Now, I know there are probably VERY few members that are anywhere near this, but there will be a living military history display at Conner Prarie (a kind of historic villiage) in Indianapolis on June 1/2. Soldiers of all eras in American history will be represented, and my buddies and I will be there to portray WWII GIs in Europe.
I saw one in February at the big (at least for texas) Gun and Militaria show at the Astrohall in Houston. One such display had several "Waffen SS" soldiers with a field camping scend-tents pitched, a field table set up with radio and a Kubelwagon and two BMW motorcycles with sidecars and mounted MG-34s with AA sites. Also a Kopfjager with his Gorget and hand signals rods at a "Crossroads". Then there was another German display with an officer and about 5 other men that were in a Halftrack. The scene was of them in a camofalged "position" next to a section of fence. There were also many guys in US military garb--they had a few tanks and armored vehicles--motorcycles etc. Was a nice experiance but we werent allowed to taks photos--which sucked. PS, as an update--Sarge is still working on your wuestions but will not be able to finish then till he goes on vacation--which I think starts Sunday.
Its entirely plausible that some 25. Panzer Gren Boys will be there if we are welcome. (I'm in Lafayette, IN)
Adam, I just remembered the valpo airport wants us to come out and doa livin history on father's Day weeekend. They had some stuff at muesums opening back in April. Me and Dennis were the only germans at the place. We should tell the rest of the guys about the event at Conners Paire and the valpo airport.
I THINK that this display is just supposed to be US history (although I would say that German soldiers in WWII were a part of US history, personally). I'm pretty sure they just want US though. I've also got a feeling that units had to register quite a while ago to be in the display becasue of the planning that goes into the whole set up. The guy in my group who set it up lives minutes from the place, so he did all the pencil pushing. Regardless, it might at least be fun to come and see it. Last year I was suprised to see guys from Span. Am, Mexican American, and French and Indian wars.
Hey, you guys who do German. Could you enlighten me as to why it is that almost every German reenactment group I see is great, and almost every GI impression I see sucks? It drives me crazy! I've a few things with other "GI" groups. SERIOUSLY - they had on "caterpillar" brand work boots, and they were sitting in a hole drinking coke in plastic bottles and eating cheetos. Smokers were smoking filtered cigarettes, and I know I saw a bic lighter at some point. Not to mention the fact that their trousers were creased and they all seemed to be afraid of mud. Do you run into this with the GIs you meet? Are lots of German groups pretty lame too, and I just don't notice it? I'd love to do German too, but 1) I seriously need some schooling on it and 2) I"m in school and have no $!!! I love checking German reenactors stuff out though. Like I said, all that I see at least is done very well!
I would say that one of the major contributors would be cost. If you go to www.atthefront.com and check out their prices you'll notice that at the most a complete US impression, minus rifle will set you back around $840 whereas a complete German impression, minus rifle will set you back around $1500. Spending that much more money for your impression means that you need to be much more sure about what you're doing and much more into what you are doing. That's not to say that German reenactors are better than Allied, but they tend to be a little more "die hard" then most Allies I have run into. Also, when it comes to Vehicles and weapons, the German reenactors are also spending much, much more to get them on the field then their Allied counterparts, and you'll notice that there are more Full-Auto weapons on the German side, and more vehicles on the German side. The best I've seen an Allied unit bring out was a Stuart tank, compaired to a StuG III and a Hetzer for the Germans (talking armor only here) All in all, I would say the $$$ factor plays the biggest part, as those who have the cash tend to be a little more dedicated when spending it. But that's just my opinion. Langemann (Reenactor with the 25th Panzergrenadier Division)
Doc, I hear you and understand you. I also seem to see a lot of GI Reenactors who are "lax" in terms of their impression. I really don't know why that is. I also see a lot that are really, really good, so don't anyone take this as GI-bashing! Seems as if 101st and 82nd guys have their stuff squared away all the time, but the guys that tent to do "regular infantry" tend to be the ones that take the most liberties with gear and stuff. But seriously, when you see blatant "Farbieism", it usually tends to be by GI's. Wrong boots, smokes, food, drink, etc like you mentioned. I really don't tend to see blatant examples of that stuff in the German ranks. (Although I did see a guy once in a black Panzer Wrap and black denim jeans...) Perhaps their is a correlation between money spent and dedication level. I would hope it would be more complex then that though, because then it almost revolves around a "class" thing. One other thing I have noticed is that whenever there is someone getting hurt at a Reenacting event, it always seems to be a GI. Why is that? At every event I have been to that needed to be stopped due to an injury, it was always a GI that was carted off in the meat wagon. Anyhow, I am glad to see that the majority of folks take the time (and money) to do it right. Makes it much more enjoyable for everyone.
hey doc, i think you are right. i see many gi reenactors who do not take reenacting very seriously. at the last tactical at rensellaer indiana, my heavy mg34 crew plastered a whole squad of american infantry. we scored no hits. they were all standing and running in the open, and after one guy saw us, he quickly ducked. mind you he turned to see what that flash and bang was, and it was us shooting at him. i like to see reenactors from other eras come out to ww2 events. they seem to have a better grip as to what reenacting is all about. not just grabbing your carbine and running around shooting and yelling at every german reenactor you see on the field. i see many GIs jump out of the grass and fan the trigger and point at a whole platoon of us germans and say that he shot us all after we plastered his ass with mortars and mg fire for 15 minutes. they get real angry when we dont take hits from cadavers. to me these guys are not reenactors, they are just guys that want to play cowboys and indians with ww2 stuff. like lengermann said, teh ww2 german impression is not cheap. and when we come out to fight guys and execute good tactics and have legit kills that are intentionally disregarded, it takes all of the fun from the event. i often ask myself, "if we shoot them and they dont want to take 'play' why are we here?" i wish band of brothers didnt cause the growth of bottom feeder reenactors.
I think another factor may be that most German re-enactors I meet tend to go for late war and so being 'squared away' is not a factor. They go onto the field looking a mess because it is realistic, as is lacking items of kit or having 'borrowed' allied kit. I get what you guys are saying about cost, actually I think the reverse is the case over here, the US kit is rather expensive and looks smart so US re-enactors do not want to get muddy and this leads onto other things. German kit starts off scruffy so it is not so important. As for the guy in the black denims, he isn't a re-enactor, he is a disgrace.
i see many GIs jump out of the grass and fan the trigger and point at a whole platoon of us germans and say that he shot us all after we plastered his ass with mortars and mg fire for 15 minutes. Unity...but isnt the above down to a pereption handed down over the years anyway..starting in comic books and then moving to movies..? I am not a re enactor and dont know the obvious hard work that goes into a meet of anysort like these.. But its one thing for a group to meet other groups from other areas and camp..battle etc..suppose that should be more realistic...or why bother.. But for general public on day out with ice cream..who in the majority dont know the German from the Brits at times..jumping out and hazing the enemy.is what they want to see..entertainment..a properly concealed sniper in the bushes squeezing the trigger will not hold their attention..so suppose its horses for courses.. Hollywood and the victor comic have a lot to answer for..Gemans regiments knocked out by one Brit or GI...with a lee enfield with 10 rounds..or a Bar fired from the hip..
I think over here that is taken into account and hense there are two different sorts of public event. Public Shows are about realisem, the battles are realistic and are generally choreographed to give people an idea of what would happen in real combat. We have railway shows and 40's weekends which are basically 'posing and pantomime' events where we just have fun, make things look as good and entertaining as possible and generally play the role of the bad guys. It is all in good fun and is always recieved well by the public. At private battles (which I think is what Unity was on about) it is different. Whilst snipers are rather hard to re-enact (though they can be very effective at holding up a unit) it does seem that people think they can run into a hail of fire and not get scratched. The other extreme is that the people behind the guns seem to think that they always hit the enemiex coming towards them and are never suppressed. Suppressive fire never seems to work, you can not get anyone to keep their heads down. Then again I also find that people are afraid of dieing, it is very hard to get people to come out of cover and charge. Weird.
Reenacting of World War II is not something that I do personally due to my having six years of actual military service, and, at my age, the body just doesn't move like it once did. But, I DO enjoy watching those who do partake of it, and I appreciate the amount of energy and time put in to those who do engage in it, of their displays. I have a friend who although is fast approaching his mid fifties continuing to engage in reenacting with the German 11th Panzer Division here in the Pacific Northwest, and being that he is a machinist by trade, he has done a lot to continue to keep this unit's ( Czech ) apc running as well as his own '42 Kubelwagen, and '43 Kettenkrad that they use as well during their public events. So, my own funds go in to the purchasing of the real item, but I still enjoy being a spectator in the stands. Soldier on gentlemen! Bill
Bill, thanks, it is nice to hear people apreciate what we do. Actually my father is in the same unit as me and he is getting on a bit (early fifties)but he enjoys it and wishes he had started when he was younger.
Stefan, does your unit hold training sessions? Mine does atleast twice a year and we go over stuff like drill, squad based tactics, weapon cleanings, commands, etc. If you do, I'd like to hear watch you guys to. I've never heard of any GI units having training sessions though.
PzGren, my unit does do training sessions, I ran one a couple of weeks back mainly focusing on tactics. My unit isn't GI though, I am 12th SS .
Stefan, I know your HJ. I kinda ran my thoughts together, when I was talking about GIs I didn't mean you, but do you know any GI units that hold training session, I have good friends who are GI and I've never heard of any of them having a training session.
Come to think of it no I don't think many do. A lot of british 'living history' groups over here (as opposed to re-enactment, they tend to focus on drill and so on rather than battles etc) do have training days which can be quite impressive from what I hear.
