On the weekend of February 20th, I accompanied Bill Donegan to Old Bedford Village for the second annual ‘Elbe Crossing’ event, sponsored by the 2nd Gebirgs. Yeah, I know there are those who can’t stand Elbe events because this sort of contact between Soviet and Western Allied forces during the war was extremely rare, and by extension that reenactors who attend them are farbs. That being said, the Elbe did happen, so my opinion is that if you think its a farby idea, then don’t go. At any rate, we went and had a good time, so there! 🙂
Actually, the Soviets and the GIs had very little contact with one another during the event, so particularly with the heavy snow cover, this seemed much like a typical East Front winter event. Because the snow was simply too deep to walk through for any distance, the action largely took place in the village proper. While the Red Army started out from the South side of the village, there were a number of different scenarios which enabled us to start from different spots in the village, with the last action of the day being an attack on the bridge.
Because I have been having some hip problems, I knew that I couldn’t be as mobile as usual, so I was assigned to a sniper team which operated with a certain amount of independence and did not have to move around as much as the usual troops. This was effective at times as the action was judged. At one point, we set up on the small bridge connecting the Visitor’s Center with the village while the main body swept down the street. We had a fine time picking off Germans and Italians who kept poking their heads and torsos around corners to see where the Russians were. The judges did an excellent job of calling our shots and we took many fascists out of the fight. Thanks to Roger Bombard, Gilbert White and the other folks who contributed to the action in this capacity.
I am not really certain about which units took place during the weekend. I know that elements of the 193rd Rifles, 9th Guards and 33rd Guards took part from the Soviet perspective. Tom Linder of the 193rd was overall Red Army commander. The 300th Combat Engineers brought two jeeps and were prominent on the GI side of the fight. The Axis units included the 9th SS, 2nd Gebirgs, a falschimjager unit and the Italian Blackshirt Division.
An additional plus for us was the presence of David and Irina Braithwaite who cooked real Russian cuisine during the weekend. There were several items items on the menu, but I was particularly taken with the borscht and put away quite a bit. They also had a variety of Russian candies and canned goods for sale. There was a fine dinner for all the reenactors on Saturday night, during which, OBV Director Roger Kirwin spoke and discussed the trials and tribulations of the past year. He then noted that many of the buildings were falling into disrepair and projected that they would need a million dollars to effectively restore the village to its original condition. He thanked us for our continuing support and asked us to consider ways to help the village achieve its fundraising goals. Also, in addition to the dinner, there was a party both nights at the tavern with free beer.
As usual, most of the participants stayed in the buildings and this was pleasant, although a bit chilly in our particular cabin. Overall a lively weekend despite the weather. I would like to compliment the sponsors for a well-organized and fun event. If they have it next year, I may well attend again.
Leave a Reply