Duxford D-Day Airshow 2014

Well, we survived the poor weather on Saturday morning and the unbelievably hot sunshine on Sunday and experienced two superb air displays right over out heads - the like of which non of us have seen before and will probably not see again.

Five flying Dakotas, more spitfires than I've ever seen before, a Hurricane, a P-51 Mustang, two (Buchon) 109's, the B-17 'Sally B', a Eurofighter Typhoon, Apache helicopter…. the list goes on and on!

More photographs will be posted soon but for now here is one I took in the early hours of Sunday morning…. enjoy.

Five flight ready Daks on Duxfords airstrip. May 2014.

Merville Battery Briefing Model

As we're attending the Imperial War Museum's 70th Anniversary D Day Airshow at the weekend, I thought I might tempt you to visit us by giving you a sneak peak of our centrepiece... a 'copy' of a scale briefing model used to illustrate the battery to the assault troops who's job it was to knock out the guns... The show runs from Saturday through to Sunday this weekend, see you all there!

Aerial view of the briefing model showing the four casemates and associated bunkers, roads, bushes, anti-tank ditch (unfinished by 6th June 1944)  and barbed wire defences.

Aerial view of the model showing Casemates 2 and 3 and the original housings for the guns.

Close up of the fortified house to the N.E. of the battery.

Close up of 'Erika' the 20mm Flak 38 Anti Aircraft gun.

New Addition: Plastic Economy AAC Cap Badge

I recently found this and decided to add it to the collection. Its a plastic 'economy' Army Air Corps cap badge, hopefully of WW2 vintage. I say 'hopefully' as it isn't a silver colour but more of a mid-bronze colour. Either way its a nice addition and will sit alongside its metal colleagues very well I'm sure.

Front showing nice sharp detail, without any distortion.

Back showing intact clasps and makers name: A. Stanley & Sons, Walsall. Makers of plastic cap badges throughout the war years.

Double Hills Commemoration - 7th September 2014

Fantastic New Addition to the Chalk Collection!

Back in May 2012 I managed to procure copy of 'The Complete Flying Course' which had belonged to S.Sgt George Allison, the seller (his daughter-in-law) was kind enough to include a photograph of George in the sale along with some brief background information, please see link below for the original story:

Link: S.Sgt G Allison

Imagine my surprise when I managed to trip over another seller on a militaria collectors forum who was selling George's log book, wings and shoulder titles! I contacted the seller (who is based in Australia) and a total figure was agreed on for the log book and one set of first pilot wings - the second pair of wings and the titles remain out of my price range unfortunately.

The log book and wings are an excellent addition not only to our overall GPR collection but being able to put them together with the other items belonging to George is an absolute bonus!

S.Sgt Allisons Log book, wings and a photograph of his wedding day.

The inside of the log book which came with a collection of George's postings and a proficiency certificate for 'best all round recruit' dated 1945.

Upcoming Dates on the Chalk Calendar

With summer fast approaching I'm starting to plan events for this season. The season always starts out to be a quiet looking time for us but before you know it the calendar soon starts to fill up!

So far this year we're planned in for the following:

1: Operation Varsity private photoshoot to be held on Sunday 13th April with our friends Thunder from Heaven. We'll be remembering the actions of the Glider Pilot Regiment, British 6th Airborne Division and U.S. 17th Airborne Division in our own unique photographic way so watch this blog for the results.

2: Duxford Imperial War Museum D-Day Anniversary Air Show on May Bank Holiday weekend, 24th to 25th May. This show will include an air show of Aircraft relevant to the D-Day landings of June 1944 as well as displays by living history groups and modern British airborne units. Runs all day Saturday and Sunday.

3: Middle Wallop Museum of Army Flying on June 7th. This show will feature Chalk, Thunder from Heaven and a Home Front display. I believe the show only runs from 10 am until 4 pm so don't miss it!

4: Double Hills Memorial. Sunday 7th September. This is a memorial service, please come back for further information.

5: The Victory Show. 5th to 7th September. One of the country's largest military shows, with vehicles, living history, fly pasts, stalls and mock battles.

A New Addition to the Chalk Collection

A new edition to our collection is this tiny Sweetheart Brooch recently purchased by myself.

These brooches would've been privately purchased by the pilot and given to his wife or sweetheart to wear whilst he was away from home.

This one is photographed next to a 2p coin so you can see it would've been very discreet for the lady in question to wear on a daily basis.