Manchesters Serjeant was wary of coming past as he was introduced to 'two-up' in an effort to relieve him of his meagre wage). In contrast to last year when the show was almost completely washed away by heavy rain we basked in sunshine which gave the trench a distinct Gallipoli feel.

The weekend also gave Blue a chance to run out his Light Horse kit.

 

Photos here courtesy of Sue Whittenbury (D Troop, Lancashire Hussars) with slight modification by the editor.

Chalke Valley History Festival 29/30 June 2013

The Chalke Valley History Festival was a most enjoyable weekend. Perfect weather, great location, great event. As Blue says: "A great place in the middle of nowhere, fantastic air display, a Waterstones! The public were knowledgeable and interested, we were looked after by our hosts."

The first five photographs are courtesy of Juliette Foy (Juliette Foy Photography),whom we met on the Sunday. Thank you very much Juliette for the fine photos. It was a pleasure to talk with you.

Here are a few of the photos taken Karen.Thank you kindly Karen.

 

New Event - The Chalke Valley History Festival

The Chalke Valley History Festival will be a new event for the group and looks like it will be a most interesting multi-period event. We have been invited to participate in the World War 2 Living History area along with representatives of most of the major combatant nations covering various theatres and time periods. Our team will cover four of the theatres of operation that saw Australian Army involvement. These include Crete 1941, North Africa 1942, Kokoda (New Guinea) 1942 and 1944/5. We are there on the 29/30th June.

You will also be able to attend talks by leading historians such as James Holland, Max Hastings, Neil Oliver, Dan Snow and many others covering a wide range of subjects from the ancient world to modern times.

There will also be an exciting airshow on the Saturday afternoon. We hope to see you there.

Overlord 2013

Group members Lofty and Joey manned a WW1 trench with French allies at their side. Here are a few pictures from the weekend: