September 2014 saw the most eagerly awaited weekend of the Armourgeddon calendar- the Victory Show at Cosby. You may wonder why we’ve waited until now to tell you all about it, well that’s because we were also followed at the show by the Weekend Warriors team from Yesterday TV and last night saw the screening of the result.

So, our band of merry men headed off from Armourgeddon on the Thursday afternoon, loaded our beloved Sherman- at the time, recently returned from the filming of Brad Pitt’s movie Fury and Allies with Matt Willis, packed our bags and headed off to the show ground. After building camp and preparing for the onslaught of the next day, we bedded down for an early night after a warming cup of cocoa by the campfire… Well that’s our story and we are sticking to it!

Friday dawned and we had 5 for 6 schools of children visiting the showground travelling in groups around all the exhibition pieces. The children and their teachers took time to learn all about the Sherman tank and to understand how, where and when it was used in battle. They really enjoyed the experience and it is great to help children put what they learn in the classroom- things that are alien to their modern lives, into context.

After more cocoa and a restful nights sleep we attended a battle briefing at 9am to understand the plan for the day once the doors were open to the general public. After a good breakfast, we were ready for the 10am start to the show. The Victory Show offers a formidable tribute to WWII, runs for 3 days and is held on a 100 acre site and focuses on the re-enactments through various forces and from several eras covering 1939 to 1945. This year, the battle was a re-enactment of the Battle of the Falaise Pocket.

The town of Falaise and its surrounding area has gone down in the history of World War II as the region where a complete German army was destroyed. The Allies had previously targeted Falaise as the place where the British, Canadians and Polish forces would meet up with American forces in a pincer movement that planned to trap the Germans in and around Falaise. The plan worked exceptionally well. Normandy was a German stronghold as Hitler had expected an attack to come from the Allied troops around Calais. When the D-Day landings happened further down the coast he moved the volumous troops in the area down the coast and the allied troops were completely over run. The Allies found themselves unable to push too far off the beachheads that had been established. This slow drive out happened throughout June, July and into the start of August 1944.

An attack was launched on the 6th August 1944 as Montgomery pressed his commanders to push for the control of Falaise. On the 7th August, the German troops launched a counter attack near Avranches as Hitler believed that this was a rare opportunity to drive into an extremely exposed enemy area and thereby change the situation completely. Although the start of the attack was a success, by the evening of the 7th August, the German commanders concluded that the counter-attack had failed.

The German troops who had not been captured or killed prepared to withdraw to Falaise where re-enforcements had been requested to help secure the approaches to the town. Hitler forbade the retreat thinking that the failed attack was due to poor planning. Marshal Kluge- the commanding officer of the German troops in the region is reported to have suggested to a junior officer that if the new attack, scheduled for the 9th August failed, it would lead to the collapse of German power in the whole region.

AT 11pm on the 7th August, a concerted attack on Falaise began with over 1,000 allied bombers dropping 5,000 tons of bombs on German positions on the approaches to Falaise. Behind the 700 artillery guns supplementing the airborne attack, 600 Allied tanks advanced as a part of Operation Totalise. The Allies had 15 miles to cover to reach Falaise. They covered 8 miles in the first 24 hours constantly pushing back the Germans, forcing Kluge to gain Hitler’s approval to postpone the counter attack until the 11th August.

Despite almost complete encirclement, the German troops managed through extraordinary means to maintain a road out to the East as a route they stayed in control of. Any counter-attack was disregarded and Hitler finally gave permission for a German retreat eastward on August 16th. Seven German divisions were caught in the Gap and had an expected 3 days to escape. In the following 2 days some of the heaviest battles of the whole war occurred and the Allies took over 50,000 prisoners of war and counted over 10,000 dead German troops. Kluge was relieved of his post and replaced with General Walter Model. Kluge committed suicide on his journey back to Germany, all too aware that the defeat of Normandy would be blamed on his command.

So, back to Cosby and our part in the re-enactment. We were in position with our prized Sherman tank for the start of the battle at 2pm. Just as the history books tell, the German troops retreated towards the German line with the Allies taking ground and the usual outcome of any re-enactment on Allied soil- the Allies won!

After the battle, we all retired for a well earned cup of tea and to prepare for the evening’s dinner dance 1940s style.

The show is an absolutely brilliant experience with 2 airshows per day using the live runway on site, many half and quarter sized model aircraft and re-enactment groups camping throughout the 100 acre show site. Take a walk and you could come across a Japanese camp in the woods next to model boats on the pond.

It’s certainly a weekend to remember for any military enthusiast. And next year, we will be back again. Probably minus the film crew, but certainly a weekend to remember as 2015 celebrates 10 years of the Victory show.

To see more info on The Victory Show click here!