As 2025 drew to a close, we squeezed in a final run of events, visits, and training evenings. What follows is a brief round-up of the activities that brought the year to an end for Redline Home Guard.
21 November – Woodcote Rally Presentation Evening
Our run towards the end of the year began on 21 November, when a few of us attended the presentation evening for the Woodcote Rally. This was the night we finally got our hands on the trophy for Best Military Display, which we had been awarded earlier in the year.
In true Redline fashion, we turned up in uniform, which turned out to be a very sensible decision as it was a rather nippy evening. The heavy serge uniforms did an excellent job of keeping the cold at bay. It was a proud moment for the group, and a great way to recognise the hard work everyone put into our displays over the season.
27 November – Redline Visit to the REME Museum
On 27 November, a small number of us paid a visit to the REME Museum. Located at Lyneham in Wiltshire, the museum may be relatively compact, but it packs in a huge amount of information and is extremely well presented.
A thoroughly enjoyable morning was spent exploring the galleries, with several exhibits standing out. The full-size reproduction of a tracked vehicle and the landing craft display right at the beginning of the museum immediately caught our attention. Both offered plenty of food for thought, particularly in terms of how vehicles, engineering, and context can be used to strengthen interpretation. It certainly gave us ideas about how we might develop and enhance our own displays looking ahead to 2026.
28 November – Bren Gun Training Evening
Our final full training evening of the year took place at South Stoke Village Hall, with the focus firmly on the Bren gun. The evening began with a talk from 2/LT Chambers, covering the history of the weapon and a detailed run-through of its main components.
Following this, we got hands-on with the Brens themselves, learning our way around the weapon, stripping them down, and taking the opportunity to give them a bit of well-earned cleaning and TLC. Training on the Bren will continue at our first evening of 2026, when we will move on to learning and practising the weapons drill.
12 December – Guarding the Redline at Gatehampton Pillbox
We rounded off 2025 on 12 December with an atmospheric evening at Gatehampton pillbox. A group of us patrolled down to the box and settled in under the faint glow of paraffin lamps, keeping watch over the railway viaduct and the River Thames.
Despite the cold, spirits were kept high with seasonal refreshments, including some excellent homemade treats kindly provided by Pte Gourley’s good lady wife. The patrol back to the cars was made all the more memorable by the distant sound of a large fireworks display. The bangs and explosions echoing off the nearby hills were remarkably evocative, bringing to mind the soundscape of an air raid and adding an unexpected final note to the year.
Looking Back, Looking Ahead
2025 has been a fantastic year for Redline Home Guard, filled with events, training, visits, and opportunities to share local wartime history. As we close the year, we would like to thank everyone who has supported us, invited us to events, worked alongside us, or helped in any way throughout the year.
We wish all our friends, supporters, and fellow groups a very happy New Year, and we look forward to seeing what 2026 has in store.
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