Doug is an Army Cadet Force instructor with 3 Company Cambridgeshire Army Cadet Force, and is passionate about military history. Doug offers free-of-charge educational talks and demonstrations based on his thirty years of research and extensive collection of military equipment and artefacts. These talks present the opportunity to learn about history by handling original objects, and better understand how equipment and technology shaped these great conflicts. The collection includes an extensive variety of items recovered from WW1 battlefields, such as shrapnel, grenades, shells, bayonets, rifles, footwear and personal items, some found by Doug himself. All items are completely and demonstratively safe and in compliance with the law, and Doug is CRB checked and certified.
The Second World War collection includes a wide variety of items from home front life in Britain and Germany, as well as battlefield recovered items from the Eastern Front, and uniform and equipment from the war in The Pacific. It includes a collection of items salvaged from German U-Boat U-534, such as one of its one-man lifeboats, a complete tool kit from the engine room, and many personal items recovered from the wreck.
Doug regularly attends historical re-enactments, takes part in remembrance events and travels to battlefields around Europe. He also provides military advice, props and costumes for theatrical productions including 'Journey's End' (EADS production 2018) 'Girl in the Glass' (Combined Actors of Cambridge, 2018) and 'Sailor Beware' (EADS 2019).
