Steaming into the past.

Train enthusiasts are a funny lot.. said the history enthusiast who dresses up at the weekend.

Tracks to the trenches at the Apedale light railway just outside Stoke-on-Trent was the third and final event centred on the role of light gauge railways and steam power in the Great war.

 A number of living history groups were on hand to add colour and atmosphere to the weekend. including myself as 'The only German in the village' though I did have some allied (Austro-Hungarian) Bosniaks to support, who due to their fezes are constantly asked if they are Turkish. The 14th Olonetsky regiment (Russians) would provide the core of our 1914-21 group which focuses on the war in the East. Trying to read up more really brought home how much attention is paid to the British experience on the Western front and overlooking Russia, Poland, Serbia, the Italian front, Syria, Greece, even the Dardanelles with British and commonwealth forces is quite a drop off from the number of books on the Somme.

Several things I learnt this weekend:

1)  How to get an eighteen pounder field gun off the back of a carriage with wheel ramps, ropes and chocs.

2: How to engage in a portaloo with a belted, accoutrement laden tunic over a pair of braces attached to trousers under that tunic.

3: Not to drink tea from an aluminium cup, as the heat will firstly transfer into the metal making it too hot to hold and then dissipate leaving you with a tepid cup of tea.

From experience of being French  I had expected a few people to ask 'Why are you German?' but in fact this never happened, maybe a lot of the public really have taken on the idea that it was a terrible war with out an enemy, without hate, at least to our current generation. I would like to think so.

 Instead I was asked a few times 'If your a medic why do you have a gun?'  The Geneva convention does actually stipulate that medical personnel can carry a weapon for self defence although most countries never did so the Germans often did as part of the duties in looking after/saving the wounded, including to defend them against any crazed enemies who might be keen on bayonetting the wounded.

'Die werwundeten kommen immer zuerst'.

The wounded always come first.

Various sized trains were also on display with various sized great war themes and looked at by various sized people.

Early afternoon each day it was our turn to man the trenches, mainly as a display as the public were free to wander through although there were a few odd shots fired off and a couple of simulated gas attacks during the day. Whilst here on the first day I made a mental note of the nice little dug out as a place to kip later.

It was quite an experience to go riding on a few steam trains, big and small, just clinging to an eight foot long flatbed or in an open-sided cattle box, just enjoyable to look out the door up and down the track. It's another thing you would never get to do if you weren't one of the reenactors, you are trusted not to fall out the door, unlike the general public.

It was quite a relaxed weekend, Great war re-enactment does indeed include staged battles rather like Napoleonics or other periods but therein there is more colour and spectacle of formation charges, lines wheeling, musket vollies, cannons firing over open sights, horses charging etc..  but less often it seems, doubtless in part due to the nature of the war and the terrain and the current hundred year commemorations. Living history is prevalent which concentrates on more static displays and engaging with the public.

Roll on next month! but in the meantime it will be back to 1812 and invading.. Wales.

The road to war..

I have a fairly broad interest in history although it tends to concentrate on the black powder period, then last year some friends and I went on a road trip to the Ardennes and back, including Liege, Bastogne, Arras and Cambrai. Many of these were scenes of particular World war one battles and there were a couple of great museums. My interest in the great war picked up. Then early this year another trip to around Ypres, with similar sites, the ball was rolling...

 Great war re-enactment..

                   

But what army? what group? where are good places to buy kit?

I knew I didn't want to do British because there are so many groups doing that in the UK I imagined the scene needed more diversity.. Belgian? I liked the idea of plucky Belgium but would I be a regiment of one? A brief google didn't turn any groups up but should that matter? I could tag myself on to an allied group at events but in practical terms its useful being in a group as you are covered by insurance and event organisers generally go through a group. German? I can speak a little German and am quite a Germanophile and there would certainly be groups, plus I already owned a Feldmutze (cap) that was bought on a whim.. its a start!

Groups tend to have reputations, for great authenticity, or lack of same, for comradeship, for thinking they are actually the real army, for being too dry, for being too drunk!  I needed to do some research, I asked some friends into WWI living history and all suggested 'The 1914-21 society' as a good bet.

They do not portray one unit but concentrate on the Eastern theatre so have Russians from the great war and Russian civil war that followed, Austrians, including Bosniaks and mountain troops, and Germans.. all tempting but I'd started down the German path and the gear looked easier to get right on my own as the Austrian stuff in particular was very bespoke. After my American civil war experience and talk with Ian (i.e. e-mail) I liked very much that they invited people to do whatever role they wanted.

Lochnagar crater.

So something that was a little more individual but would still see me on the battlefield/in the trenches.. Medical services came to mind. Part of being German was because every country suffered that got pulled into the war, which I consider 'The last argument of kings' and me today would not really have wanted to fight a massive war because Franz-Josef has a grudge with little Serbia.. but I would like to help people out.. Krankentrager..  stretcher bearer/medic it was. I would basically be a called up reservist from the landsturm who volunteered for the medical service attached to the battalion. I would also be Saxon.

The German army despite unification still had divisions and separate uniforms (well variations) for most of the German states like Bavaria, Wurtemburg, etc. The Saxons had a reputation as being easy going and keen to start unofficial truces, which often annoyed the Prussians who took the fighting lark far more seriously. Despite the stereotype of the major powers the German army soon became one of the most rag tag, partly due to shortages, but also seldom enforced things like shaving regulations, so no one could say I had a wrong beard.

   

Soon it was all coming together, tunic, trousers, cap, boots (early war brown), breadbag, canteen, wire cutters, cutlery set.. picklehaube.. the spiked helmet of the early war.. with a separate plate for Saxony. The only things I couldn't find were the right size mess tin (googling for WWI German annoyingly mixes results with WWII German and items that are not specified as either, beware!), a tornister backpack and a Saxon belt buckle.. my current one is from Wurtemburg but you'd have to get pretty close to notice, shhhHH!

Early or late war is a consideration, most pictures of the group showed the German contingent as early war so I'd gone with that.. but what if events were meant to be strickly 1916-18? A steel helmet and gasmask/case followed.

I also found Saxon tunics have two buttons on the cuff  instead of three, you cannot buy tunics tailored like that so for now due to supply problems I have been issued with a standard three button version, don't you know there is a war on?

My personal impression was growing, why did I speak good English? well in 1913 a full 10% of restaurant and hospitality staff in London were German, an area of the East end was known as German town, even before the war the Daily Mail was railing against the number of foreign devils taking British jobs (coming over here and waiting our tables!) and printing fictional stories about fiendish hun spies (or Austrians, or Italians, anyone really...) which would add to the hysteria when war actually came. So there you are I was a waiter who saw the writing on the wall and returned to my native Leipzig in my last year of being liable for the reserves (age 45) and found myself in the army.

                                 Now I just needed an event to go to...

Postcards from Malta.

        Postcards from Malta.

                                             

Malta, an island stuffed with history including the world's earliest free standing buildings, and between 1798 and 1800 the scene of a French landing as Napoleon popped in on the way to Egypt leading to a subsequent two year occupation until being cut off from France and the valiant defenders had to give in.

Instead of recounting the whole week I'll break it down into a few subjects, starting with my first experience of going on a plane with a gun.

It did seem a faff and a bit daunting, but it all worked out well.
The first step was selecting excess baggage; sports equipment; firearms. Both there and back again.
The air Malta website said you had to inform them 72 hours before travel and a police escort was required.
Was this as well as booking a firearm or did that count as informing? Also was a police escort needed both sides?  I called Sussex Police and they had never heard of it but just said ''follow whatever it says''.  Turns out it was only Malta side and with over 500 reenactors going they were on standby.
There were eleven guns on the flight so we all got grouped together and had to one by one go into an office and show the officer our papers and the serial number on the gun then have loading crew come and take them onwards. This included a dummy musket, I suppose it takes same space and they need to check it is a dummy.

At the other end were the police who met the muskets as they were received and again serial numbers were checked, but it was a little less formal and quicker. On the way back it was repeated but the Malta guys were not bothered about serial numbers which was good as it's a pain getting them in and out of a hardcase with other gear. The Police were very friendly and the main firearms guy was working overtime to cope with us all. So it was all okay, if more time consuming. Outside we were loaded into an army truck and taken to the drop off point between the two 'camps'.

Life in Fort St Angelo.  

This was my digs for the week. A massive fort built up over the ages on an ancient site and besieged in 1565 and bombed in WWII and now I had the honour of sleeping on its floor. My first three nights were in a little look out tower overlooking the escarpment up to the entrance, which was cool but sometimes a bit noisy due to the street and people on the massive posho yachts below. So I retreated to an alcove further in for the second half of the week.

The fort was a bit over subscribed, I opted to sleep out but bodies kept appearing throughout the first few days, the rooms actually felt a bit stuffy, might have had the small blessing of being mosquito free however. For a change I used the showers, hose pipes in a tunnel with cold water but still very welcome and made you feel most revived after a long day! one shower was at two a.m. after being woken up by bad pop music.

Helping with logistics I was quite annoyed by the attitude of a few of the people in the fort, the organisers were trying their best but stuff was often late, such as water, this was a re-enactment event run by reenactors, not a business you paid for.  listening to someone complaining that there group had no water I just wanted to tell them that if they were that desperate get two of your men to walk five minutes down the road and buy a few bottles to tide you over, what are you? Children?! Call yourselves soldiers!? use some initiative!

Walking into Valetta after the Philomena battle, the scenery really made me think that this wasn't Kansas anymore, must of been pretty gruelling for a campaign with 18th century logistics.

Could be Egypt!

The Battle of Mistra bay. Because of an eye injury caused by some gritty sand getting caught in my eye I only did the Tuesday and Wednesday battle, local health centre sorted it but it was a bit of a rough night on Friday. 

This battle was memorable indeed, we marched round a sandy coastal track to the base of a sloping hill that was covered in broken ground, all shrubs, thorns and white ragged rocks, really no gaps between the three and occasional small seams/chasms near the cliff face.. oh did I mention one flank was a cliff dropping into the sea below? 

We started by swinging round and advancing on a building/ditch held by the Maltese and traded a few vollies before a brief charge where I nabbed an enemy hat (which I duely returned). This was repeated and I noticed the fray only went up to a low wall so ran along it to get behind the defenders, who then surrendered.

Rock hopping up the hill whilst trying to remain in formation was interesting. ''staighten the line!' er no, there is two foot hole full of cactus! Half way up it seemed the enemy were finished and many sat in defeat on the rocks. But no, we were off again against a fighting retreat with pot shots against us

from the bluffs.

Then began a long march, the sort that becomes a chore but in retrospect you remember more warmly. I think a twenty minute wait in ranks riled more people as at least whilst moving you think each step is getting you somewhere. Finally, a town square! Civilisation, food, drink, steps to sit on, local music and a conga!

Malta itself. I've never been to Malta before and very much enjoyed it. The architecture is fantastic, sandstone mostly, with balconies, and towers and engravings, and nearly everything is at least three or four floors to maximise space. At almost any time of the day you will hear bells or cannons, dont ask why. Culture seems a blend of the best parts of Italian and English. England of course occupied Malta right up to the last century and red phone boxes, three pin plug sockets, zebra crossings, etc bare this out. Most signs are in English and even I didn't feel bad just speaking it as first language, instead of a token fail at the lingo.

Food involved a lot of bread and pasties, the main source of carbohydrate, when goats cheese, fish and salad seemed another theme. You need stuff to keep you going, I thought I was eating well but lost weight in just a few days.

Cisk (ch-isk) is the local beer and the default if you are not fussy, sorry selective.. to me it had a plastic tang but was tolerable if served very cold. I preferred the Farsons light ales (same company). Kinnie is also a must try, a soft drink of orange and herbs, rather flowery with a hint of dandelion and burdock.

Weather was hot! You can begin a walk feeling fine but after ten minutes get a drop of sweat run down your face, two minutes later you'll be perspiring head to foot.  There was often a cool breeze of the sea and the tall buildings shade the streets.

Public transport is cheap, but the island has a problem with so many cars on a small island, if a ferry is an option go by sea! 

A day with the Royal marines (Czech/German group).

Dawn over the battlements, looking out to sea for over 2000 years.

Conclusion: a great time overall, nice to fight on different terrain Vs a more irregular enemy. Overall felt more like a holiday with friends in hats than a campaign, but then I was signed off for a bit. Would happily go back, I didn't really get to see the local museums, this was a big event, twenty years since the 200th anniversary but smaller events occur every now and then. 

Sitting here now I'd love to just teleport back for a stroll, or a water taxi, into town for a beer, even if it was a Cisk.

To Arms at Four Arms.

Such a long time, eight months! as last season ended a bit early and this one started a bit late.

                                                             QUATRE BRAS!

or as I have seen it too often 4 Bras, what is that? text speak? are we going to have Wtrloo 2020 or Lpzg?

The actual battle was on 16 June whilst to the East Napoleon fought the Prussians at Ligny, having been given a drubbing here Wellington fell back to a little place called Waterloo.

For us it was a great site based around a period barn not far from the crossroads with the remains of a wall and impressive gate, the barn itself was huge and had the tavern and a stage set up in it.

The line of trees at the top end of the camp I came to call the rain trees as I made my bed there on the first night, which was a bit of a nippy one, and woke up a couple of times thinking it was raining but it was just the breeze in the trees, others thought this also.

After breakfast, powder collection, filling cartridges and a browse at the traders it was drill on an amusingly sandy, bumpy, ploughed field.
Since last autumn I have had what turned out to be 'Frozen shoulder' on the left. Still I could load and fire a musket without much impediment, or so I thought until after about half an hour of drill.
it's common to get a slight ache from carrying a musket at porte arms.. over the left shoulder but this was a proper pain possibly because the arm has been used less but it felt like a bit more than that and when I moved to advance with bayonet forward I physically couldn't reach the right point with my left arm and wavered, for most of the time after that it was my right arm baring the weight. I will have to see how it goes.

Many of us had been looking forward to a long route march with a skirmish but those going would have been split up into two other units, one of which was lead by an Officer some of us have no respect for.. so as a unit we did a commemoration instead. Everyone on the bus! 

Later, the first battle! It was good to see so many Dutch-Belgians and Brunswickers.. although for a while it was just hearing them as the fighting raged beyond the crest.

The cannons boomed and everything was hazed with smoke. The British appeared marching to join the battle.. and we were also advanced down the slope to meet them. Who won Quatre Bras is debatable, often cited as a French strategic victory as the allies were forced to retreat but as an allied tactical victory as there was no breakthrough. For me Ney's inactivity in the morning when the outnumbered largely Dutch-Belgian force could have been overwhelmed cost the whole campaign.

It was played out quite well, the allies retreating from the field but the French in no rush to get forward, I wonder how the same battle would have gone as a UK reenactment.

Another misty morning and a but more leisurely, still more drill.

Again to battle, the calm before the storm of sitting or standing in a corn field, bar a few guns we were first brigade up, it was by now very sunny and when the battle started we were soon advancing.

Vollies were traded and we went forward, being in the front rank I didn't see the rest of the column behind me but the whole French attack rolled down the hill to smash a thin line, and then..

You know the end of Month Python and the holy grail? It was a bit like that, the bloke representing Ney and his entourage got between us and a few riflemen and went ' Non, non, this is not in the script! Turn round, go back to going back and forth. You can't do something that interesting! (n.b. They didn't really say this, nor was he shot by the rifles about five yards behind him).

I had decided to become a casualty near the end, next time a skirmisher popped off a shot.. but each time there was a misfire.. click! and so I lived to see another day.

I have one of those burnt in memories of the cavalry racing up the slope as some infantry marched down just by them.. but the pictures don't do justice, no motion and.. you can really see they are a motley bunch except for a few dragoons and one of them is a reversed colours musician.. it was a bit like that with our own headwear.. a handful of blue pom poms.. a red plume, some red chords, no pom pom, a narrow green and yellow plume and a bog brush of a yellow and green one seemingly randomly scattered! I don't mind plumes as a subsection but imagine onlookers going 'Why has that one guy got that big thing on his head?' I have heard it said that plumes were expensive and for best parades and wouldn't normally be worn into a battle, but there you are.

Unfortunately for the 21eme there coach got stuck in the sand, digging itself in as a storm approached. Volunteers were called for.

I decided to pay a call on the British officers to solicit more help and they were more than obliging, although I wasn't amused at jokes suggesting I'd been dodging manual work, I got far more muscle involved than my own! 

Sadly all the pushing in the world, or at least in a small part of Belgium, could not triumph and a recovery vehicle was summoned.

Those obliged to wait in uncertainty at least got to join the rest of us in Free beer from the tavern for everyone, everything must go! 

'Stefan is thirsty.'

Beards came up a few times, the Dutch and Brunswickers in particular seemed to have a lot of big beards. Which can be controversial.

..and so the weekend drew to a close and we drove West.. next event in two weeks.. SOUTH.. very much south.. to Malta 1798-1800. Crikey, it seemed so far away when first mentioned and now, a week and a half! stay turned.

The forbidden subject, shhhhh!

On October 15 there was an American civil war reenactment at a place called Middletown, eighty miles west of Washington. It would have been a fairly typical event, as many that had been held there over the years. Except this year threats of physical violence had been sent to attending groups in an attempt to keep people away. It didn't work, despite a suspected pipebomb being removed, and the two sides came together in a particularly fond embrace, shaking hands and singing each others songs. They wanted to send a message that their hobby would not be stopped by terrorist threats or politics. They were not there because of politics, nor would contemporary politics stop them.

This was part of the ongoing conflict of interests about confederate flags and symbolism in America, after Charlotteville, where ACW reenactors have been quick to point out that no one there was a reenactor. Sadly however there were people there waving nazi flags and KKK flags right next to those with confederate flags.. and the latter didn't seem to mind. This paints a bad picture for anyone else who flies the flag.  The issuer of the threats above of course seemed to find both camps viable targets so what was the problem? the Washington post referred to the unknown faction as being an 'Anti history group'.  As I write I see an event at Mannasas has just been cancelled.

Could similar happen over here? I have never known people to be so divided into two vague camps, the right wing is on the rise with Germany and Austria now having members of dodgy groups sitting in Government, and clashes between left and right sure to escalate, could a backlash see WWII German reenactors being assailed or not invited to third party events? or Victorian British or Prussians? Parlimentarians? Soviets?

Wherever there is a large mix of people meeting for a non political reason there will be a nationalist here or there, reenactors are generally interested in military history as a common ground. This can be nerdy and also involve toy soldiers as well as social history or sometimes it could be an ex military bloke, still following the flag and possibly taking things a bit too seriously.

Until the age of social media members of a reenactment group could be meeting up a dozen times a year for events and all having a great time together yet possibly not know what a fellow really believes in or what party they follow. Politics and religion: Generally a no go subject around the camp fire.

But when your facebook friend-through-reenactment suddenly posts up a UKip poster and shares a fake news story about an 'innocent white man' being sent to prison for twenty years for leaving a bacon sandwich within half a mile of a Mosque..  its facepalm time. What do you do next time you meet them and they sing 'Ich haben ein Kameraden'? or even 'Rule Britannia'..   Break into 'Le international'?

As well as politics now there is politics then. In any era I would chose the army closer to my own ideals and for some this is a must do, for others a complete irrelevence.
Take the English civil war, many soldiers will have been drummed into the local forces whether Royalist or Parlimentarian or because their peers were signing up, if professional soldiers it could be fighting for who ever holds the purse strings.. but for some as for a would be re-enactor they have to decide, for some it is a political choice.. I doubt many present day republicans choose to fight for the King, even one that has been dead for over 300 years.

I remember seeing a news feature on the anniversary of the death of Charles I and a reenactment group was on hand, some of whom were interviewed and one woman was adamant that the foul parlimentarians had MURDERED King Charles, it was no act, she seemed really angry at those F&^%ing roundhead scum. It was personal.

I am a 'fan' of many things German/Austrian.. and sympathise with regular German WWII soldiers who were conscripted and whose families could suffer if they didn't show proper commitment to the Reich, these things are seldom simple as good guys and bad guys, but I would not wear a WWII German uniform now, maybe once, but not now.

One step up, or down, from that is SS reenactors. Even other re-enactors often shake their heads and say why?  given the examples above I will always have that doubt about motivation, you chose that uniform when you could have been Luftwaffe field division, paratroopers or regular army? They must get it in the neck all the time from the public and sit around the fire bemoaning how misunderstood the poor waffen SS really were.  Yet we must not forget that there were the SS in the historical reality of course. They do have some quite nice gear, and tanks, much cooler tanks, but still, NO. I realise now I have started thinking in my David Mitchell voice, obviously thinking of Daryl the Peep show Nazi.

So yes politics is usually avoided within the hobby, but not always possible, like when you are travelling with nine people in a minibus on election Day or fifteen hours on a coach with thirty people a few days after Brexit, going to an event in Europe and wondering how difficult it might become, goodbye EU health cover, open borders and Firearms passes... You can claim to 'not do' politics but politics will still 'Do you'.

                                          

Reenactment is a great hobby, with many open minded people from all walks of life, many find getting away from it all for a few days a huge part of it. No news, no TV, little or no social media, and like the Union and Confederate soldiers on October 15, let everyone come together on one side. 

The contest is over, but let the history live on.