'Country's largest' WW2 battle re-enactment held

Two large World War Two battle re-enactments have taken place as part of a three-day event in Leicestershire.

The Victory Show was held on a 20-acre site at Foxlands Farm, in Cosby, over three days from Friday to Sunday.

The show, which organisers said was the biggest of its kind in the country, also included up to 300 military vehicles, airshows, and re-created trenches.

Event organisers said thousands of visitors have attended across the weekend, which was dedicated to the memory of the D-Day landings 80 years ago.

Organiser Stephen Pepper said: "We started the show in 2005 as a one-off show and here we are 19 years on.

"We have created the largest World War Two show in the country.

"It's grown and grown over the years."

Mr Pepper said the battle re-enactments included tanks, infantry, and pyrotechnics.

Airshows took place on Saturday and Sunday, including an Avro Lancaster, a Hawker Hurricane, two Supermarine Spitfires and a Flying Fortress.

Mr Pepper said the highlight of the weekend was when the Lancaster bomber came over just after 19:00 BST on Saturday.

"You never get to see it really in the evening, which in my eyes was very poignant as that's what would have happened 80 years ago.

"They would have been taking off at that time of night for a night raid on enemy territory."

The weekend began on Friday with an educational day for hundreds of school children from across the county, where they learnt about what life was like during the 1940s.

On Saturday, Mr Pepper said the show attracted 6,000 to 7,000 visitors, including people from all over Europe, and the same numbers were expected on Sunday.

Mr Pepper added: "I'd like to thank everybody for supporting us for so many years to make the show the best of its kind in the country, in our little tiny village of Cosby."

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