FIG - GIs

Another January, another Gap. It is always one of the few things to look forward to during the deep winter… not that this has been much of a winter. Friday, I ran into a little falling snow on the way, but that quickly dissipated. The skies on Saturday were mostly clear and while walking around in a wool overcoat, I began to get a bit warm by mid-afternoon.

Do to my work schedule, I only went for the Saturday activities this year. Shopping at the various vendors took up about half of that time and visiting took up most of the rest. The British kit that I have put together features a lot of pockets. Very helpful for stuffing your purchases away so you don’t have to carry them everywhere while you cruise through the vendors. Since my time was limited, I didn’t get to visit with many of the folks that I normally would have. For those I missed, sorry -  no snub intended.

The big change this year, of course, was the move to area 13 and the newer barracks. I was concerned about wearing hobnailed Ammo boots into the new barracks, so I put duct tape over them, but that wore through after about a hundred yards, so I didn’t try to go into any barracks. I did drop into the German hospital which was in an old building by itself and ended up as a wounded POW. This afforded a good opportunity to take a load off my feet and recieve attention from lovely nurses!

Saturday evening, I met up with my comrades from the 193rd Rifle Division for our annual winter meeting at the Community Building, which was well-attended and productive. Afterward, several of us retired to the ballroom to observe the dancing and other festivities going on there.

Overall, it was a good weekend and even though I was there for a short visit, I enjoyed the Gap, as always.

January 2012

WWII – Battle of the Bulge Reenactment, January 25 – 29. Ft. Indiantown Gap PA. Contact: http://www.wwiifederation.org/index.html

February 2012

WWII - Elbe River Event, February 25, 2012, Old Bedford Village, Bedford, PA. regardless of the weather as usual. They still
have several buildings available and are currently accepting pre-registrations. As we speak, we have a few more in attendance this year

than last at this time. Just as a reminder, please bring PLENTY of ammo. Attached is the link for registrations and such..  www.freewebs.com/elbe1945 For any questions, call: Roger Bombard at: 703-431-6843.

March 2012

WWII - February 1943 Tactical event. March 9 and 10. Newville GWA site. Sponsored by 193rd Rifle Division and Fusilier Regiment Nr. 90 re-enacting units. Contact John Niemiec at : ostfrontjohn@verizon.net      Download waiver

Timeline – Military Through the Ages, March 17 and 18 at Jamestown Settlement, Jamestown, VA.  http://www.historyisfun.org/calendar.htm

The next stop on my trip to Moscow was the Central Armed Forces Museum, which is also known as the museum of the Soviet Army. The former is probably now more accurate, since there are exhibits from the post-soviet period as well as sections being developed that cover the whole history of Russian arms back to the middle ages.

The first hall we visited was a display of artifacts and paintings of scenes from the Russian Civil War.  The large dioramas were impressive. The central piece in the room was a tachanka machine gun cart, which I had read about. It was interesting to see one up close.

By far the largest subject covered in the museum was  the Great Patriotic War (World War II) Certain battles had their own rooms (Leningrad, Stalingrad) while there were many general exhibits. There was a substantial display on partisan warfare. Also, there was a room with displays honoring the western allies. There was a large diorama of the Normandy Invasion complete with a jeep. Interestingly, a TV screen on the wall in this area was showing “Saving Private Ryan” dubbed in Russian.

From the room, we passed through a series of exhibits on the Holocaust, and then into the great hall which houses displays from the Victory Parade in 1945. This was most impressive and featured many Soviet and captured German artifacts, including the huge bronze eagle which had topped the Reichs Chancellery. Also on the display were the cast-down German Banners, which Soviet soldiers threw on the ground in front of Lenin’s mausoleum at the end of the parade.

Past this hall, we viewed post-war displays and finally post-Soviet Russian military exhibits. There is a large outside display area, which was apparently closed for the winter. Outside we also passed a bronze statue in memory of the crew of the Russian submarine, Kursk, which sank in August of 2000.

This another great museum in Moscow, and one not to be missed by the history buff, if you are in town.

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

Always on the lookout for something new to do, I spent the last two weeks of November in Moscow, Russia. Needless to say, there is some history there. One of my stops was at ‘Victory Park’ which commemorates the victory over Nazi Germany in WWII. Unfortunately on the day I was there, the main museum was closed for cleaning, but the outside exhibits were open. This collection by itself, was impressive. Also, as you can see from the pictures, the exhibit is still being developed, with the addition of a recreated trench and bunker display. Since they are still under construction, you couldn’t go into them, but I was able to get some pics from the footpath.

As is obvious from the photos, there is a huge assortment of armor, artillery and aircraft, as well as other interesting and sometimes unusual displays.  Also, the memorial itself, at the top of the hill, is  awe-inspiring. The central obelisk is engraved with figures of soldiers and scenes from the war all the way to the top, as far as I could see. It was too big for me to get a good pic, given the light I had at the time.

If you are able to make it to Moscow, this is a must-see.

GWA events are always a hoot and this November was definitely worth the price of admission. When I arrived at Newville on Friday afternoon, the parking lot was full of more cars than I could remember seeing there. With a forecast of good weather for the weekend, a good turnout was probably a sure thing. As usual, there was an extensive vendor area in the parking lot, but I wasn’t in shopping mode, and after greeting a few folks that I knew, I signed in and made my way to the Russian Legion section of the trenches.

As number two man on the Maxim, it is my job to assist the gunner in setting up, firing, and maintaining the gun. Vanya got there just after I did and we began making our little bunker homey. This was time well spent, because almost as soon as the event began, we were subjected by determined attacks by the Huns. I believe that we must have shot up nearly 2000 rounds!

Indeed, I heard the comment made on the Allied side that the Germans were more aggressive than usual this year. One thing is certain, they had a lot more gas! The gas alarm sounded frequently, requiring us to resort to our gas masks. Since I am nearly blind while wearing mine, it is a bit of a nuisance. It does give one a very, very small taste of that aspect of life in the trenches. At one point, Saturday afternoon, the entire German line was blotted out by an enormous orange cloud which seemed to sweep in and stay for an unusual amount of time. A very surreal moment, to say the least.

The Russian Legion section of the line lies between the French sector (we operate under French Command) and the U.S. Marines. Being flanked by two strong units and operating two Maxims and a couple of more portable mgs gave us a very secure position. The Germans rarely got into our lines, despite their aggressiveness. Our mortar crew outdid themselves as usual, in tormenting the Boche with the accuracy of their fire.

Also, we once again had the Allied and German air corps operating over the battlefield. We had a Madsen gun set up for such a possibility and we opened up with the gusto on the German plane. After a few passes, he began trailing smoke and disappeared, so we must have gotten him!

This was my third GWA event, and definitely the best, in my opinion.  I am definitely looking forward to the next one.

Thanks to Matt Gillespie for additional pictures.

Bill and Linda Donegan attended the annual Troops and Trains event in Strassburg, Pa over the weekend of November 5th. Here is their report:

Strasburg, Pa November 4, 2011 had dinner with Dave and Lois Nowack.

Saturday November 5,2011 we had breakfast with the Nowacks.  Linda and I dressed in Civil War attire and we proceeded to the Strasburg Train Museum for our orientation/safety meeting.  Linda and I were greeters/meeters at the museum and acted as a walking Civil War display.  We met Mike, a fellow Union solder and we decided to form an ad hoc unit.  We found an empty table and chairs, Mike took off his accouterments and voila, we had a display table. Soon we were joined by another artillery sergeant and Linda and I decided to walk around in the museum and pose for photographs with visitors.

Linda and I decided to walk across the road to the train station and mingle with the crowd, walk the platform and wave to passengers on the train (a train ride of one hour was assigned to each presenter). Soon we were joined by two more couples in Civil War attire.  We posed for many photographs and represented the Federal Generals Corps. We were General William Rosecrans (myself), Thomas Crittenden, and George H. Thomas. Funny how we three actually served together in Chattanooga.  In fact we actually asked the conductor if this was the Chattanooga cho cho.  To which he replied, “quarter to nine, track 29″. I told him that nothing could be finer than to have ham and eggs in Carolina.

The concept is interesting and Phil Ward’s knowledge of the military is undeniable. The story revolves around Lieutenant (he gets promoted during the course of the book) John Randall, who does such a bang-up job of leading a small force of British troops slowing the German advance on Calais during the British retreat to the Channel in May 1940, that he is selected to head up an ultra-secret Raider unit.

The book goes into great detail describing the various stages that this fictional unit goes through as it develops into a fighting force. Apparently this is the first installment of a planned series about this outfit. As it is, there is a dearth of actual combat in the book, since so much time is spent on all the various machinations the principle characters go through to obtain weapons and improve their logistics. I guess the bulk of the fighting will take place in subsequent volumes. However, as I got into this book, I found that I had difficulty sticking with it. I kept wanting them to go shoot some Krauts and when they did, it was almost an anticlimax.

The characters were also a bit of a problem. They reminded me of one of the old propaganda movies made during WWII. Among the main characters, all the men are either handsome and brave or are comic relief while the women are all spunky and beautiful. None of these characters ever seem to be lacking a snappy comeback.  The author also has a maddening habit of constantly referring to characters, with few exceptions,  by their full titles…Captain Randall, Lady Jane Seaborn…etc. Until of course, when Jane Seaborn joins the Royal Marines (!!!) and becomes “Captain Lady Jane Seaborn.”

Another issue is that of outright mistakes in the factual material. One of the ‘colorful characters’, Geronimo Joe, who is leading his Wild West Show in a tour around Britain, states that Randall got his battle experience fighting Huk guerrillas in the Philippines. The problem with this, of course, is that the Huk rebellion did not start until 1946…six years after the events depicted in the book takes place. Also, the characters mouth way too many cliche’s. I know that people do that in real life, but it is just as annoying when it really happens.

In short, this is not a work of war fiction that is going to take its place alongside The Thin Red Line, The Winds of War, or for that matter, The Killer Angels. Still, if you don’t need your fiction to be particularly literary, then you might like it. Just don’t expect a lot of shooting until the next installment.