Seems people are drawn to it for some academic reasons, and some personal.
For me I am from South Africa, it happened in my back yard. As a kid we used to dig up old cartridges and other things from old camps, and we used to go for flapjacks and cream at Smuts House regularly. I saw the bridge Churchill jumped onto the train from every time I caught a train to Pretoria. It was just part of us, not something distant to be read about.
And the war wasn't over, that is what made it personal. Growing up as an English kid in Verwoerdburg, I can assure you that it was only in a cold phase, so collecting in that area became natural.
When it comes to the medals I can collect to towns I have lived in and that makes it all the more real.
Ryan
