Not Quite MechanisedA Grand Day Out – Montecassino at Campaign, Milton Keynes 10-11 May 2025
Sooo … Standing around in a shopping centre with sharp instruments of medieval mayhem. Is it worth it? The answer has to be a resounding yes! Campaign is the only show I know of where non-wargamers come into contact with us “Bespectacled Beardy Wierdies (BBW)“.¹ It gives the Northamptonshire Battlefields Society (NBS) a chance to promote awareness of battlefield sites in the county and we have a chance to introduce primary school-aged children and older to history in a fun way.
We kind of know that we are doing our job when the teenaged boys in that sort of not-quite-adult age bracket come back and tell us all the facts that they know, some of which are even out of books rather than video shorts – we keep them away from the swords. The girls stop wanting to try on helmets when they discover hair products and nail bars! The dads are usually the ones with the gleam in their eye.
The NQM Montecassino board was a bit of a revelation this year, as it proved to be a focus for people walking past and telling their own stories, not all of which were of the “My father/grandfather served in Italy” variety. Of course a few wargamers strolled past and played the game, but first the most notable story of the day :
“My Grandfather was captured at Montecasssino. When the war ended, my grandmother got out of Berlin before the border closed and came to England. We have been here ever since. My great aunt worked at Bletchly Park decoding German cyphers. When she met my Grandmother, who was a cypher clark in Berlin, they realised that her job was coding the cyphers that my great aunt was decoding!“
One Polish/Italian couple also had skin in the game on both sides.
Half a dozen Poles looked at the board, and all of them knew the history of the battle and the part that Second Polish Corps played in capturing the Abbey. One of them even asked “Where is the Bear?“²
Go on, Jules! You know you want to!
I managed to capture another Man in a Hat for the archive. Jules is a regular Conference of Wargamers attendee who knew that it was probably better not to bomb the Cassino, but did anyway for historical accuracy.
Of course I want to bomb that bit!
Will Whyler is much reduced in mobility nowadays but turned up with his new pair of Hotwheels and James, who previously beat me effortlessly at DBA – I’m not bitter!
Peterborough Wargames Club.
Other participation games offered an eclectic mix of Medieval, Renaissance, WW2, Walace and Grommit meet the Clangers, Witch Racing and Orks in Armoured Tractors!
The team has setting up and packing away to a fine art nowadays, slicker than a buttered weasel, so we had a good end to a Grand Weekend Out.
Footnotes
Wojtek the soldier bear (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/soldier-bear-statue) After his retirement to Edinburgh Zoo, keepers found it disconcerting when Polish veterans would climb into the enclosure to share beer and cigarettes with Wojtek.
