Express & Star

Thousands head to Black Country Museum for 1940s weekend - with pictures and video

The Black Country Living Museum welcomed thousands of guests for their annual 1940s Weekend on Saturday and Sunday as part of this year's Black Country Festival.

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The WVS

Visitors could step back in time and immerse themselves in the sights and sounds of wartime Britain – with vintage vehicles, 1940s civilians, army personnel, iconic war planes, the sound of air sirens filling the streets and a fly past from a Lancaster Bomber.

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Guests could even brush shoulders with royalty with King George VI and former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

The event also featured a host of vintage entertainment including live music from the D-Day Darlings, wartime variety shows, workshops, street re-enactors and street drama.

Francesca Horton relives an era
Mike Whelan with a French resistance secret radio
A mine in the canal
An evacuee takes a nap
Tea time
The bridge checkpoint
The home front
Amos Burke in his Anderson shelter
Anyone for tea?
A quick repair job
Para Andy Bill guards the bridge
Keith Taylor and David Moore put out a fire
An MP on patrol
Dance lessons in the Institute
Andy Winfrow deals with a unexploded bomb
Hugs as friends meet up

Grant Bird, from the museum, said: “The 1940s weekend has been a brilliant event for us this year.

“It has been our most popular 1940s event for a number of years – as we had more than 3,000 people visit us on Saturday. We have had a really enthusiastic response from our visitors and everyone seems to have really enjoyed themselves.

Therese Engall and Yvonne Somrani
The home guard on parade

“We have been lucky to have the Lancaster Bomber fly past on both which has been fantastic.”