My OTHER PASSION: WORLD WAR 2 RE-ENACTMENT

I have been a collector of militaria since 1990, but only got involved in WW2 re-enactment when I went on the internet in 2001.  I found my first group at the end of that year and started my first event at Eden Camp in Yorkshire in April 2002.  As I drove there, I wondered what I was letting myself in for.  However, I got to meet so many people from other groups at Eden Camp who were all pleased to see a newcomer, and right away I felt part of the gang.  What you soon discover is that the re-enacting community is like an extended family, with everyone else all sharing your same main interest.  

When I got home after the four days - with aching muscles from standing for so long with a rifle over my shoulder - my family and friends could see that I had had the time of my life. I couldn't wait for the next event to come along!  Today, I hate having to pack up at the end of each event: its a shame to only be able to do it for a couple of days and go back to normal life and work. Roll on summer, when you can go virtually every weekend to events if you want to!!

From 2002 to 2006 I mostly re-enacted as German Infantry, taking part in static displays and battles. Having lived in Germany as a child, and having learned some German at that time, I often got picked to be a captured soldier facing interrogation in scenarios infront of the public and using whatever of the German language remained in my fading memory.

Between 2006 and 2014 I often appeared at shows in my exceptionally rare Luftwaffe bomber pilot's gear.   

I used to be one of the few re-enactors in the UK to regularly wear such an outfit, and I am one of the few people in the world who owns TWO original Luftwaffe pilot's lifejackets used by bomber crews.  I have two sets of everything now - it is all authentic and has so far cost over £8000 to assemble.  I would regularly be seen as a captured pilot being escorted around by various Allied troops.

Since 2015, after meeting the Heappey brothers who joined our group - and they acquired a full sized part original/part replica Mark 9 Spitfire - I now re-enact mostly as an RAF pilot when we take the aircraft - owned by their own company Iconic-ww2-aircraft, to shows. 

My interest in collecting wartime and post-war RAF stems from the fact that both my father and uncle were in the Royal Air Force, and I grew up on airbases both in this country and Europe during the 1960's and 1970's.  

There have been so many; every event is especially memorable.  However, I like getting work on films and television the most - I enjoy being infront of the camera.  My favourite was the film "A Far Cry" where I played a German soldier who gets shot, and whilst wounded tries to shoot at the hero of the film -- only to get a bullet through my forehead for having tried. 

In 2011, I appeared in 9 different scenes of BBC2's "Eric and Ernie" about the early careers of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.  My son Ashley and my daughter Laura also appeared in this film, and we worked with the late comedienne/actress Victoria Wood in a number of scenes.  I spent most of my time with Bryan Dick (Ernie) and Daniel Rigby (Eric), and we had quite a giggle in make-up together, and between scenes. 

I have also appeared in a number of documentaries on The History Channel over the years, including episode 3 of 'The Map Makers' in which I played the real life hero of the French Resistance, Rene Duchez, who stole the Atlantic Wall defence plans from the Germans in advance of the D-Day landings. You would also have seen me in PBS America's PBS Channel's "Nazi Death Camp: The Great Escape" where I played an inmate of the notorious Sobibor concentration camp (in which my son and daughter also appeared, again).

The last film I appeared in was the 2014 flick "Allies" starring Julian Ovenden (Downton Abbey), Chris Reilly, Edmund Kingsley and Matt Willis.  In it, I get shot (again!) in a truck in one scene.

In 2017 I worked behind the scenes of the film "Hurricane" about a squadron of Polish pilots during the Battle of Britain.  The film employed the Iconic WW2 Aircraft Me109 in several key scenes, and I was on the team who moved it from scene to scene, and rocked it to simulate movement during green screen work.

In April 2021, I worked behind the scenes (again) on the BBC drama series "SAS: Rogue Heroes".  With my colleagues Mel and Steve Heappey, we took our Me109 down to two location shoots in Essex for the series which made its debut on BBC1 in November 2022.