Écausseville Military Antiques Fair

The Écausseville Military Antiques Fair

The Écausseville Military Antiques Fair is a must-attend event for collectors and military history enthusiasts in Normandy. Organized by the association The Black Lions, it takes place in the unique and monumental setting of the Écausseville airship hangar, a listed historic monument in the Cotentin.

This choice of location is no accident: the airship hangar, built during the First World War to house military airships tasked with monitoring German submarines, provides a perfect historical backdrop for a fair dedicated to military antiques and memorabilia. With its 150 meters in length and 26 meters in height, it offers immense space, allowing numerous exhibitors to be accommodated in ideal conditions.

The Black Lions, passionate organizers

The association The Black Lions brings together enthusiasts of military history, reenactment, and collecting. Their involvement in organizing this fair reflects the dynamism of the militaria world in Normandy, a region naturally marked by the memory of the two World Wars and especially the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944.

Écausseville's proximity to the iconic D-Day sites—Sainte-Mère-Église, Utah Beach, Omaha Beach—makes the Cotentin a prime region for collectors of American, British, Canadian, and German World War II militaria. The Écausseville fair is the natural convergence point for this regional passion.

Military Antiques: An Exceptional Collection

The exhibitors at the fair offer a wide variety of military items covering all periods of military history: World War I and II in priority, but also later conflicts and earlier periods. You can find, among other things:

Uniforms and equipment: helmets, jackets, trousers, shoes, belts, ammunition pouches from all armies and nations. Decorations and medals: Croix de Guerre, military medals, regimental and divisional insignia. Edged weapons: sabers, bayonets, combat knives (subject to current regulations). Radio and communication equipment: radios, field telephones, optical equipment. Documents and archives: military booklets, staff maps, photographs, soldiers' correspondence. Soldiers' everyday items: mess kits, canteens, lighters, etc.

Écausseville, Cotentin, Normandy

Écausseville is a village in the Cotentin, part of the municipality of Montebourg (50310). The region is one of the richest in France in terms of memorial heritage related to World War II. The Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mère-Église, the D-Day landing beaches, the American and German military cemeteries, the coastal blockhouses: all these sites attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world each year and form the natural context for this military antiques fair.