Two weeks in… Anyone running out of ideas yet? Well, this week we have a solution for you. We thought we would share some suggestions on days out for the kids that they will love over the long summer holiday.

Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire is a beautiful inland holiday resort with an Edwardian Character set amidst fantastic pinewoods. Regarded at one of the most attractive villages in Lincolnshire, Woodhall Spa boasts a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere and is the perfect location for a short break or holiday. Well, that’s for 363 days of the year….! For the weekend in the middle of July every year, the whole town becomes engulfed in the most amazing festival of all things 1940s.

Woodhall Spa was the home base point for, amongst others, 617 Squadron during WWII. At the heart of what is often referred to as ‘Bomber’ Country. By 1945, during the last few months of WWII, the RAF and USAAF had 49 operating airfields in Lincolnshire. Lancaster bombers were housed at over half of them. In recent years, several of these bases have become the homes of aviation heritage centres and sites for Squadron memorials.

617 Squadron became famous as ‘The Dambusters’ and operated out of RAF Woodhall Spa from January 1944 to May 1945, flying their legendary missions from the airbase within the boundaries of the village. From the late 1950s until 1965 the airfield was the base for Bloodhound Missiles and although now mainly quarried for sand and gravel, some of the dispersals and several out buildings belonging to the bomb dump and still visible.

For a weekend each year, the village turns itself into a 1940s replica of its former self. The most amazing Woodhall Spa 1940s Festival took place on the 18th and 19th July and we attended with our trusty jeep, a tarpaulin and our favourite 1940s kit.

The festival includes many living history groups, singers and dancers, vintage vehicle displays, re-enactors and many 40’s inspired trade stands.

Re-enactor groups marched through town, camped in the pinewoods all weekend and generally turned back time to the late 1940s. The weekend also included an Auxiliary Fire Service Blitz bombing rescue display, Battle of Britain memorial flight flypasts from a Spitfire, Dakota and a Hurricane and more authentic WWII military vehicles than you though possible in one village in 2015! With 15 different music concerts and musicians and 16 individual living history re-enactment groups all in Woodhall Spa, the weekend was certainly one for the military and WWII enthusiast.

The history of Woodhall is one of great interest. The village owes its origins to one man’s quest for coal. When the pit dig went wrong and filled with water. The water was found to have beneficial qualities and the pump house and baths were subsequently created. After the evacuation of Dunkirk, 5,000 troops were placed in Woodhall Spa. Following their R+R, these troops were re-organised and reformed into coastal defense units, earmarked for the invasion of Europe.

Built in 1942, RAF Woodhall Spa had 3 concrete runways in an airfield located on the southern edge of the village.  King George IV, the duchess of Gloucester and Field Marshal Montgomery, visited the base. By June 1944, some units had left for Normandy, leaving behind the 1st Airlanding Brigade who headed to Arnhem to fly in the fated Operation Market Garden- many never to return. After the disaster at Arnhem, a Dakota aircraft flew the remaining members of the brigade back to Woodhall Spa. The fly-past at the festival was therefore a fitting tribute to these heroes.

All of the big houses used thoughout WWII and hotels still remain intact, including the Petwood, which has the 617 Squadron Bar within it. With a bouncing bomb (de-commissioned we are assured,) at it’s entrance there is a huge piece of wood on the wall in the bar area. This branch was pulled out of one of the Lancaster Bombers, which returned from the Dambuster mission. It is thought that the Lancasters were flying so low on their mission that the branch was snapped off a tree and wedged into the plane. Seen as the bar had such a famous ‘monument’ on the wall, of course we had to pop in and see it!

All in all, this is one of the best festivals we have ever attended. With completely free entrance and almost all of the activities, concerts and events totally free of charge, there is no better value for (no) money! With the open air ‘Kinema’ offering the latest films as well as WWII showings, and the open air heated lido there is something for everyone over the weekend.

It is always good to visit events and enjoy meeting other WWII enthusiasts, but if you are interested and don’t want to wait until next July, come over to Armourgeddon and visit our military vehicle collection in our museum. Open daily; there are many exhibits to view and a wide variety of military vehicles, tanks, guns and even a Bell 47 helicopter.