Army Jeeps descend on Shrewsbury Abbey but all in the name of VE day thankfully. The Abbey will host a huge VE day weekend then end of May. We catch up with organisers to find out more.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00We're here outside Shrewsbury Abbey and there's some very unorthodox parking going on here.
00:05What's happening then? David, you represent Shrewsbury 7, David Morris.
00:09What's your involvement here? What's happening today?
00:11We're doing a photo shot for an upcoming weekend on May the 31st, June the 1st,
00:18where on the evening we'll be having a concert inside the Abbey Church.
00:22Yeah?
00:23World War II theme music.
00:25And on the following day, Sunday, we'll be having a military vehicle display
00:30around the Abbey Church itself.
00:33Have all sorts of military vehicles there.
00:35Oh, what, looping the church? Looping round the church then?
00:39Yeah, all around here, yeah.
00:42And on the other side of the road we're reopening the Air Raid Precautions HQ from World War II.
00:48Yeah?
00:48Which has been acting as a railway museum for the last couple of years.
00:52Okay.
00:52It was the ARP HQ for Shrewsbury, that will be reopened on the Sunday
00:57and it will all be free of charge on Sunday for visitors and their families.
01:01So that'll be like a special open day for visitors for that day, yeah?
01:04Absolutely.
01:04Got you.
01:05And sir, looking very smart there, so what's your role in this?
01:08You'll be here on the weekend, will you?
01:10Yeah, we'll be here for the weekend along with lots of other different re-enactors.
01:15What's the name of your, do you come from a particular group?
01:18This is HQ REFP, it's the military police for the RAF,
01:25but we also do CMP, which is the guy at the back with the red cap on,
01:29which we'll probably be doing on that weekend.
01:32Yeah.
01:33We're also helping out with the concert on a Saturday night,
01:36we'll be checking tickets basically as we would have done.
01:38In uniform?
01:39In uniform, yeah.
01:39Ah, fantastic.
01:40Yeah, it's an 18-piece band, Bill Basie band from Chester.
01:44Yeah.
01:45Very good band, so if people want to come along, tickets will be £20,
01:50and just raise as much as we can for the round table and other good causes.
01:55Fantastic.
01:55How many vehicles are we expecting on the display day, David?
01:59Very difficult to say at this moment of time, it'll be weather dependent, clearly.
02:03We're hoping for a gloriously long hot summer,
02:06but we should have at least 20 vehicles, aiming for as many as 75.
02:11And that'll be vehicles kind of to represent that period?
02:16There'll be everything from jeeps to hopefully a tank or two,
02:22and military motorcycles and all sorts.
02:24Every type of military vehicle and even a German Kübelwagen as well,
02:31obviously a German military staff car that was used during the Second World War.
02:35We've got one of those lined up to come as well.
02:37Great stuff, well thank you.
02:38Hopefully some civilian vehicles of the period as well.
02:41Yes indeed, yes indeed.
02:43Great stuff, well we look forward to it guys.
02:45We just need the sun now.
02:46That's what we need, that's what we need.
02:48A gloriously long hot summer, 76 we need.
02:50That would, yeah, I'll take that David, any day.
02:53And we encourage people to dress as well if they want to dress for the period.
02:57Yeah, great stuff.
02:59Just get along and enjoy the day.
03:01So what would, it's civvy clothes for that period,
03:04it's got to involve a hat hasn't it or a cap?
03:06Trilby.
03:07Trilby, yeah.
03:08Trilby flat caps.
03:09Yeah, yeah.
03:12Two piece, three piece suits.
03:14Great stuff, right.
03:15Women would have been in tea dresses or tea coats or that type of stuff.
03:19So the word is get your glad rags on Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury.
03:22Glamorous looks for the women, always look smart.
03:26Cool, well thank you guys and good luck with the event, thank you.
03:30Thank you very much.