Capel Military Show July 2023

[Martin Bull]

Will be there this Saturday ( 1st July ). Never been before and with the disappearance of War & Peace I'm going mostly as an act of desperation rather than having any realistic hopes of finding something worthwhile to buy. Anyhow, the Men Of Arnhem lads are due to be there so we'll have someone to talk to....

The South East's best annual military show and family fun weekend

[Martin Bull]

Well,we came,we saw....and bought a couple of bits. The emphasis was most definitely 'fmaily fun' - serious militaria collectors were not the target market. There were some great vehicles to look at,we met up with our mates from Men of Arnhem, and among the plastic toys, sweets,and recent surplus gear there were probably about 5 stalls of real interest. I scored a 1944-dated,three round PaK40 transit crate in decent condition for £75 ( something that's been on my 'wants' list for several years ). Two nice new books from Paul Meekins ( the new Villers-Bocage title and a book about surviving tanks in the Ardennes ). Oh- and it was fun to see two very familiar figures on the UK militaria scene........but really, it's for Mom'n'Pop'n'the Kids.....

[Composite]

A brilliant show for vehicles and re-enactors but certainly not the one to go to if you’re looking for rows and rows of quality Militaria stalls. The space for stalls is restricted and, as you say, the amount of quality stalls is v low…..most other Fairs beat it hands down. As you suggest, I think it’s more about “family stalls” than anything else…I dodged it this year on that basis. Yorkshire at War is quite similar…..great vehicles, great re-enactors, but if you’re looking for rows of stalls of quality Militaria unless it’s just down the road I’d think again…..

[Martin Bull]

.....unless it’s just down the road I’d think again…..

Absolutely right......the slog home around the M25 was hell on wheels . Thank Gawd for Relics From The Front coming up trumps with my PaK40 crate.....

[BlackCat1982]

Well at least you also got your "Brucie bonus" Martin

[Martin Bull]

Yes indeed BlackCat - it was interesting 'listening in' to the conversation between Bruce and Rob. They were discussing the pair of PaK38 wheels in the pic, and why there most definitely won't be much more of that sort of thing crossing the Channel......

[BlackCat1982]

Sadly I think those days are long gone.

[Martin Bull]

Sadly I think those days are long gone.

Yup. The consolation is that for many years we rode the crest of a wave for TR militaria in terms of affordability and availability. Great collecting memories.