The following is Bill Donegan’s report on the Spring GWA event at Newville:

Newville 2012

For several years my friend and neighbor, Katz, has been inviting me to the WW1 event in Newville Pa. Since I collect WW1 German equipment as well as WW2 I decided to accouter up as an Old Prussian Sgt. With the Winterfeld, Oberschlieses Infantry Regiment

Since my friend, Jim Barnes, was going as a Russian attached to the French Army, I met him at his house and followed him to the event location in Pennsylvania. Linda stayed home for this one.

Arriving in Newville at the Great War Association site, I was transported back in time to France, April 20, 1918. Following registration I parked my car next to John Dubbs and open the trunk to sell some stuff to help defray expenses.

Katz arrived with his usual entourage from West Virginia, and I was informed that I was just in time to take part in the Friday night battle. Since my old 1916 Mauser had broken the spring plate, it was decided that I should take to the field as a medic. I was invited to attend the officers meeting with Katz, as our leader, Rudi Weiss, (AKA Marsh Wise) had not yet arrived (he was procuring gas masks for new recruits for IR 23).

I soon learned that I was the only German medic at the event, and I eventually became the medic for the entire German Army! I was given command of a unit of German Red Cross Nurses (we even had an ambulance), and I was asked to report to German HQ for orders.

The night battle was the most realistic, hardcore, immersion reenactment that I have been to in a long time. I followed 22 men onto the battlefield of no man’s land and had to crawl from crater to crater patching up the wounded as fast as I could.

There is a film of this night battle on You Tube showing flares going off, machine guns blasting and men charging the trenches.

Bill Donegan

Submitted by Correspondent Mike Momot (Misha)

I took part in this event for the first time held annually in Odessa, New York and hosted by Scott Thompson and Fusilier Bataillon 272. I was joined by, 193rd Rifle Division member, Phil Zimmer. He distinguished himself well in his first battle. We fell in under the 9th Guards, commanded by Dave Goliger, and fought together with the 3rd Rifle Division, commanded by Mike Snyder, in attempting to thwart the fascist hoards. Battling the Russian forces were Heer, SS, and Fallschirm-Jäger units.

There were 4 tactical scenarios on the day. The first two had the Russians attacking German positions and the second two had us holding positions in defense. It was the usual situation of us being outnumbered over two to one and at a firepower disadvantage being limited in semiautomatic weapons. Our only advantage was the mobile asset of a lend-leased US jeep and an automatic PPSh onboard. We were stopped short of our first objective defeated en route in some heavily wooded terrain. The second objective was more closely contested and found us trying to take an objective in open ground. This was a hotly contested one as there was some question amongst us as to the Russians achieving the objective. We found out at the end of the day that we had not. The other two scenarios were defensive objectives. We successfully defended the third as the enemy had to attack uphill in heavily wooded terrain. We found their assault to be piecemeal in its effort. Special thanks to John of the 9th Guards and the SS we had pinned down till I fell between two rotted logs and had my foot pinned. They helped me out of a tight spot or I might still be there as rotted as those logs. The fourth and final objective had us fall in the face of overwhelming numbers and a concentrated attack by the Germans just outside the quarry. Alas, our brave defenders ran out of ammo and steam. Final score: Russians 1, Germans 3.

This is a good event, well run and well organized. Most folks took their hits and fell and recycle times were fair. Special thanks goes out to the landowner who shares this beautiful land in upstate New York with all of us. I’d like to add, when I arrived on Friday, it was snowing with a light coating of the white stuff on the ground and temps in the 20’s. It quickly warmed up the next day with temperatures in the upper 50’s and partly cloudy skies with some periods of sun. This is one event I will attend again and I’d like to encourage more of our own members to attend this one as well. It is located close to Watkins Glen, NY for all of you auto racing enthusiasts. Good bars and good food are nearby. Funny how your priorities change, as you get older!

Mike Momot

Orders had come down to Brigadier General Ivan Vasilyevich Turchaninov to pull his brigade out of line and begin a withdrawal, which would eventually include the entire army corps. This was probably none too soon, as ammunition was getting low and the enemy had many more troops on the field. As he was leading his men down the road in two columns, through an area strewn with the dead and dying of the previous day’s fighting, his Corps commander rode up and told him that a large enemy force had gotten in their rear and was advancing through the woods toward an open field in their front. This force had to be dealt with, as it threatened the entire army.

Turchaninov drew up his four regiments and, positioning himself in the center, drew his saber (or waved his hat, by one account) and said something to the effect of “My prigade, charge payonet; give’em hell, G….. D….’em!”* The brigade hit the surprised enemy column in the flank and smashed them, rolling up the entire line. In the process, Turchaninov’s horse was shot from under him , but he was unharmed. The enemy was scattered and around 400 prisoners were taken.1

The above is not a scene from the Crimean War or one of the many other battles fought by the Russian Empire  in the ninteeth Century. In fact, this fight took place on September 20, 1863 near the banks of the West Chickamauga Creek in northern Georgia. The enemy, rather than Turks, was Liddell’s Division of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Turchaninov is better known to American Civil War buffs as John Basil Turchin.

Turchaninov was born into a wealthy Don Cossack family and, as a young man, attended the Imperial Military School in St. Petersburg. He served as a Colonel of Guards in the Russian Army and saw action in Hungary and the Crimea. However, like many educated young Russians, he chafed under the autocracy of the Tsarist regime. He came in contact with others who advocated democratic change in Russia and became a sympathizer to their cause. After the end of the Crimean War, he took his new bride and went AWOL, taking off for England and then to America. The couple ended up in Illinois, where they crossed paths with people like George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln and a little guy named Grant.

Turchaninov’s democratic ideals made him an enemy of slavery and led him to be a radical Republican. When the Civil War began, he did not hesitate to seek a commission in the Union Army. On June 19, 1861, he was commissioned a colonel with the 19th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.  With his strong abolitionist leanings and a tendency to say exactly what he thought, Turchaninov frequently ran afoul of his superiors. His habit of putting the welfare of his soldiers ahead of army protocol also caused him problems. So, when his regiment was involved in the so-called ‘Rape of Athens’ Alabama, which seems to have mostly consisted of some theft and vandalism, while the colonel was off surveying possible defensive positions in the area of the town, ( Certainly it was small potatoes compared to events that would transpire on both sides later in the war)  Major General Don Carlos Buell used the complaints of the townspeople to rid himself of the troublesome little Russian, and courtmartialed Turchaninov. Deprived of his commission, the colonel returned to Chicago and found that he was widely regarded as a hero and had, indeed, been promoted to Brigadier General by President Lincoln.

This was only the beginning of Turchaninov’s adventures with the Union Army of the Cumberland, which is told in John Basil Turchin and the Fight to Free the Slaves, by Stephen Chicoine. After reading this, I was intrigued enough to follow up by reading the General’s own words in Chickamauga which is of course, about that battle, told in a first-hand account. I enjoyed both books immensely, however, the Generals’s book is essentially a photocopy of the 1888 volume and on at least a third of the pages, the first word or so of each line is missing. It looks as if someone was holding the original down on a copier and failed to check to see if a good copy was made. It is still pretty easy to follow, however.

This was an interesting reading project which combined a couple of my interests. Ken Burns once noted that the Civil War period was full of interesting characters. General Turchin was definitely one of them.

*1Chicoine, John Basil Turchin and the Fight to Free the Slaves, p. 154. Westport, CT, 2003.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Basil_Turchin

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=john+basil+Turchin+and+the+fight+to+free+the+slaves

http://www.amazon.com/Chickamauga-Turchin-Turchin-Basil-1822-1901/dp/B002WTNFDQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335831475&sr=1-4

Legion Russe!

Ваня! А вот и они! Alexei, the number two man on the Maxim gun yells to his gunner, who is reloading belts. The Huns are once again swarming across no-man’s land. Soon Uncle Maxim is belching fire and death towards the dreaded sausage-eaters. Mortar rounds shriek off into the gathering dusk. Somewhere to the right, a Frenchman screams curses as he drives his boot knife into a trench raider. The Great War Association is having its annual Spring event and everyone is having a fine time.

The weather this year was quite mild, as well as dry,  until Saturday evening. As a result, I did not use my shinel, or overcoat until late Saturday evening.  Friday was dry and warm and we did not have the mg set up, so I was assigned to provide support for the mortar crew. The Russian Legion mortar crew is renowned among the Central Powers types for dead-on accuracy, and as such, are a prime target of trench raiders. A large force of Germans broke through into the French lines and almost made it to the Russian sector, but tenacious fighting and judicious use of grenades rendered them harmless before they got to the mortar pit.

The Maxim arrived early Saturday morning and we got it placed and operating quickly. After a fine breakfast of Uncle Daddy’s own Kasha, flavored with тушанка, (Yum!) we set about harvesting Germans. There seemed to be a general shortage of them this year, oddly enough, so attacks were rare in our sector through much of Saturday. Things picked up late in the day and there were several strong German assaults which were thwarted with much slaughter.

During one of these attacks, some of our troops captured a German medic. He must have been shell-shocked, because the poor thing keep mumbling in the curious Boche tounge  and appeared to believe that yours truly, Alexei Yakovich Baranov, was a lost relative or something. Vanya took pity and gave him a smoke and he seemed happy. His American guard then led him off, no doubt to some quiet military  hospital where he could recuperate.

At dusk on Saturday, the Allies launched a massive attack on the German’s left flank. The Hun, softened up by a gas attack earlier, could not resist the powerful assault. Vanya got his blood up and asked to join in the attack, while Alexei manned the Maxim. We fear Vanya was killed in the brutal fighting in the enemy’s trenches. It was stirring to see our brave troops and allies carrying the line though swirling clouds of smoke.

Later, the survivors met at the Imperial mess, where Uncle Daddy and Slava treated us all to a delicious borsch. With stomachs full, we toasted our victory with vodka and some rum, evidently donated by some Allied source, and another spring event was in the books.

1. A Walk in the Sun – The first movie on Disc 1, and not a bad one to start out with. Being a 1945 production, the film goes lightly on the propaganda. The war was over or pretty much so when this was released. It depicts a day in the life of an American platoon taking part in the landings at Salerno, Italy in 1943. The cast is top-notch, starring Dana Andrews with support with the likes of Lloyd Bridges and John Ireland. Reviewers have noted the realism of the action.*  The soldiers don’t really have any idea what is going on outside of their immediate area. Also, as the platoon moves inland, there is much time when nothing is going on but banter between the men, broken up occasionally by violent encounters with the Germans, who are shown only briefly. Interestingly, this works pretty well. Definitely worth watching.

2. Gung Ho! – Talk about a cast! Lots of familiar faces from the 40′s, 50′s and 60′s. Randolph Scott stars, supported by Robert Mitchum, cowboy star Rod Cameron, familiar character actor Noah Beery Jr. and Milburne Stone (Doc on Gunsmoke) Made in 1943, this one is heavy on the propaganda, but still worth watching. Depicting the raid on Makin Island by Carlson’s Marine raiders, it is about as factual as you might imagine for the time, but does hold your attention.

3. Go for Broke - Another good one. Starring Van Johnson, this 1951 film depicts the story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was composed of Japanese-Americans (Nisei). The movie actually featured several real members of the unit and natually shows them in a very positive light. Generally realistic in its portrayal of action and the time period, this is another keeper.

4. Corregidor – Another 1943 project, this one is nowhere near as good as Gung Ho! Otto Kruger, a very good actor who had a long and illustrious career, is the only actor you will probably recognize here. Maybe the others quit in disgust after they watched the finished product, I don’t know. The story, loosely based on the Japanese siege of Corregidor, also involves a love triangle which makes little sense at all and a lot of Japanese planes which are biplanes in one shot and monoplanes in the next. You might want to skip this one.

5. Ski Troop Attack – A 1960 Roger Corman film about ski-troops during the Battle of the Bulge?  This doesn’t have Vincent Price or outlaw bikers in it, but it might have been better if it did. A predictable B-movie shot on a very low budget. The most interesting thing about it is the vintage stock footage of German troops that they throw in periodically.  (I didn’t know the Alps were in Belgium!)

Okay, that is Disc I. If I am up to it, I will get out some more of this for you later.

*http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038235/

It’s February, 1943. The invincible German juggernaut isn’t so invincible now, but it is still dangerous. The Red Army is gathering its forces, setting the stage for what will later in the summer result in the great battle of Kursk. But for now, the lines are static, the nights are cold and the bleak silence is broken occasionally by the crack of a sniper’s rifle or the chatter of a Maxim.

This is the annual Newville March WWII Eastern Front event. Sponsored by Fusilier Regiment Nr. 90 and the 193rd Rifle Division. Over the years, this has become an extremely well-run and fun event for all involved (hats off to Joe Murry and his crew for a fine job!).  As I volunteered to serve as regimental Povar, or cook, I spent most of the weekend back of the front lines, but did manage to get in a little action.

While I have not yet heard the exact numbers for the weekend, there appeared to be over 150 participants. There could have been more, but it was necessary to cap the number of Germans to keep the numbers from getting silly. As a result, quite a few potential Fritzes had to be turned away. The lucky ones who did get in line first showed spirit and aggressiveness and generally took their hits. You could ask for no more from fascist invaders!

On the Soviet side, Starshina Nikolai Ivanovich Federov (Mike Snyder) of the 3rd Rifle Division exercised overall command and did a fine job motivating the comrades to defend the Rodina. While members of the 193rd and the 3rd Rifle Divisions made up the bulk of the Soviet forces, there were representatives of a number of other groups, all of whom contributed to the effort.

One event stuck out for me for the weekend. On Friday night, I was heating chai and discussing pressing world issues with Doc Marvin, when Starshina Ivan Pertsev (John Pepper) came to the kitchen and told us that the Boss needed us to help defend the front. Grabbing my rifle and following him through the maze of trenches in the night we eventually came to the sparsely manned left flank of our lines. After firing several rounds in support of an attack off to our right, we settled in to see what would happen next. Suddenly, I felt a tug on my arm and a Teutonic voice telling me to “Kom mitt me!” In the sparse moonlight, I could see SS runes on the man’s collar. Three things became apparent, I was being taken prisoner, he had seen my rifle laying on the top of the parapet, and in the darkness, and he did NOT see the Nagant revolver I was wearing under my right arm. I immediately drew the pistol, stuck it in his ribs and BANG! the Fritz was dispatched. I quickly did the same to his companion and called for back-up, as there appeared to be more down the trench. Eventually all the dogs were eradicated. Score: Cook 2,  Fascists 0.

Following the conclusion of the battle on Saturday night, Starshina Pertsev, myself and some other comrades visited the 3rd Rifle Division’s bunker for a victory celebration. There was much merry-making with good comrades. A fine time was had by all.

I think this was one of the best Newville events in a long time. The weather was beautiful and everything seemed to go smoothly. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Thanks to everyone for putting out a strong effort!

Submitted by Bill Donegan:

When Linda and I were shopping at the FIG/Gap we ran into Bill and Sharon Krause, who are members of the Capital Wing of the Airmen’s Preservation Society (as the name suggests they are aviation oriented). We have been running into them for half a decade at USO dances and other living history events. They invited us to attend their units annual dinner/dance at Bavarian Inn, 164 Shepherd Grade Road, in Shepherdstown West Virginia. The theme was 1945, occupied Germany. They asked us to wear German uniforms.

We made reservation to stay at the Inn and we bought tickets to the dinner/dance.

The guest speaker at this event was Col. Charles McGee of the Tuskegee Airmen who was a consultant for the movie “Red Tails”

Linda and I arrived early Saturday March 10th at about 1100 hours. The Inn keeper allowed us to check in early so we unloaded our things and by 1200 we were eating lunch at the Bank Restaurant on W. German Street, where we began a game of guessing who was a reenactor and who wasn’t. I saw Stanley Braisted, LCDR, USN and knew that he was a reenactor before I had met him (call it ESP or whatever).

I had called Larry Milhon, who was attending as a Luftwaffe General, and he squared me away with the location and time of the before, before party, the before party, the party, and the after-party. Since Linda had a cold and had also purchased a book, she was sacked out on the couch until the last minute of the before, before party. Ron and Debbie Wenig showed up around the time of the before party and so I donned my German Navy uniform to accompany Ron to the party while Debbie visited with Linda. Are you confused yet?

Ron and I were working the crowd and suddenly discovered that everyone was a pilot, owned their own planes, were real Majors, Colonels, Generals etc. We heard story after story of connections to the Memphis Belle, Tidbits, and Galland etc. Not only were we fish out of water, we were only two of four Germans at the event. Ron mentioned the war once but I think we got away with it.

Finally the wives joined us just in time to promenade over to the dinner.

Arriving at the main Inn location, the officers were invited to stack hats. We spent so much time doing this ritual of recreating that famous photo of the Paris night club picture, which we neglected to stake out our seats. We thought that seating was assigned bit it was festival seating so we found that the four of us could not sit together. I asked the dining room manager for a table and four chairs. To the delight of my wife we were set up right next to the speaker’s podium.

Dinner was excellent German cuisine, there was an awards ceremony, and I was asked to say a blessing for the meal as I was introduced as a navy chaplain.

Following the meal, Col. McGee spoke. This was followed by a jazz ensemble and then dancing. Linda took copious notes of Col McGee’s talk, but she is asleep as of this report so it will follow later in detail. I met Robert Hamilton, a brain injury /PTSD professional, who was doing his impression of General Adolph Galland.

Many photographs were taken, see attached.

This concludes my report of the event, however, we went with the Wenig’s to Gettysburg Sunday for a day of eating and shopping, but that’s another story.

Bill Donegan

http://www.capitalwingaps.org/

http://www.bavarianinnwv.com/

Submitted by Bill Donegan:

Torgau 1945

It is good that Linda and I have been working out on the treadmill every day for months, and using the weight room. We do it to keep in shape for tactical. We had no trouble at Bedford last week-end. The only physical problem was that Linda wore a blister on one foot because her boots were too big. Dressed as a medic it was providential that she was carrying a bag full of medical supplies, as the only real casualty of the wear was herself. She took a detour from the combat action to tend to her foot. After patching herself up she left her hiding place in the barn. Some American GI spotted her and yelled, “Medic don’t go that way the Germans are coming. She did an about face and ran into another group of Germans and got captured. She had forgotten that she had a gun so was not trying to defend herself so she managed to slip away when they started shooting at the Russians. Confused? We were part of the Red Army assault on Torgau this past week-end at Bedford Pa.

Many thanks go out to Gilbert White, Roger Bombard and Ray Partenheimer for a splendid tactical.

We weren’t able to take many photographs but here are a few we managed to take. There was no shortage of drinking vessels for the Red Army as we had captured a pottery shed.

The weather was snowing with gusts of wind over 50 MPH. The lake looked like the ocean with white-caps.

The Russians managed to capture all their objectives, but the whole town was filled with Germans and they kept up a steady counter-attack. At one point a company of recently dead Russians were gathered together, with heads uncovered discussing what to do. A few of us got cold so we put our ushankas back on. Suddenly there were German hand grenades coming at us from every direction. No peace for the dead!

There were plenty of vendors and many good deals were made, thanks Phil! And Dale!

No food was served this year but Linda and I wore our uniforms to Bedford for a Bistro meal. We had stopped at a blimpy for coffee and saw two Goths coming in. People were paying attention to us dressed as Russians and were ignoring the Goths. I looked at them and said, “We trumped you didn’t we? Just got stares from them.

Here are some photos.

Respectfully submitted, Bill Donegan

On the weekend of February 25, 2012, the 2nd Gebirgs once again sponsored their annual ‘Meeting at the Elbe’ event at Old Bedford Village. This is always a good event and everyone seems to have fun. There was a shortage of Allies this year, as the Germans seemed to outnumber the Americans (and one lone Brit) and the Soviets put together. This made it all but impossible to dislodge them from the village. However, late in the day, when the shoe was on the other foot and the Red Army and part of the Americans were holding the bridge, the Fritzes had difficulty taking it. Hats off to Bill and Linda Donegan for ‘galvanizing’ as Soviets and helping out with the numbers.

Interestingly, the weather seemed to change in honor of the tactical weekend. When I left home, the weather was warm (in the 50s) and breezy. The temperature had dropped over 10 degrees by the time I got to Cumberland, MD, and proceeded to get colder. All night a cold wind buffeted the cabin  and when we got up in the morning, there were a couple of inches of snow on the ground. Saturday was mostly sunny, but was windy, sometimes bitterly so.

One nice feature of this event was the large number of vendors. The visitor’s center was full of stuff to buy, German, Soviet and American. So, if you were too cold to run around outside, you could always shop.

Saturday evening, the tavern was open and the Gebirgs put on a nice Teutonic spread for the reenactors – beer, pretzels, sausage and cheese, in front of a roaring fire. A nice way to end a strenuous day. Thanks to the Gebirgs for another good event!

Bill Donegan sends us the following report on his activities at the Gap:

A funny thing happened this year on the way to the GAP.

Jim Barnes picked us up at our motel to take us to dinner. It was dark and Jim was not sure of the best way to exit the parking lot. I said, “There is an exit over there just follow that car.” Jim complied and followed the car. The car stopped and Jim and I started a conversation. After a short while Jim said, “Why isn’t this guy moving? Linda who was in the back seat said, “That car is parked” We hadn’t noticed that the car we had been following had actually pulled into a parking space adjacent to the exit. There we sat with our head lights on sitting on this guy’s bumper. We wonder what he thought. Jim said if we’d gotten out and he’d seen two men in uniforms he might have reached for a gun or his papers.

Linda and I had arrived early Friday and had gone shopping at the immense flea market that they have each year at the FIG/GAP, where you can buy anything from original Wehrmacht dinner plates to repopped German underwear.

Since Linda was dressed as German Red Cross she needed a pair of gloves to wear at appell. We searched high and low. One vendor, “At The Front” wanted $30.00 a pair. Hessen had them for $10.00 but they were too big for Linda. At one of the small vendor tables I found an original pair that fit for $5.00. I examined them but had lost Linda. When I caught up to her and told her about the gloves she went looking for them She found them but because they were so distressed she didn’t want them. The seller saw her interest and tried to give them to her. They were in such old condition that she refused them. One of the vendor’s friends said, “Man you can’t give them things away!”

Friday night I reported in to the German Hospital where I was assigned by the High Command. Hauptmann Gentry was not sure of the time that morning appell was so he asked me to visit HQ and ask General Lothar Milhon for details. I located the general at the French café. He advised me of the change in appell time and also reviewed my sermon for the troops, which he approved. General Milhon told me to focus heavily on belief and brevity of life since there had been some recent deaths among some of the Luftwaffe and ss units.

On Saturday morning at 0700 I learned that General Lothar Milhon’s mother had passed away the night before. The General would therefore be absent from Appell. I advised General Spence Waldron of my arrangement with General Milhon and the General first addressed the troops and then introduced me as their chaplain.

I spoke to 750 assembled German troops for approx 15-20 minutes and prayed for the Milhon family.

Following this I was stopped, had my hand shaken, pats on the back, received prayer requests, and experienced many expressions of gratitude for the memorial service, some from men with tearful eyes.

My thanks to all who have prayed for me during this chaplain impression, which for me is more real than anything else I do.

Linda and I reported for duty at the German Hospital and spent the rest of the day there. We must have had over 1,000 visitors. I acted as front door man and security.

Following this Linda and I returned to our digs for a spruce-up, dinner at Funk’s and then back to bed again for a nap. We woke up at 0300 completely missing the dance and Christmas party.