Trucks & Troops 2011 celebrates the home front

Visit Beaulieu during the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend, 28th – 30th May, for Trucks & Troops, a nostalgic show with something for all the family to enjoy. The show, staged by the South Hampshire Area of the Military Vehicle Trust celebrates the development of military transport, combat vehicles and soldiering through the ages.
 
Now in its fifth year, this popular event will celebrate the Home Front; the civilians left at home supporting the war effort. The Blitz Buddies, a group with a shared enthusiasm for commemorating and celebrating the spirit of the 1940’s, will be putting on a home-front wartime fundraising party and giving wartime cookery demonstrations.
 
Over 200 military vehicles will be on display, everything from push-bikes to armoured and tracked vehicles, ranging from pre WWll to the Gulf War. Living History Groups, including the Vietnam war group, Rolling Thunder will be wearing uniforms and equipment corresponding to the vehicles on display, re-creating camps and situations in which they would have lived and served.
 
On the Beaulieu Arena, watch a range of activities including parades of vehicles, live action from Rolling Thunder, a Royal Marine Cadet Field Gun display and marching bands. Take time to walk around the militaria stalls with goods for sale from a gas mask to a Jeep!
 
Activities for younger visitors include a Commando Assault Course, Model Boat Pond and Model Tank Village.  They can also dress up and take part in a patrol with real soldiers from the modern British Army.
 
Admission includes the whole Beaulieu attraction, including the National Motor Museum, World of Top Gear, the James Bond Exhibition, Palace House and Beaulieu Abbey.  Not to be missed is the Secret Army Exhibition which tells the story of wartime Beaulieu and the training of secret agents to work with the Resistance in occupied Europe during WWll.
 
As a prelude to the show, 60 military vehicles will set off from the grounds of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, at 5pm on Friday 27th May en-route to Lepe, in commemoration of D-Day. Lepe played an important role in the D-Day landings as a major departure point for troops, vehicles and supplies. It also acted as a construction site for part of the pre-fabricated Mulberry Harbour, and a mainline base for the P.L.U.T.O pipeline.
 
The show is open from 10am each day with plenty of free parking.  For more information, visit beaulieuevents.co.uk.