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Video of Geraldine Military Museum military revival

Two years ago, Don Pelvin set up the Military Museum in Geraldine as a retirement project. He is pretty happy with how things are going, with an average of a thousand visitors a month, especially as his museum is one of six in the small South Canterbury town. He also organises the Rangitata Island Military Revival on the Saturday and Sunday of Labour weekend every year. This is a combination of a display of military vehicles and gear, and reenactments of actions from WWI and WWII, and it all takes place at the Rangitata aerodrome, an airfield owned by a local farmer. About 50 reenactors turned up in their historically correct uniforms with their suitable weapons, after word had spread in the tight-knit military history world that the event was happening.

Video by Brian High

Two years ago, Don Pelvin set up the Military Museum in Geraldine as a retirement project.
He is pretty happy with how things are going, with an average of a thousand visitors a month, especially as his museum is one of six in the small South Canterbury town. He also organises the Rangitata Island Military Revival on the Saturday and Sunday of Labour weekend every year.
This is a combination of a display of military vehicles and gear, and reenactments of actions from WWI and WWII, and it all takes place at the Rangitata aerodrome, an airfield owned by a local farmer. About 50 reenactors turned up in their historically correct uniforms with their suitable weapons, after word had spread in the tight-knit military history world that the event was happening.
The trenches used in the WWI reenactment – modelled on the defensive earthworks in France and Belgium – had been dug for the previous year’s reenactment. They’ve been slightly modified from the real thing to allow an escape route for sheep who may stumble into them between revivals. 

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