As an avid listener to the podcast, We Have Ways of Making You Talk by James Holland and Al Murray, I was intrigued by their festival. I have attended a few musical festivals in my time the last one being Latitude with my family but was very intrigued by this and heard about similar festivals such as Chalk Valley History festival.
This year was its fourth outing. I found out that a couple of club members such as Alex Pritchard and Craig Hilton had attended previous years, and they thought it was very good. So much so they were going again.
What is We Have Ways Fest about. In their words
“There’s no other history festival quite like it, as WHWF is based on the No.1 military history podcast starring historian James Holland and comedian Al Murray. Top historians, veterans and authors come together alongside a huge display of military vehicles and hardware – plus living history, with traders, music, food and drink, and a whole lot more.
Meet the experts. Chat to them. Grab a pint, pitch a tent. From war waffle and talks to thrilling demos of iconic vehicles and weapons, We Have Ways Fest is a must for anyone interested in the Second World War. WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE?!”
The festival takes place at Blackpit Farm, Silverstone Road, Stowe MK18 5LJ which is a 5-minute drive from Silverstone race track.
Some of the hardware on site
I asked around at the club to see anyone else was interested in going as I was planning to go and see what it was all about. Other members appeared interested. To Mark Trowell’s delight his wife bought him a VIP ticket and I joined him spoiling myself with a VIP ticket too. The VIP ticket included a drinks reception with Al and James in the Hilton hotel at Silverstone, a goodie bag, VIP parking and attendance to all 3 days of the festival. There were other ticket options available including a general ticket for the Weekend, a Friday and Saturday ticket.
Mark and I were off and Pat had also booked himself a Saturday ticket. Alex, Craig, John and Dave were also booked in for the weekend. We also bumped into Pete Crawshaw and Gary Martin on the first day! Quite a few from Heston & Ealing Wargamers in attendance.
Long Range Desert Group - Living History area
Mark and I booked ourselves into the Hilton Hotel at Silverstone as did Pete and Gary. There are other hotel options around and Alex and his team booked themselves into an Air B&B. The festival offers camping and Glamping options too to stay on site.
We were like excited school kids when we got to the hotel as we both had rooms overlooking Silverstone racetrack and there a few F1 cars (I am far from an expert here) doing a few training laps when we arrived.
A view from my room over the race track
The VIP reception was well organised and attended by a quite a few of the speakers. Al and James welcomed the group and mingled. I managed to have a chat with Al at the bar. They say you should never meet your heroes but, in this case, he was very charming and as you would expect very funny. Mark and I met a charming couple that had manned the Burma Star Museum stand.
Al signing his book Command for me outside the book shop.
One of the challenges with the Fest is choosing what talk to attend as there are 3 venues all with speakers.
Friday
Friday was sunny and warm. We got to our first talk early to get towards the front, and we discovered sitting here the temperature rose considerably! Alex and his team were there but had sensibly taken seat towards the back and side to benefit from the breeze. A valuable lesson learnt.
Mark and I decided to attend the following talks on the Friday missing out a number of talks we would like to have attended. The only way around this is to become a member of the independent company and you can see all the talks on video.
Wilkommen
Opening of the fest by Al and James which was entertaining and gave an overview on the weekend’s events.
Battleground Normandy
An interesting take on the campaign by Al, James and John Buckley
Wrong War: The Falklands
Very good talk looking at the Falkland commanders and their WW2 experience and the similarities on how the navy and air fleet arm had to adapt in WW2 and the Falkland War to rise to the challenges of both conflicts. I ended up getting one of Rowland White’s books too Harrier 809.
Sword Beach
One of the best talks I attended over the weekend and was relieved that much of my own research matched his for my recent D-Day game. It also spurred me on to buy his book and was lucky enough to get it signed too!
24 Hours in Arnhem
Al Murray showed off his impressive knowledge of the battle and another book to buy in September to add to my Arnhem collection.
Neptune
A look at the naval campaign that were essential to deliver the Normandy landings.
Mark besides James Holland's Car!
In between talks we walked around the site to talking the numerous Living History people (Reenactors in old speech) and watched a fabulous fly past of a Spitfire and Mustang. We regular met up as a wider group for the odd beer and chat through what we had seen.
James Holland on the back of M3 Halftrack about to join the rest of the Hardware in the Arena.
Saturday
On Saturday Mark and I were aligned again on our choices for the day and we joined by Pat too.
Cassino 44 (which replaced Omaha Beach)
This talk got switched due to issues with speakers not being able to make the festival due flight issues.
Legacy The Second War & Memory in Germany
Very interesting take on how Germany views the second world war. Katja Hoyer was very good and prompted me to buy her book Blood & Iron
Spitfires
James May was funny and very knowledgeable about planes, and we all learnt all about ailerons on a Spitfire!
D-Day: The Best and Worst Warplanes
Interesting talk by Joe Cole but as visual presentations go, this was one of the weaker ones due to the amount text on screen rather than pictures of planes. However, his talk was informative and amusing.
Wrong War: The Adventures of Dunsterforce
A must for us considering the ongoing BOB campaign
Pacific 44 Canned Crab meat and Suicide
Alex Churchill produced a great talk away from her usual WW1 period that was both amusing and enlightening. She is also a very approachable and charming.
We have Ways: The ENSA show
A tour du force of funny sketches, doctored WW2 movies, and music. Much better than I expected, and we of course had a guest appearance by the Pub Landlord!
A very poor picture of the air display and the back of Alex's head!
Outside the talks at lunchtime, we had another thrilling air display of a P47 Thunderbolt and P51 Mustang and a display of heavy metal moving around the arena (Shermans, Sextons, M3 Halftracks, Dingo armoured cars to name but a few).
More Hardware! The 3.7AA gun also works!
Sunday
Last day of the Fest which finished at lunch time. Talks attended that day were.
Patton 44
A great talk by John McManus and Kevin Hymel. Best answer to a question asked for the whole weekend. John asked Kevin if Patton was on stage now what you would ask him. Hi answer was “why did you bang your niece!”
Forgotten 44 The Battles No-One remembers
Chat about battles outside the big-name battles which was interesting and informative. It has spurred me to look at the campaign to capture the Scheldt estuary to open the port at Antwerp where I can reuse my landing craft and commandos from my D-Day game.
Imphal 44
A period I don’t know much about and discovered that Rob Lyman’s view is that the Japanese attack could have succeeded if the Japanese had focused on the strategic aims. Another book bought and signed.
The HQ Tent
One the food and beverage stands - afternoon tea - lovley!
Overall, a truly fantastic weekend. The talks were better than I anticipated. Lots of things to see outside the talks. All the living history people were very friendly and knowledgeable. Food and drink were good, and it is a real pleasure spending time with your mates in the club. In James and Al’s words – WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE?
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