Friday, May 30, 2008

Vera goes to Duxford

Well here, as promised, is Vera. We all went to Duxford today - one of my most favourite days out. Vera had a great time too - she got to try on this tin helmet just in case of air raids. It was very heavy and poor girl, she was nearly squashed.


But travelling round the corner she came across this rather scary looking tiger. Good job there was a thick glass screen between them.

But never fear, this dashing young American Air force Pilot came to her rescue. And she was very smitten, let me tell you!


She wanted a ride on Concorde but this was the closest she got to sitting on it - the wheel!. (That's my 2 children up front, the man at the back kept frowning at us all, he obviously didn't understand about Monkees).


Oh but Vera got to ride on an army truck - it was huge, but she's a brave young thing and wasn't at all scared...


... not until she got stuffed down the gun turret of a very, very big tank that is.

But all frivolity aside, the Imperial War Museum is essentially about war. And whilst being totally absorbed by the sheer magnitude of some of those planes, some things just hit you and make you really think about just what it is you're looking at. For some it's the World War I boots at the entrance to the Land Warfare building.

But for me it was this picture. I couldn't stop looking at it. How young does this 'man' look? Fast asleep he looks like any little boy to me. I wonder how far into the War this was taken. Did he survive? What horrors did he see on the Normandy Beaches? Did his mother ever see this picture? I'm sure it would have broken her heart if she had.


7 comments:

sharon said...

adorable hat and so nice to see Vera again

picperfic said...

Vera and the boys had a good day out, you are a lovely Mummy! I agree about that photo, such young lad, war stories always make me sad...

Anonymous said...

I'm going to duxford with a school trip in a few weeks, havent been since I was a kid. We have to go in fancy dress, I'm going to be a land girl!

dottycookie said...

The boots do it for me, every time. I've not noticed that photo before - it's utterly heartbreaking.

I'm glad you had a good time at Duxford - we were there on Thursday again, which is the advantage of free entry!

Locket Pocket said...

That picture is heartbreaking! But I'm glad you and Vera and the boys had a good day out even if you did have strange men staring at your monkee antics!

Lucy x

Monkee Maker said...

What a moving post. While it's great to see a monkee out and about - and Vera looks FABULOUS in that hat, dahling - that last picture is very thought provoking, isn't it?

I'm glad that you and the boys and the monkee and the frowny man had a great day out.

:)

Mrs Moog said...

Great photos of Vera's big day out :)
We went to Bovington Tank Museum last week and they have a reproduction of the WW1 trenches that you can walk though. It was the photos of the broken bodies that got me. It brings home the futility of war.

Great post Michaela.

xxx