I had originally planned to drive "Jessie" to Elvington, in convoy with Andy's Jeep that we collected last October. However, his clutch failed two weeks ago which changed my plans. The 6th of May was a special date amongst my fleet, as it was the 80th anniversary of the Date of Delivery for my Ford GPW, "Hope". As a result, I decided to tow the GPW to Elvington and pack all the camping gear in the car. This would give "Hope" some public attention for her birthday! FRIDAY 5th The forecast for the weekend wasn't great, with heavy rain showers predicted all weekend, but I got there mid afternoon on Friday and got the tent set up in dry weather. I even started a photoshoot with the Jeep and Halifax before the thunder and then rain started. I quickly fitted the roof and then hid in the hangar, waiting for the rain to pass.

Eventually the sky did clear and I took some additional pictures with the Halifax before moving the Jeep to the Dakota. After a few further pictures there, I returned the Jeep to my tent and got something to eat. Later in the evening, I went for a walk around the site, looking at the original wartime buildings and outdoor exhibits. The hangars and other buildings were all locked up by this time.

The aircraft were spread around the site, with those shown below left, at the end of the site nearest the airfield. More aircraft were parked along the road that runs parallel to the hangar, with further aircraft at the far end of the hangar.

I returned to the tent for a while, reading a wartime book about Bomber Command until the sky began to darken. After some additional rain showers, I then went back out for some more atmospheric pictures of the Halifax in the dusk light.

I got some silhouettes of the Dakota against the fading sky before noticing the Full Moon rising in the South East - a Bomber's Moon. I wanted to try and get the Halifax along with the Moon, but the position of the Moon and the hangar didn't lend themselves to a good composition. The picture below right was the best I could manage, as the pitch of the hangar roof, continued to block the Moon as it rose.

SATURDAY 6th - "Hope's" Birthday There was more rain overnight, however Saturday started dull and dry. Starting with my photo-reconnaissance display and "Hope", the pictures below follow an anti-clockwise tour, from my tent around the dioramas and vehicle displays.



SUNDAY 7th First thing on Sunday morning, I moved the Jeep a bit closer to my display table and parked at an angle compared to Saturday. The picture through the windscreen shows lots of the public sitting at the picnic tables. Over both days of the show, there was more than double the usual attendance compared to a typical weekend. This was an especially impressive turnout, as on Saturday, it was the King's Coronation. For those wanting to attend the event, but not miss the coronation, it was shown live in the base cinema.

Due to watching over my display, I didn't get to see much of the museum or displays on Saturday, so went for a wander first thing on Sunday before I set anything up. The first stop was the T2 hangar. One end was very empty, the normal parking spot for the Halifax, but this show is one of the rare occasions where the Halifax is brought outdoors for the weekend. That was one of the reasons I took so many photos of it, particularly as this was the first time I'd had the GPW at the Museum. Both the Dodge and M201 have visited Elvington multiple times in years gone by.

I stayed with my display chatting to the public for the rest of the day. I had my K-20 aircrew camera, stereoscope, RAF photo album, target photos, film containers and developing trays and chemicals on show. There was a large number of people really interested and told me that they found it more fascinating than the displays with weapons. Many were impressed by the 3D image provided by the stereoscope and surprised by the weight of the camera. Late in the afternoon, I packed up most of the contents of my tent, ready for when I was able to bring the car and trailer around to collect it all. As the public drifted away at the end of the day, I took "Hope" back over to the Halifax to get a few more pictures in the sun, rather than a thunderstorm!