Subscribers to my Newsletter and members of the GDMK Images Facebook Group are enjoying a discount on all these Operation Granby/Desert Storm products. They also got early access to them before full launch.
If you want to enjoy the same benefits then subscribe to the newsletter or join our Facebook Group!
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Next Aircraft Designs
The next steps will be to add these aircraft designs to our Classic Military Aircraft clothing range.
The design will reflect the aircraft name and service dates (for retired aircraft types).
There will be several variations of each type of the aircraft featured in the Desert Storm range.
Already added to the Classic Military Aircraft range are the following variations of desert Storm aircraft types –
RAF Buccaneer, F-15E Strike Eagle and Challenger Tank Added to Desert Storm Anniversary Clothing Range
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Operation Granby/Desert Storm, we recently launched a range of Desert Storm embroidered and printed gifts to honour those that took part in the conflict.
1st Set of Desert Storm 30th Anniversary Designs
In the 1st set of clothing designs, we released the following aircraft –
Tornado GR1 of 16 Sqn
Jaguar GR1 of 6 Sqn
A-10 of 511 TFS
Each design has ‘1991 – 2021’ above the aircraft and ‘Operation Granby 30’ below the UK aircraft and ‘Desert Storm 30’ below the US aircraft.
If you have a favourite Desert Storm aircraft then let me know and I will add it to the range!
Want A Discount and Early Access to New Designs?
Subscribers to my Newsletter and members of the GDMK Images Facebook Group are enjoying a discount on all these Operation Granby/Desert Storm products. They also got early access to them before full launch.
If you want to enjoy the same benefits then subscribe to the newsletter or join our Facebook Group!
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Let me know what you think to these new aircraft designs and which aircraft or vehicles you would like to see added!
Thanks for reading and stay safe!!
Gary
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Share These Operation Granby 30th Anniversary Gifts With Your Aviation Enthusiast Friends and Family
17th January marks the 30th Anniversary of the start of Operation Granby. Operation Granby was the UK Armed Forces component of Desert Storm, what many people call the first Gulf War.
To commemorate the anniversary, we have launched a range of embroidered and printed gifts to honour those that took part in the conflict.
Desert Storm 30 Designs
The designs will be launched in several phases and will feature military aircraft and vehicles that took part in the conflict.
More Desert Storm and Operation Granby Aircraft to Come
I will be adding more aircraft and vehicles to this range over the coming weeks – if you have a particular favourite then let me know!
There was a huge number of aircraft and vehicles that took part in Operation Granby/Desert Storm.
Initially I am tempted to add the following in release 3
B-52
F-111
Victor
As I said earlier, let me know if you have a favourite!
Want A Discount and Early Access to New Designs?
Subscribers to my Newsletter and members of the GDMK Images Facebook Group are enjoying a discount on all these Operation Granby/Desert Storm products. They also got early access to them before full launch.
If you want to enjoy the same benefits then subscribe to the newsletter or join our Facebook Group!
[button text=”get new designs first at discounted prices!!” style=”shade” size=”larger” radius=”10″ depth=”4″ depth_hover=”5″ expand=”true” link=”https://gdmkimages.co.uk/subscribe-gdmk-images-newsletters/”]
Let me know what you think to these new aircraft designs and which aircraft or vehicles you would like to see added!
Thanks for reading and stay safe!!
Gary
Recent News on GDMK Images …
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Share These Operation Granby 30th Anniversary Gifts With Your Aviation Enthusiast Friends and Family
Handley Page Hampden Added to the Classic Military Aviation Clothing Range
The first new aircraft type we have added during this update is the Handley Page Hampden.
The Hampden was was introduced in 1936 and was used extensively during the early years of Bomber Commands offensive against German Forces.
A relatively small aircraft, the Hampden was not a huge success and was relegated to Coastal Command and secondary duties as more capable aircraft such as the Lancasters and Halifaxes were introduced into service.
The Hampden depicted in our design is from 44 Squadron and is coded KM-M
August 15th 2020 marks the 75th Anniversary of the surrender of Japanese Forces and the conclusion of World War 2.
The Burma Campaign for British Forces, and the parallel Pacific Campaign for US forces, were hugely devastating and costly campaigns. Both are often overshadowed by the European theatre of operations.
War in the Far East was a completely different type of conflict compared to the European conflict. The Japanese were ruthless and fought with a tenacity, and some might say cruelty, that is only truly understood by those who were exposed to it.
VJ Day 75th Anniversary Design Details
My tribute to the Far East Veterans features a large VJ in green to represent the Jungle. Perched on top of the V is a WW2 ‘Slouch’ style bush hat with a 14th Army badge. The ‘Slouch’ is the hat seen in all pictures featuring soldiers during the Burma Campaign.
Below the design are the words ‘Never Forgotten’ in tribute to those Veterans and to ensure going forward, their fight and struggle will remain in our memories.
Many Burma Campaign veterans felt they were the ‘Forgotten Army’.
With the European War finishing in May 1945, many veterans were beginning to return home in the Autumn and Winter of 1945.
Many of the Far East veterans didn’t start arriving home until the spring and Summer of 1946, by which point those at home were beginning to ‘move on’.
Whilst many from the European theatre returned home to heroes welcomes, street parties and such like, Far East veterans returned home to virtually no fanfare.
Indeed I have heard tales, where the only people to meet a veteran upon their return, was a Salvation Army worker.
National Memorial Arboretum and A Bomber Command Veteran
Meeting a Bomber Command Veteran
Yesterday I had the extreme priviledge of meeting a WW2 Bomber Command veteran from 101 Squadron. Ron Davies was at the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas as a guest of Take Cover Creations. This was a great chance to also visit and pay our respects at our families respective unit memorials.
Ron was signing copies of his book ‘From Landsman to Lancasters’, which is Rons story in his own words. Rons book is a fascinating story of a man from the Wirral describing his experiences in the pre-war years, on 101 Squadron at Ludford Magna and then on to the Tiger Force in the Far East. A brilliant read well worth buying if you have the chance. Ron donates the proceeds to various charities close to his heart.
I have met Ron at a couple of shows where we have been trading earlier this year. Unfortunately we never got past the handshake and a quick few pleasantries due to be being so busy on the stall. This meeting at the National Memorial Arboretum was a chance to have a proper chat.
Ron is a great guy, and to speak to a genuine Bomber Command veteran was a great honour. He was so easy going, I could have sat all day listening to him talk. All too soon Ron had signed and sold all his books and it was time for him to leave.
Memorials For Our Families at the National Memorial Arboretum
The day was very poignant for us as we took the opportunity to visit the memorials our families had connections to. Moreover it brought home how much I missed talking to my own Grand Father about his time in Burma during the war.
WW1 Memorials
After meeting Ron we visited the Essex Regiment memorial to pay our respects. My Great grandfather was in the Essex Regiment during the 2nd Boer War and was killed outside Ypres in 1916. My Grand Father had always believed his father died without a known grave. Shortly before he passed away, I was able to trace my Great Grand Father to a graveyard outside Ypres. We planned a visit to take my Grand Father to Ypres, but unfortunately he passed away shortly after my discovery. I made that trip as planned which was an extremely moving experience. Seeing the Essex Regiment memorial brought back a lot of that emotion.
We stopped off at the Shot at Dawn Memorial. This memorial made me feel pretty angry and disgusted as I began to look through all the names and ages. 17 year olds, 18 year olds?? So many of them not even men. Most of those guys probably signed up eagerly to serve King and Country, but became part of something that was so ghastly, it is still beyond comprehension 100 years later. Sometimes I despair at the thought of these kids fighting in barbaric conditions at that age. Being treated as a coward and dealt with in such an inhumane fashion is incomprehensible.
Railway Industry Memorial
Following this we came across the Railway Industry Memorial. After spending 27 (mostly) happy years on the railway I was fully aware of the huge affect conflicts have had on the people who worked on the railways during the wars. Many 1000s also signed signed up for King and Country during both world Wars. It was only appropriate to stop for a few quiet minutes in reflection.
World War 2 in the Far East Memorials
Next was the Far East Prisoner of War memorial on behalf of Dawns Grand Father who was an RAF airframe fitter. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese literally 4 or 5 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and the first island Invasions. He was moved around several camps and ended up at Nagasaki as a slave labourer in a Mitsubishi ship factory. He was there when the 2nd atomic bomb was dropped and unbelievably survived, living into his late 50s.
Our final call was at the Norfolk Regiment memorial for my Grand Dad. He signed up under age in 1936 and served in India and Afghanistan. As a side note he had some very interesting observations about the later Afghan Wars! He then served in Burma throughout the Second World War.
Thanks for reading about our day at the National Memorial Arboretum and meeting a Bomber Command Veteran. If you get a chance to meet a veteran, please take the opportunity, you wont regret it!
Rons Book – From Landsman to Lancasters
If you would like a copy of Rons book, From Landsman to Lancasters, get in touch with Take Cover Creations who will only be too pleased to help you out.
If you have any questions about anything in this article, please feel free to drop us a line
All the best for now
Gary and Dawn
Share this story about us meeting a WW2 veteran with your family and aviation enthusiast friends…. thanks!
Our New Year Sale Features New Mystery Bundles!This year’s New Year sales have a bit of a twist and feature mystery bundles of products.What Is In The Mystery Sale Bundles?Our mystery sale bundles can include pretty much anything from across our range, from the humble… Read more: Get Your Mystery Sale Bundles Now!
GDMK Images Is Supporting #ModelTrainShow2025! GDMK Images is delighted to be involved in supplying merchandise to support this fantastic online event in 2025! What Is The Model Train Show? #ModelTrainShow2025, is an online model railway event supporting the Railway Children charity. By purchasing show merchandise,… Read more: Model Train Show 2025
We have new Vietnam War themed wall art and gifts for military history enthusiasts! Both of these new designs are digital art designs I created featuring US Army 1st Cavalry REO trucks in Vietnam War period scenes. The designs came about after talking to a… Read more: New Vietnam War Themed Designs Added
Our 2024 Christmas order cut off date is fast approaching Get your Christmas order in before 9th December to ensure you dont miss out on that perfect Christmas gift for your aviation and railway enthusiast loved ones! We currently have a very high level of… Read more: Christmas Order Cut Off Date
New embroidered loco livery variations for railway enthusiasts! We have added several new loco livery variations to our embroidered garments. Class 31 The 1st new loco livery additions feature Class 31 locos in Red Stripe Railfreight and Triple Grey Coal Sector. Class 33 Next up… Read more: New Embroidered Loco Liveries and 2 New Railway T-Shirts Added!
3 new classes of locos to the railway clothing range! Heads up railway enthusiasts, we have added new class 08, 20 and 58 locos to the clothing range. Each of these classes have endeared themselves to rail enthusiasts over the years. Class 08 Shunter The… Read more: New Class 08 20 and 58 Embroidered Clothing
We have been extremely fortunate to partner up with an exceptionally talented digitising and embroidery team. The detail of the digitisation and embroidery work is truly exceptional and allows us to be confident in launching a full range of high quality products.
Today we launch a full range of embroidered clothing and accessories starting with –
All of these clothes have been hand picked not only to be modern, stylish and contemporary, but have been tested extensively to ensure they provide appropriate quality and longevity to match the quality of the designs. We dont see the point of making stunning designs available on cheap nasty clothes that wont last!
The following railway, aviation and military themed designs are currently available -[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
I have a new dedicated military art gallery page to bring all my military pictures and digital art portfolio together. In response to your interest and enthusiasm towards my military art at our shows, I have worked on increasing my military art work collection. I have now created a military art gallery to bring all military themed artwork together in one single gallery.
Art work is still visible in their respective categories such as aircraft, vehicles or digital art. This new gallery simply brings everything with a military theme into an additional picture gallery. Its just another way to help you quickly get to a relevant type of picture.
Please let me know your thoughts on this new military gallery.
The biggest military vehicle show of the year on our calendar saw us visiting the 5 day War and Peace Revival show at Folkestone racecourse.
We were all looking forward to the opportunity to get up close to so many iconic military vehicles.
The War and Peace Revival has a mixed history but has been running under various guises for over 20 years. It is reputed to be THE event for re-enactors, vehicle owners and related associations to get together and put on a show of hardware and live action.
Because of its close location to Europe, many rare and prized foreign vehicles make their only UK appearances. This alone makes the show a must see in the eyes of many fans and enthusiasts.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
So Wheres Our Pitch Then?????
With excitement levels high for this mighty show, I have to say our first impressions were not brilliant. The marshals seemed to be none existent upon arrival. At reception there was no guidance on how to get to our stall pitch. We had the privilege of doing two full circuits of the site before we found a trader who could point us in the right direction. Don’t get me wrong, we had great views of the display areas and vehicles on show, but after a 4 hour drive we just wanted to get to our pitch. The marshals were wearing white ‘war and peace’ t-shirts which is not much use when you are looking for the usual yellow/green hiviz clothing normally associated with event officials.
Anyway we did find our pitch about an hour after arriving![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Punter and Trader Personas Clash
The War and Peace Revival Show, all in all, was a real mixed event. The show caused some inner (and vented) exasperation to both my punter and trader personas.
As a punter, it was fantastic to walk around and chat with the other traders, re-enactors and vehicle owners. Unfortunately, this caused significant conflict with my trader persona as I had far too much time to do the above. The organisation of, and footfall through, the trading area is a serious problem for the long-term health of this show. As a trader, at one of the biggest militaria events in the UK, you should expect to be fully occupied with your business, not sitting around with other traders and participants waiting for the crowds to arrive.
The main cause for this, in my opinion, was the sheer distance of the car park from the trading area. For a fit and able person, you needed around 30 – 40 mins to cover this distance. Add in temperatures in the high 20s/low 30s and this becomes quite an issue.
Furthermore, add in there were virtually zero facilities for the infirm or disabled and you have yourself an issue.
The punters would walk from the car park, through the re-enactment and living history areas and eventually come across the trading area tucked about as far away from the car park as physically possible.
My daughter and I walked several times through the vehicle displays to and from the trading area. It was A LONG WAY!!! Especially walking back at the end of an evening’s photography!
There was a ‘shuttle’ service, consisting of a tractor and trailer, moving people around the site. Judging by visitors comments it was running an irregular pattern. I overheard many complaints of long waits for the shuttle.
With my punters head on, if I were a visitor, I would probably not have bothered with the trading area unless there was something specific I wanted to buy. Which is pretty much exactly what happened. People were only buying what they needed.
There were very few people generally browsing any of the stalls, be it camo clothing traders, toy traders, general militaria traders and so on.
This was a real shame as it was our first visit of which we were very much looking forward to.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Should a Trader Be Able to Expect More?
By day 3 the reality had sunk in that there was a serious issue with the layout affecting many traders. Many were extremely unhappy at the lack of footfall. We take each show as it comes. We arrive with an open mind as you never know how a show is going to pan out, but it was disheartening to see regular traders so unhappy with the situation.
This irked my trader persona as we can accept low sales as a result of people choosing not to buy our products. To have your sales potential restricted by poor organisation is something different. As traders, we pay handsomely for our pitches. In return we expect the organisers to make reasonable efforts to ensure the maximum footfall is circulated equitably around the trade area.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][ess_grid alias=”war-and-peace-revival-show-2016-1″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Heroes of The Show
A somewhat unexpected side effect of this situation allowed my punter persona to make the most of the event by walking around the re-enactment and living history areas.
The time made available by quiet trading allowed me to visit many of the re-enactment groups and vehicles.
This is where things brighten up considerably. I have to say the living history, re-enactment groups and vehicle owners were the true heroes of the War and Peace Revival. I take my hat off to the guys n gals who present stunning vehicles and realistic encampments.
It is important to remember these military shows are not a glorification of war. They are not men playing with big boys toys either (well not all the time anyway!). The various groups and vehicle owners are keen to keep everything as accurate as possible in respect to the men and women who lived and died in the uniforms on show. The huge learning opportunity to the generations who never had to fight for freedom cannot be underestimated.
There is always a certain air about these events. You could feel the sense of pride in people when talking to them about their vehicle or group. Everyone had such a passion towards ensuring the authenticity of their respective roles. People were in awe of those who did it all for real and felt a responsibility to make sure their contribution portrayed the story in a respectful way.
Indeed, my own emotions were tugged at when I came across a Japanese soldier in the trade area wearing full combat dress.
My Grandfather fought the Japanese in Burma and he told me a few tales. Most tales were about his escapades when on leave but ocassionally he dropped in a snippet about his combat experiences. Seeing this representation of what he had dealt with momentarily stopped me in my tracks.
This was confirmation to me about the huge educational value of such shows. It is vitally important we never forget the sacrifices made by generations of our forebears. It is more important that we learn what causes such conflict and hatred between people and find ways to deal with differences before blood is spilt. Unfortunately we have a very long way to go …………..
I like to think I know my way around the history of most of the 20th Century Wars and conflicts. Talking with these men and women opened my eyes to so many gaps in my knowledge.
We are all familiar with the big battles and events, but there is so much that is glossed over by the media. I feel priveliged to have learnt so much from dedicated individuals representing all factions involved in 20th Century conflicts.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Summing Up The War and Peace Revival Show 2016
Being a ‘newbie’ to the show,  it didnt take long to pick up vibes when talking to the public, traders, vehicle owners and re-enactment groups around the showground. There were frequent references to some angst in the build up to the show between various parties. It seems the result was fewer vehicles, fewer re-enactment groups and lower takings by many traders. A real shame for me personally, as my trader and punter personas were really looking forward to the show!
Although sales were low, interest in my unique art style was very high. I am extremely grateful to have been asked by several vehicle owners and groups to undertake commissions to create art work for their them. I also received several requests to undertake photoshoots which combined with the commissions, will help offset the lack of sales. Many thanks to those involved for asking me if you are reading this!
So on with a few more photos taken at the show.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][ess_grid alias=”war-and-peace-revival-show-2016-2″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Thanks for reading and feel free to leave your views on my below
Cheers for now
Gary[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”sky” el_width=”80″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”Subscribe to GDMK Images” txt_align=”center” add_button=”bottom” btn_title=”Sign me up!” btn_custom_background=”#0098da” btn_custom_text=”#fffffd” btn_link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fstaging.gdmkimages.co.uk%2Fsubscribe-gdmk-images-newsletters%2F|title:Subscribe%20and%20never%20miss%20an%20update!||”]Subscribe and never miss an update![/vc_cta][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
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