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by Sgt Wayne Fitzgerald
Photos by Sgt Karl Byrne
O
n 31st of August, An Cosantóir visited
the 'Salute! Military and Re-enactment
Show 2013', held in the National Show
Centre, Swords, Co Dublin. The show, hosted
by the Association of Irish Military Enthusiasts
(AIME), is in its 7th year and is building on the
success of previous years. Salute! is the highlight of AIME's calendar, providing a themed
and interesting military history display with
re-enactors, trade stalls, plastic models and, of
course, the armour: on your way into the show
you cannot miss the 63-ton Chieftain tank and
the 16-ton 432 and 434 APCs on display as part
of the show's living history displays.
Seán Curtis of AIME told us: "Our main
aim is to preserve Defence Forces' and other
army's equipment and memorabilia. We have
everything from a heavy tank to a jeep. Our
members include gardaí, doctors and retired
Defence Forces personnel. Many members
don't have their own military vehicle but just
like to help out and be around them."
AIME have seven pieces of armour on show,
including land-rovers, ACMATs and a Fox APC,
which has the same hull and turret as the Defence Forces' Scorpion recce vehicle, only with
wheels instead of tracks.
Seán told us some interesting facts about
the collection of military vehicles on display.
One of the ACMATs was part of the original 14
that the Defence Forces sold in 1999. The de
Havilland Venom fighter-bomber on display
was only purchased the day before the show
on condition it was transported and re-assembled for the show. "We used to own another
plane, a Canberra bomber, that was sold to an
RAF museum in Germany, where it used to fly
from," continued Seán.
Contributors to the show included the Irish
Plastic Model Society (IPMS), the Irish Associa-
tion of Blood Bikes, dog handlers, and re-enactors, and there were stalls with militaria, toys
and magazines.
With the proceeds of this event being donated to the Leopardstown Park Hospital, which
has been looking after military veterans since
1917, here's wishing them another successful
event for 2013.
www.aime.ie by email info@aime.ie or visit
them on Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/AIME-Association-of-Irish-Military-Enthusiasts/160989397295056
www.military.ie the defence forces magazine
