The clock will be turned back over sixty five years to the days of the Second World War this weekend when the scenic South Devon Railway hosts its annual 1940’s weekend on Saturday 9 & Sunday 10 July.

Organised in conjunction with the Devon Branch of the Military Vehicle Trust, the event will feature over 50 historic military vehicles, such as jeeps, trucks and motor bikes from the 1939-45 wartime era, plus uniformed personnel and a field kitchen. The event aims to recreate some scenes of what life and railway transport was like in 1940’s war torn Britain.

With features such as unexploded bombs and sandbags by the station buildings, armed sentries on guard, an ENSA concert group, brass band and Lindy Hoppers, plus expected armed military trains, , the event will allow visitors to step back in time to wartime Britain and maybe even beat the rationing system with a special on train cream tea!

Offering a visual feast of 20th Century military nostalgia — and with the South Devon Railway’s steam trains acting as a fitting backdrop to complete the period atmosphere –– the field outside Buckfastleigh station will take on the appearance of a large military camp with uniformed soldiers in the West Country with various displays and military dioramas.

Men, women and children turning up in 1940’s period clothing will be made especially welcome, and all travellers on the railway will be given a wartime identity card. Military Police will be looking for a German spy who is known to be in the area, and patrolling the stations and trains to check identity cards as well as looking for downed German airmen or paratroops in disguise.

Plain clothes Police will also be looking to detect ‘Spivs’ illegally offering restricted, stolen or rationed wartime goods such as watches, nylons and items of women’s lingerie!

But, with the risk of Hitler’s bombers still an ever present danger, the station will be decked out with blast tape on the windows and sandbags for protection, plus there’ll be at least one unexploded bomb nearby to add to the wartime atmosphere and hopefully a bomb disposal team at work!

Period vehicles will be parked around the site and many staff will be wearing WWII uniforms and clothing. There’ll even be a wartime vegetable allotment following the Government’s wartime slogan: “Dig For Victory”

The two-day show will be an all steam train event featuring three former Great Western Railway (GWR) built locomotives: 5526, 3205 and 1369. Various different types of passenger and a military train will be in use on both days operating to a special timetable.

In addition to a six-coach passenger service which will operate four round trips over the full line, there will also be three other two-coach passenger trains giving seven full return trains from Buckfastleigh on both days.

“Fewer and fewer people now remember what the 1940’s were like, so we are hoping to recreate some of the everyday but memorable and nostalgic scenes from that era in conjunction with the Devon area Branch of the Military Vehicle Trust,” said SDR General Manager Dick Wood.
“There will be something on site to attract most people who have an interest in British military history and steam trains.”

The Military Vehicle Trust is a charitable organisation of enthusiasts dedicated to the research, restoration, running and showing of historic military vehicles, as well as providing uniforms and equipment to set up living history displays.

The Military Vehicle Trust actively supports the work of the Royal British Legion, SAAFA (Sailors, Army and Air Force Association) and the Normandy Veterans Association.