WAVES of nostalgia will be brought during Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway's (GWSR) "Wartime in the Cotswolds. "

With the RAF celebrating its centenary, the event will take on a special meaning.

With the recent opening of Broadway station, events will include addresses by King George VI, Winston Churchill and Field Marshall Montgomery to the citizens of the village as well as at Winchcombe.

This is the fifth ‘Wartime in the Cotswolds staged by the GWSR, as railway’s volunteers and re-enactors step back over 75 years to the 1940s.

RAF attractions include the acclaimed RAF plotting room demonstration in the new Tim Mitchell visitor centre at Winchcombe station.

In addition there will be plenty of military and period vehicles and hardware, while the narrow-gauge railway at Toddington will also be operating.

Also at Winchcombe station there is the ’Tin Hat Club’ where you can slake your thirst with a pint of local craft beer, as well as visiting military encampments and chatting to re-enactors.

A vintage bus service will operate frequently to and from Winchcombe village where village shops are entering into the spirit of the occasion.

And, marking the RAF’s 100th Anniversary, plenty of blue-grey uniforms can be expected while the heart-stirring music of Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft engines will draw eyes skyward as the RAF Memorial Flight* stage a fly-by.

A full-size replica of a Spitfire will also be at Toddington station complete with original cockpit and Merlin engine which will be fired up from time to time during the weekend and visitors could have the rare opportunity to visit the cockpit.

As well as music of the skies, there will plenty of music in the marquee at Toddington station too - you can listen or dance to the Big Band music of ‘Kalamazoo’ and authentic 1940s singer Lola Lamour.

John Rogers, one of the railway’s volunteers and a member of the event organising committee said: “We’re planning another packed two days of entertainment that will allow visitors to soak up the wartime atmosphere in our lighthearted effort to cock a snook at the enemy and get a taste of what life was like back home during the war.

“It was a time of restrictions on travel, having to keep your ID card handy at all times, rationing, shortages of food and luxuries and never showing a light at night.

“You would have been encouraged ‘to do your bit’ for King and Country and, if you weren't called up you were likely to join the Home Guard. And entertaining the children may have involved laughing at the antics of Laurel and Hardy - and youngsters from 8 to 80 will surely enjoy performances by the comedy duo at our stations.

“But many of our boys in blue and other uniforms didn’t return of course and there will be a short service at Toddington on Sunday to remember them. But everyone looked out for each other and buoyed themselves up with camaraderie and music. And there will be plenty of both during this very special weekend.”

At Broadway, a diesel railcar service will link with Toddington while a bus will take visitors to and from the village which, like Winchcombe, is preparing for the Royal visit from King George VI and his entorage.

The event takes place on Saturday April 28 and Sunday April 29. s