Don’t you know there’s a war on? Harking back to a time of sacrifice

Near to Armistice Day, every year, military vehicle enthusiasts gather to create one of the biggest and most compelling of the annual events at the Brooklands Museum, southwest of London. But it isn’t just the old vehicles, from both world wars, it’s the dressing up that creates a unique atmosphere. Both friend and foe take us back to a different, long-vanished world.

Theme events are a magnet for photographers, of course, that’s the main attraction for me. Apart from the opportunity to grab some interesting shots, there are no worries about photographing people. In the past ten years, especially since the European Union’s GDPR rules, taking photographs of strangers, especially in the street, has become worrisome.

80% yes

In the past, I’ve done some ad hoc research by approaching strangers in the street and asking if they minded my taking a photograph. In eight out of ten cases, people are cooperative. They love being photographed.

However, the opportunity for a quick, impromptu portrait is often spoiled by cooperative posing. At events, especially those which involve dressing up according to a theme, the majority of participants are only too happy to pose and love having their pictures taken. Happily, too, it’s always acceptable to take the photo first, before the pose sets in, and indulge in a chat later.

This year’s Military Vehicles Day is a resurrection of a regular annual event that was curbed, along with many similar occasions, by the pandemic. After a year of social distancing and lockdown, thousands took advantage of the relaxed rules to take part in the event.

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For me, this was a welcome opportunity to visit one of the Brooklands star events, bigger than the American car day which I covered in September. I decided to pay a visit with one big, heavy camera, the Leica SL2 and one small, light shooter, the Ricoh GRIII—not the new 40mm IIIx, but the traditional 28mm III.

Eventing gear

The SL is an ideal tool for this type of event and the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90 mm f/2.8-4 is a great complement. While the latest crop of L-mount 24-70s, from Leica and Sigma, offer a constant f/2.8, they are restricted by the 70 mm maximum throw. The extra 20 mm of reach on the Vario-Elmart-SL is useful and, I think, is a worthwhile tradeoff for the narrower aperture (as it happens, the aperture at 70mm, to compare with the newer zooms, is actually f/3.8, not that it’s worth bothering about, just a matter of record).

From the launch of the original SL in 2015, the Vario-Elmarit has been one of my favourite zoom lenses, despite its 1.15kg heft. I owned it originally, then sold it alongside the first SL, but have recently brought an example back into the stable specifically for events such as the Military Vehicles Day. It’s a lens with an interesting provenance which I’ll describe in a future article.

The little Ricoh GRIII is at the opposite end of the spectrum, with its 24 MP APS-C sensor and fixed 28mm lens. In every way, these two outfits couldn’t be more different. But for quick snaps at an event such as this, the Ricoh is unobtrusive, wackily light and so easy to use.

Throughout the event, I had the GR set to 2m “snap focus”, a speciality of the Ricoh. Used with a narrow aperture, in this case, f/7.1, the Ricoh will capture everything from just over one meter to infinity with impressive sharpness. I’m a great fan of this snap-focus system which offers reliable and excellent zone focus.

On most small cameras with fixed lenses and no physical aperture ring, zone focus can be a bit hit or miss. Even the legendary Leica X1 doesn’t shine in this department. But not so with the Ricoh, which performs just as reliably as an M10 with the 28mm Elmarit set to 2 meters and f/7.1.

At any Brooklands Military Vehicles event, the US Military enthusiasts, mostly arriving in lovingly preserved Jeeps, tend to dominate. The British presence is provided by a number of societies representing various branches of the armed forces and the two main eras, 1914-18 and 1939-45.

Dad’s Army

The trained eye will detect echoes of the ultra-popular television comedy series, Dad’s Army, which ran from 1968 to 1977 over no fewer than 80 episodes. Those were the days before seasons; Dad’s Army was all one glorious romp through the Home Guard, ready to fight the invasion from the fictional Walmington-on-Sea.

Characters such as Captain Mainwaring (pronounced Mannering, as everyone knows) and Lance Corporal Jones (“they don’t like it up ‘em”, brandishing his bayonet provocatively) could be glimpsed at Brooklands last Sunday, although I suspect the players take themselves a little more seriously than they appear.

There’s a big German presence, especially in the field of motorcycles, and the Russian and East German cosplayers are prominent. The Volksarmee veterans (presumably all English, but full of enthusiasm for a long-gone era) are a source of wide information and even produced a motley collection of Communist-era office equipment, spy tools and secret radio instruments for public inspection.

The little Trabant of the Volkspolitzei, complete with spoof Praktika speed camera, was a hoot and, of course, a complete fabrication — although, as I recollect, the more competent Wartburg was used mostly for traffic policing because the Trabbi couldn’t blow the skin of a rice pudding.

Enthusiasm

These events are always great fun and I am always left in awe at the enthusiasm and ingenuity (not to mention the odd eccentricity) of the enthusiasts who keep the old vehicles, equipment and uniforms in such good condition.

Riding the despatches

There are Ferret armoured car fans who lovingly fettle their small and claustrophobic vehicles, featuring a most peculiar upside-down steering wheel. And wartime Don-Rs, the despatch riders who kept communications going through the worst of conditions. The old motorcycles always draw me in, and at this event the huge difference between British and German bikes is striking.

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The 1940s BSAs and Nortons look nearer to WWI bikes than the rather svelte and futuristic German outfits. The KS750 from Zündapp and the BMW R75 sidecar combinations were wonderful bikes of the era, fighting off the less impressive single-cylinder 350s and 500s of the British forces.

At Brooklands on Sunday, there were also examples of the Indians brought over by US forces, a different take on two- and three-wheel motorcycling from the European norms. Even the tiny 98 cc Villiers-engined folding bikes were on display. An earlier version of the Lime scooter, these little machines were strapped to parachutists’ backs to give them a speedy getaway.

Club material

Yet it is people that really make a day such as this. Up and down the land there are countless clubs and associations devoted to every aspect of wartime life. They say that if you put two Englishmen on a desert island they will instantly form a club. Well, a Military Vehicles Day at Brooklands is living proof that the joke isn’t far off the truth.

Among the players are some real characters, and I’m not talking just about the regular Winston Churchill lookalike. There’s the energetic Dale Johnson, for instance, who travels around England giving talks on the history of the Home Guard, old Captain Mainwaring’s outfit.

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Dale turns up at lectures in his 1933 Austin Seven Home Guard van, nicknamed Autogophasta. He’s ready to defuse any bomb that pops into sight and the van has already covered 52,000 miles in ten years. Dale cannot be contacted by email or any other modern communications methods (by choice, he tells me) but if you are in the market for a graphic Home Guard talk you can contact him on the old blower, on 01202 577 226. It will be a trunk call, as they used to say, for Dale lives in Dorset.

Lest we forget

Some might say that these events glorify war, but I see things differently. They serve to remind us of the sacrifices made by our parents and grandparents who gave everything to make the world a better place. I grew up in an era where almost everyone had fought in WWII, and even those who hadn’t been in the armed forces had waged their own personal war on the home front. That has all gone now, but it is events such as this that remind us of what was once normal daily life in awful conditions.

Sadly, too many people have forgotten these sacrifices and run the risk of repeating past mistakes because of this. Lest we forget: This sums up popular events such as the Brooklands Military Vehicles Day.

All photographs were taken with the Leica SL2 and 24-90mm Vario-Elmarit except for those marked as Ricoh images.

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More events and Brooklands