Keep young and beautiful at this weekend’s Salute to the 1940s.

Rated one of Britain’s best vintage festivals in the country, organisers at the Historic Dockyard Chatham are urging visitors: ‘It’s your duty to look your beautiful best,’ and it wants all-comers to turn back time and dress in 1940s costume.

Hundreds of retro fashion enthusiasts attend the event each year to soak up the Home Front atmosphere.

Whether in civilian or military costume, families and friends are transformed as the streets of the Historic Dockyard are returned to wartime Kent.

This year will see even more stalls selling 1940s’ merchandise including Tinkers Alley Traders, as well as a village fete, the Just Lovely vintage fair in Commissioner’s House, plus hair, make-up and fashions. Afternoon tea will be available in Mrs Tea’s Vintage Tea Room in the stunning ballroom of Commissioner’s House.

During the weekend, the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings – which many consider as the beginning of the road to the end of the war – is commemorated, together with the 70th anniversary of the launch of the Historic Dockyard’s own Second World War Destroyer HMS Cavalier.

To mark these occasions, the Spirit of Kent Spitfire will fly overhead, HMS Cavalier’s guns will be fired and the diesel locomotive Overlord will run on the Dockyard railway (which served on the D-Day beaches with the Royal Engineers).

Other attractions throughout the weekend will include plenty of live music, air
raid experiences, vintage military vehicles, hundreds of 1940s re-enactors, fashion shows and parades, themed catering and land army animals.

All in all, it promises to be a spiffing weekend.

Salute to the ’40s is on Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21 at the Historic Dockyard Chatham. On the day, tickets cost £16 for adults, £10 for children aged five to 15, and £43 for families of four. Discounts are available for advance purchases. Visit www.thedockyard.co.uk/salutetothe40s or call 01634 823826.