On November 13-14, German forces once again occupied Old Bedford Village and were confronted by the inexorable tide of the Red Army. This was of course, the annual fall battle between Grossdeutschland Division and the 193rd Rifle Division. Other groups in attendance included 11th Panzer (and one Bulgarian) on the Axis side and the 9th Guards on the Soviet side. I think there were others, but I don’t know for certain.
One unusual note this weekend was the weather- it was unseasonably warm and sunny all weekend, to the extent that many of my comrades dispensed with overcoats and wore their tunics in the field. It didn’t have that Russian winter feel, but if was very pleasant. It made it fairly easy to keep the buildings warm at night.
Throughout the battle scenarios on Saturday, our mortar battery kept things hot for the Germans, with both mortars going most of the day. At one point, we took off our covers and were reorganizing our ammo, when a German came up and ordered us to surrender. We informed him that our hats were off and we were technically deceased. He then inquired if there was any way that he could put us out of commission for the rest of the day. We told him that there was not, and that we would be coming back to life within the hour. He expressed great disappointment at this news. Apparently the mortars were being quite effective. Its always nice to get good reviews. 🙂
At another point in the day, we left the mortars behind and assisted our Maxim gunner in wiping out a German position that had been holding up our infantry for some time. Comrade Maxim can be very persuasive!
For the last scenario, we were ordered to shell German troops guarding the covered bridge into OBV while the infantry conducted an assault. There was a great deal of smoke around the bridge from smoke grenades and I commented that it looked like the bridge was on fire. About 15 minutes later while we were shelling the Fritzes, the battle was stopped because the grass under the bridge had caught on fire, apparently from one of the smoke grenades! The flames were extinguished with no serious damage.
As usual, we were treated to a wonderful dinner that night in the visitor’s center. The food at OBV is always great and there always seems to be more than we can eat. Kudos to Roger Kirwin, his staff and the volunteers! Later that evening there was entertainment by the “World’s Greatest/Worst Polka Band” which was held in the barn rather than the tavern, which provided much more room. Bartending was provided by the usual ‘rude’ Frenchmen and their lovely female assistant. A fine ending to a busy day!
To sum up, this was another great event that is made possible by the existence of Old Bedford Village and the fine folks who run it. There is no place that is any more ‘reenactor-friendly.’ Thanks to GD and thanks again, Roger and OBV.
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