Trophy History and 2006 Winners

Each year at the War and Peace Show trophies are awarded. All military vehicle exhibits are issued with a window sticker with the vehicle's entry number clearly marked. If you wish your entry to be judged, please ensure this is appropriately attached to your vehicle upon arrival and kept in place during the duration of the show.

This is necessary for your vehicle to be judged so that it can be appropriately identified and become a War and Peace prizewinner. There are only 25 categories for winners and runners up. Judges are volunteers whose identities are not disclosed to give them free range around the show site. Judging is not an easy task and any assistance exhibitors can give in making this easier is very much appreciated.

The Bart Vanderveen Challenge Shield

2001 Bart Vanderveen - Editor of Wheels & Tracks Magazine

The Bart Vanderveen Challenge Shield was inaugurated in 2001 by Winston Ramsey, publisher of After The Battle and Wheels & Tracks Magazine in recognition of Bart's huge contribution to the military vehicle movement. When leading military vehicle historian Bart died in Februay 2001 the publishers of Wheels & Tracks took the decision to close the magazine. With a life long interest in military vehicles, Bart became a prolific author on the subject producing the three Olyslager directories in the 60s which have subsequently become standard works. He had edited the irreplaceable Wheels & Tracks magazine ever since he persuaded Winston Ramsey of After The Battle magazine to start to publish it in 1982.

The magazine had reached issue number 72 when Bart learned that he was suffering from cancer and through sheer willpower he completed three more making a total of 75 issues. Since 2005 Classic Military Vehicle magazine has jointly administered the award.

With his natural modesty Bart would doubtlessly have rejected the idea of The Bart Vanderveen Challenge Shield out of hand, but Winston Ramsey decided that the first such award should be made Posthumously for Bart himself for his incredible contribution to the movement. The award was accepted on Bart's behalf by Dirk Leegwater, a long standing friend, of both Bart and his wife Margo.

Bart saw beauty in military vehicles when others saw scrap. He restored his first vehicle in 1959 after publishing a book on the subject. During the 60s Bart's Olyslager books became, and remain, essential for enthusiasts world-wide. He went on to publish many books and was editor of Wheels & Tracks from 1982 until his premature death in 2001.

The Bart Vanderveen Challenge Shield established to respect his memory is presented annually to the individual who has contributed most to the military vehicle preservation movement. Nominations are made by fellow enthusiasts and the award is made at The War and Peace Show.

Previous winners include 2001 Bart Vanderveen Posthumously, 2002 Peter Grey - Founder of the MVT, 2003 Rex Cadman - Organiser of the War and Peace Show/Invicta Military Vehicle Preservation Society, 2004 Tony Budge - Founder of the Budge Collection, 2005 Joe Lyndhurst - Founder of the Warnham Museum and 2006 Preston Isaac - Founder of the Cobbaton Combat Museum.

2002 Peter Grey - Founder of the MVT

2003 Rex Cadman - Organiser of the War and Peace Show

2004 Tony Budge - Founder of the Budge Collection

2005 Joe Lyndhurst - Founder of the Warnham Museum

Joe was born in 1924 in Richmond, Surrey. During the war he was intrigued by the Jeeps that he saw driven by Canadian and American soldiers and resolved that one day he would own one. It took him another 20 years but, in 1962, Joe bought his first Jeep… from a film company!

He used the Jeep as his second car during the summer, but took it off the road and started to restore it to its original military spec during the cold winter of 1962/63. Other Jeeps followed and he entered three in the HCVS London to Brighton run in 1968, taking all three prizes in the military class.

Since the end of the war, Joe had been involved in running the family business, the New Beach Holiday Camp at Earnley near Chichester. The Earnley site meant that Joe was immune from the usual storage problems and by 1973, his collection had grown to 20 vehicles. Not surprisingly, Earnley had become the focus for other enthusiasts in the area, and dressed in US 5th Army uniforms whenever they attended vehicle shows, Joe’s informal group became known as Lyndhurst’s Army.

When the holiday camp was sold in 1974, Joe used his share of the proceeds to buy Tyldens at Durford Hill, Horsham. He had big plans for Tyldens and at Easter 1976, re-opened Tyldens as the Warnham War Museum.

Joe and his wife, Yvonne, ran both the Museum and the restaurant.

As word spread among enthusiasts, the Warnham War Museum began to acquire near-legendary status. Back then, large private collections were unusual, private museums even more so. Aside from the ‘official’ collections held at places such as the IWM and the Tank Museum, Warnham was one of the few locations where enthusiasts and the general public could see a display of WW2 vehicles together with literally hundreds of other WW2 artifacts.

When I bought my first military vehicle in 1980, Warnham was one of the first places that I took it and I can still remember picnicking in the field at the back of the site… though I also recall that the restaurant did a fine line in afternoon teas. I will also confess to you that in 1980 I persuaded my new wife that we should spend one day of our honeymoon at Warnham…

In 1983, Joe wrote the definitive book on military collectables which was published by Salamander… even today, it remains a sought-after guide to this fascinating topic.

The collection continued to grow and expand and Warnham began to host a monthly militaria sale and the occasional auction. As inevitably happens, the collection grew too big for the Lyndhursts to manage and, eventually, the only sensible course of action was to sell-up. Today Tyldens is a nursing home and the collection has been distributed across the world. Curiously, the militaria fairs continue… albeit at nearby Kingsfold.

After a short spell in hospital, Joe died on 14 August 2000. During his 40 years of involvement with the movement he had seen the military vehicle world change beyond all recognition… but his passing has left it considerably poorer.

Joe was a real enthusiast. Generous with his time and his knowledge and always ready to lend a hand. He was almost certainly responsible for encouraging many to collect and restore military vehicles and Joe is a worthy recipient of the Bart Vanderveen Challenge Shield.

Sadly his widow Yvonne was not well enough to be at the show but a long time friend of Joe, George Kimmins, kindly agreed to accept the award on his behalf.
- Courtesy of Pat Ware, CMV Magazine

2006 Preston Isaac - Founder of the Cobbaton Combat Museum

Well known to many as the Founder of one of the UK's finest military vehicle museums and Chairman of the MVT, Preston Isaac is this year's worthy winner.

After eventually settling on the World War II period with British, Canadian and Commonwealth as his main interest, Preston bought a tracked vehicle, a Windsor Carrier, this was quickly joined by a Centaur Tank and a Churchill from Pound's fabled yard in Portsmouth. With typical understatement Preston explains these were quite a challenge to fix after 20 years in a scrap yard.

Housed in two hangers the collection has grown enormously, now including more than 50 military vehicles and artillery pieces and thousands of smaller items from 1939-45. The displays, even the spaces between the buildings, are deliberately cluttered. This is partly because Preston wants to recreate a feeling of homeliness. For many men all they had was their vehicle.

He rationalises the collection by saying that 'we owe it to previous generations to preserve what is left from the period which has been called Britain's finest hour'.
- Courtesy of CMV Magazine

The History of The War and Peace Trophies

The Dickie Dover Trophy - Major Dover, membership number 82, was a founder member and first President of IMPS.

The Buster Smith Trophy - Buster (Richard) Smith, membership number 25, was a founder member of IMPS who did much to get the club started.

The Paul Sutton Trophy - Paul Sutton, membership number 72, and his wife Val were early members of IMPS. Paul was involved with Tenterden Steam Railway and he helped in the early club shows that were held there.

The Ray Ireland Trophy - Ray Ireland, membership number 262. This trophy was orignally presented at Waldershare Park Show but later his widow asked IMPS to present it to the Best Self Restored Vehicle in our annual show. Ray's brother Ernie is still an active member of IMPS.

The Tracklink Award - At a committee meeting in early 1991 it was decided to set up this award.

The Roadsure Award formerly The A.C. Miles Award - Best Artillery

The Fighting Rover Trophy - Best Landrover

The Tired Iron Truck Services Trophy - Best U.S. Vehicle was donated to the Invicta Military Vehicle Preservation Society for use at its annual show, now the War and Peace Show, by Rex and Rod Cadman, membership number 593, in 1990 in recognition of the amount of American vehicles that The Tired Iron Truck's workshops were turning out for military vehicle enthusiasts which were then being exhibited at club shows.

The Dougie Preece Award - Best Presented Stall was inaugurated after the untimely passing of popular stallholder Dougie Preece in his memory by Rex Cadman of The War and Peace Show and Brent Pollard of The Hop Farm Country Park.

The Jake Elliott Trophy - Best Young Exhibitor

The Audrey Award - Best Ambulance

The Antonie Rijsterborgh Award - Best Jeep

The Classic Military Vehicle Magazine Trophy - Best Heavy Vehicle

The Tor Chambers Trophy - 4x4 Heavy Vehicle Trials

The Norfolkline Award - Best Amphibious Vehicle

The Military Machines International Magazine Trophy - Best Wheeled Armour

Best Individual Display

Best Group Display

Best Bicycle

The BSA Parabike Award

Best Motorcycle

Best Canadian Vehicle

Best Axis

Best Light Vehicle

Best Medium Vehicle

Best Tracked Armour

The Visitors Choice - Any Vehicle or Display on Site

War and Peace Show 2006 Trophy Winners