Re-enacting WW II, living the history of WW II, has been a recognised hobby in the UK since 1978. Militaria and vehicle collectors started the BRA, Battle Re-enactment Association that year, giving them a chance to show their original vehicles, uniforms and equipment to an audience.
The reasons for doing this hobby are too numerous to mention, as every individual engaged in this activity has got their own personal reason.
The different ways of re-enactment / living history can be split into various categories.
Experimental archaeology can be done from the perspective of privately experiencing circumstances a person would have lived through in the war like sleeping in an original tent on straw, with a rough blanket as cover. Living on rationed food or from mother nature garden, depending on the time of year.
Marching in heavy uniforms and boots or rough clothes and old shoes for miles on end as a soldier or a civilian refugee, trying to fight the cold or the rain.
It can even be experiencing a hot bath after days living rough, coming home covered in insect bites and ticks ( yes, I have experienced that as well ).
Battle Re-enactment is another category within this hobby. The battle can be a privately organised event for the uniformed re-enactor to learn tactics and drills and engage with the "enemy" to practice learned skills.
Furthermore it can be a public event, a show for the consumption of a wide audience, usually in connection with a variety of displays by groups and associations or/and vehicle exhibition.
Commemorative marches / events are annual living history experiences with emphasis on remembering WW II, especially the veterans who fought for freedom and democracy in Europe.
Working in a symbiosis with a museum, giving the re-enactor who usually is a keen hobby historian the chance to display his/her collection and knowledge in a lively, vivid way - a museum piece for the visitor to touch, is certainly a very educative way to do this hobby.
The hobby is growing year by year and attracks people of all ages and social standings.
One thing a hobby historian, a re-enactor will never be able to experience is the fear, the pain and sorrow the people of WW II had to endure - this aspect can only be described by the ones who have been there, the men, women and children who we remember and honour -
