Page 98 - 100% Biker (January 2020)

YOU’VE BEEN NABBED
JOINS THE MILITARY …
SORT OF!
his year’s You’ve Been
Nabbed Rally at the Royal
Cheshire Showground is
on the same weekend as the
T75th anniversary of the end
of World War 2 in Europe. VE
Day events around the land are
being primed and ready to march
on—and the NABD is joining
in. This year we are having
a military theme for anyone
wishing to dress for the occasion.
VE Day is, as we all know,
the day that Germany formally
surrendered and brought peace to
Europe after several years of bitter
conflict. The Allied Armed Forces
had finally defeated Hitler’s
Wehrmacht. As you can imagine,
this brought the people out onto
the streets around the world to
celebrate. 75 years on, the number
of men and women who fought
Grav is well- so valiantly has dwindled and it
known to is now up to us, the generations
many as one of
the stalwarts that followed, to continue
of the rally to remember the sacrifices
scene, keen made by their generation.
advocate of I’m not one for fancy dress,
the NABD and I’m much more comfortable
now a 100% being me, but I know there will
freelancer
sneaking up on be a lot of folks attending the
you at rallies. 29th You’ve Been Nabbed Rally
He’s also an who will don the uniforms and
all-round good fashions of the time. It should be
bloke, and, interesting to see folks interpret
in his role as those times and I am sure that
indefatigable
admin, he our chums at Johnson’s Army
now helps to Surplus stall will do a roaring
keep both the trade. It should be fun to see
100% Biker 1940s Britain having a day out
Facebook page in the sunshine. Will it be much
and forum in
order. He likes like the re-enactment fraternity
custard. enjoy doing every weekend of the
98 | 100% Biker | issue 256 | www.100-biker.com
year? Probably not, those folks got
a decent head start, but we shall
definitely give it a good crack.
The most important thing we
must do on the 75th anniversary
of VE Day is to remember and
be thankful for the courage of
our parents, grandparents and
extended families. We can all
imagine what it might have been
like for them during that time,
but I don’t think we can truly
understand. We have been the
fortunate ones who have been
able to live in relative peace
with our neighbours. Military
service today is a choice; back
then it was mandatory with
few exceptions. Even politics
which has dogged our nation
for the last few years was put
to one side. A Government of
National Unity sat in Parliament
with Winston Churchill leading
and handling the military and
diplomatic side whilst Clement
Atlee handled domestic issues.
Wartime Britain was a time
of food and clothing rationing
with garments being mended and
handed down through the family.
One pot cooking, now so trendy,
became a necessity as folks had
donated what metal pots and pans
they had to ensure our Armed
Forces had enough weapons,
ammunition, aircraft, ships, tanks
and a multitude of other items that
a fully equipped combined armed
forces needs to keep fighting.
Above all else, they endured.
They endured the Blitz as
Hitler’s Luftwaffe pounded
Britain’s cities and industries.
They endured having their children
evacuated to the countryside to
keep them safe. They endured the
loss of loved ones in the skies above
Britain and Europe as the RAF and
USAAF pummelled Germany’s
cities and industries night after night
and day after day. They endured
losing friends and family beneath
the bombed ruins of their own
homes. They endured hunger, long
hours in the munitions factories
and all weathers in the Land Army
to feed the nation. Let us not forget
the Bevin Boys who endured long
shifts at the coal face so our Royal
Navy and Merchant Navy could
keep the Atlantic convoys moving
back and forth as Britain was turned
into one huge military staging
area in preparation for D Day.
Let us remember their endurance,
their sacrifice and their sheer bloody
mindedness to ‘Keep Calm and
Carry On.’ Let us remember and be
thankful that they endured more
in those few years than any one
of us will ever face in our lifetime.
Let us be thankful that they gave
us peace and an opportunity to
grow up in a world where we
could thrive. It hasn’t been easy,
we have gone to war several times
since the end of WW2, but it hasn’t
affected us to anywhere as much
as it affected them. Their sacrifices
gave you and I a better start in life
than they had, gave you and I the
opportunities to follow hopes and
dreams they themselves had to
put to one side. I know everyone
at the 29th You’ve Been Nabbed
Rally will raise a beer and say
thank you, I hope you can join us.