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 FORCES
80
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Welcome to the home of
Forces 80
A living history group dedicated in representing the
British
Armed Forces
From 1978 to 1989
From Germany to The Falklands.
Members at Dockyard 800
Members of the
Twentieth
Century Warfare and Living History Society
Important
News:
The
Forces 80 site is currently under major review with a new look and
hopefully better layout of sections.
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It has come to my
attention that some of our photographs are being used to sell
items on Ebay. All pictures on the web site are unless where
stated; © Forces 80 . If you are found to be using pictures
belonging to Forces 80 for commercial gain you will be asked to
remove them or make a donation to the group.
You may also
be reported to Ebay for breach of copyright.
If you wish to use photographs from our web site please do not hesitate
to ask, as permission will be given in the majority of cases (if
it is for a non commercial venture) or at least credit Forces 80
for the picture. |
Forces 80 is funded by the individual
members of the group but costs are on the increase. If every one
who viewed this web site made a gift donation of £2 or more, it
would help us attend more events and help towards the purchase of the
larger pieces of equipment and more importantly allow me to keep the
website up and running ultimately expanding it to be the reference site I
hope it will become. Thankyou.
Jonathan Smith
CO Forces 80
Forces
80 supports SAMA (82) which is the association for veterans of the 1982
Falklands conflict. You will find us with the collection tins at
the various events we attend, so do not be surprised if we mug you of
your spare change.
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Either click the section you want or scroll down the page.
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Our
Creation :- About us bit.
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Events
:- Informs you of upcoming events we will be attending and what events we
have attended.
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Units
:- Shows which units we have portrayed and contains the order or precedence
for 1983.
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Combined
Operations :- Affiliated groups and sub groups of Forces 80
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Uniforms
:- Information on the various uniforms and patterns worn during the period.
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Equipment
:- contains information on the various personal weapons, equipment and
webbing issued at the time
(Includes webbing contents)
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Deployments
:- Information on the various conflicts and deployments we cover.
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Training
exercises :- Information on recruitment weekends and other non
event activities the group get up to.
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Photo Gallery
:- Various pictures of the group.
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Reference
:- Contains information on reference books and pictures.
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Links
:- links page to useful sites and over Re-enactment groups.
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Joining Us
:- A small section on how to join us and what we expect from you.
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Show
Organizers :- information on how to book us.
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Wanted Section
:- The bit where you can help us track down items that we need.
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Contact
Us :- Contact section.
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Members with Falklands Veterans, David Yates author of "Bomb
Alley", Tony Groom author of "Diver",
and Malcolm MacLean author of "Naval Accidents" at Meet Your Navy,
2008
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Our
Creation:
Whilst at The War and Peace Show (Beltring) in 2004
we noticed that the living
history groups mainly dealt with the British Army in World War Two or from the
1st Gulf War onwards. As I had some British Infantry equipment for the early
eighties I donned my uniform and walked around the
living history field where I was complimented upon my appearance. Several
ex-service men stopped and
talked to me and gave me advice and information on how to make my representation
more visually correct, especially Kenny who was a member of
5 Airborne Brigade Group who was a serving member informed me that he was well
pleased as what I had done as it
was his History...
Light bulb time.
Having had such a positive response and feeling rather encouraged we started
looking into how to create a group. After several head banging sessions amongst
a few friends 'Forces 80' was created ready in time for Beltring 2005.
Our display attracted a modest amount of attention
again from ex-serving
members of the armed forces and we gained valuable information and at the end
came to the conclusion every unit had its own ways of doing things and as they
say "That was That".
Our thanks goes to the members of
5
Airborne Brigade Group who
repeatedly redressed us to an embarrassing degree and the Ex-members of
the
‘Green Jackets’ who seemed to be part of every living
history group and came bounding over to play with the weapons.
*As
of February 2007 we have decided to change our mandate from representing the
Army to representing the Armed Forces as a whole as we have had requests to do
various other units and seeing as we portray Naval Party 8901 and 40 Commando
which are both Naval units we thought that the change would be appropriate.*
*As of June 2008 we have also decided to include 1989 to the years we represent
to allow us to cover the fall off the wall.*
*Forces 80 is now on face book, come
and say hello - Forces 80 is now on face book, come
and say hello - Click
here*
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EVENTS:
We
attend various shows and events around the UK throughout the year, all are
listed along with selected Photo's.
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F80 UP-COMING EVENT
Location:
COME VISIT US
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Events planned for 2010:
MAIN FORCE
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February - Fire Power Museum - TBC
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28th February - South Cheshire
Militaire - TBC
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MAY - Bunker Bash - TBC
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31st July/1st August - Navy Days -
Portsmouth - TBC
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7th/8th August - Blast from the Past
- Broadlands, Hampshire - TBC
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29th/30th - Either - Sheffield Fayre
OR Doncaster Aeroventure Museum - TBC
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2nd/3rd October - Sherwood Forest -
TBC
TBC = To be Confirmed
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Various - Members of Forces
80 and Cold War Provost regularly attend the UKMS2000 Militaria event held
monthly at Chatham docks, look out for them.
RAF REGIMENT
COLD WAR PROVOST
Events attended 2009:
MAIN FORCE
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16/17th February - Fire Power Museum, London
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22nd February - South Cheshire
Model show, Crewe
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18th/19th April - History
festival III, York
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18th/19th July - Colchester
Military Festival
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22nd to 26th July - War and
Peace, Beltring
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30th August - Doncaster
Aero adventure museum - SAMA event
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3rd/4th October - Sherwood through the ages
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18th October - Help for
the Heroes - Crewe Railway Heritage Centre
RAF REGIMENT
COLD WAR PROVOST
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16th/17th May - The Bunker
Bash
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22nd to 25th May - Overlord
2009
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22nd/23rd August - Military
Mayhem 2009
Archived Events:
A special thanks goes to Howard at Event
Plan for repeatedly asking us back to there events.
Event Plan - Living History Events
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©Forces80
Units:
We
had originally decided not to badge up and to represent the
army as a whole as we could not
decide to which regiment to represent. After a
discussion with an retired RTR Lieutenant-Colonel who suggested that we
portrayed "The Cheshire's" due to their up-coming amalgamation
in 2007 where they will in effect cease to exist. We decided to give
this some thought, after a small period of time we agreed amongst our selves to badge as the Cheshire's
unless we were doing a Falklands display where we would badge
as the Welsh Guards and 40 Commando which was decided upon due to the Welsh
Guards loosing the equivalent of two companies when the Galahad was
hit which were later replaced by 2 companies of marines. It is of note
though that we now badge up as required and sometimes we are seen at events
representing various regiments.
*If
interested in joining you are not confined unless requested to by a event organizer
to represent these particular regiments*
Order
of Precedence 1983
Women
in the army
We
also represent from time to time the following regiments and units:
A
Special thanks go to the Cheshire Regimental Museum
for their help in providing
much needed advice and information.
*September
2007: The Cheshire Regiment ceases to exist along with the Staffordshire
Regiment and Notts' & Derby Regiment which now come under the Mercian
Brigade.*
Some
Links:
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Combined
Operations:
The idea behind Forces 80 is to provide a rallying point for other smaller
groups and individuals that wish to portray the British Army in the 1980's and
to be able to provide mutual support until they feel they are ready to go it
alone.
In
2007 we
adopted a Military police section which was called "80 Provost". In
late 2008 the decision was taken to change their name to "Cold war
provost"
COLD WAR PROVOST
In 2007 we were also proud to present our first affiliated overseas group
based in the USA.
10 PARA (V)
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© MOD
Uniforms:
Dress
codes rule the British Army with a degree of leeway in combinations. We use
dress codes 8,13 and 14 where applicable.
We strive to use the correct issue of clothing but are sometimes unable to find it
in the sizes needed so a later issue is purchased and later replaced once the
correct item is found. We are always mindful of our appearance and when the
wrong article of clothing is used we make no allusions that it is correct.
Uniforms
and Dress Codes
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©Forces80 2008
Equipment:
The
Infantry equipment of the Infantry in the 1980's was made up of various
designs dating from as far back as the 1940's with helmets designed for the
invasion of Europe, rifles first developed in 1947 and 1960's uniforms. To
say that it was varied is an understatement. The 1980's also saw the
introduction and development of new equipment and weapons which still served side by side with
the old well into the mid 1990's and which some of the new equipment is still
in use today, albeit, improved versions. The
equipment section started as a guide to the various pieces that you
would see
on our display, but this is now being expanded to encompass virtually any and all
of
the kit issued. It is, by no means complete and will be constantly added
to but there will be inevitably going to be bits of equipment we are going to overlook or miss out.
Equipment
We
are always on the look out for pieces of equipment to supplement and improve our
display so if you have any items you think that we might like please contact us,
please bear in mind that we are not as rich as most people and groups and rely
on donations and peoples charitable nature. So if you have any thing you like to
donate or sell to us please feel free to contact us.
www.ew-trading.co.uk
Suppliers
of Equipment and Uniforms to Forces 80.
Please
mention Forces 80 when contacting this supplier.
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TA 100
1908 - 2008
100 years of the Territorial Army
Deployments:
Each section will eventually have there own section
when I finally get round to constructing the pages.
Deployments
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Exercises and Training:
Other Information:
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"OH SHUT UP JONES 46 - THINK WHAT A VALUABLE EXPERIENCE
IT ALL IS !"
Known Operations:
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1978
Lebanon - UN Operation
(supporting Fijian troops)
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1979
Iran - Evacuation of civilians
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1979-84 Operation Agila
Rhodesia/Zimbabwe
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1980
New Hebrides - Civil unrest
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1982
Falklands War
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1982
Sinai Peace Keeping operations
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1983
Beirut
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1983
Aden - Evacuation of British
Nationals (civil war)
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1987-88 Gulf - Mine sweeping /
clearance
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Training
Exercises:
So
that we can get things right occasionally we have what amounts to Dry Runs in
full kit, this page shows us out and about playing (So to speak) soldiers, where
we practice drills etc. We
also have the occasional Airsoft event where we can all act as a squad and let
of steam.
Photo
Gallery SHAKEDOWN
EVENT 2007
SHAKEDOWN
EVENT 2008
" IF HE WALKS PAST ONCE MORE WITH HIS 'JOLLY GOOD - ISN'T
THIS GREAT - WELL DONE CHAPS!'
I
SWEAR I'LL KILL HIM... "
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Reference
Photos: On
this page you will find various reference photos from various sources. All are
copyright and where possible I have credited the relevant source:
Reference
page Reference
Book Page
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Links: On
the web site you will find various links to organizations, events and regiments
where they are relevant to that part of the site but I have decided to collate
them on a separate page for you to browse. Links
Page
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Joining: We
have currently suspended our recruitment of members. Please feel free to still
contact us on this matter. Joining
Information Pack
PDF Format
UPDATE:
Due
to a few Walter Mittys who have approached the group, any member or prospected
member who claims to be Ex or current forces may be required to provide proof .
BE WARNED:
If any person is found to be impersonating a member of the armed forces
especially as a officer, any and all relevant information will be provided to
the Police, MOD Police and RMP.
We do not take the above matter lightly and will in all cases take the
appropriate action the group feels is required and in some case even name and
shame.
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Event
Organizers: PLEASE GET IN TOUCH We
are always looking for new events and invitations to various shows by organizers
are welcome.
Our display can be tailored to suit the organizers needs.
For further information please feel free to contact us.
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Feel
free to email me: Click Here: CONTACT
ME Please put
Forces 80 in the Subject bar.
Thank
you for checking us out and please look out for us at the shows
Jonathan Smith
CO Forces 80
©Forces 80 2005 - 2009
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