Tag: Reenacting
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Reading Airshow
The following is a report by our correspondent, Eric Rowan: Reading, Pennsylvania Mid Atlantic Air Museum 22nd Annual WWII Weekend June 1st – June 3rd 2012 For twenty two years, the Mid Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania has hosted a WWII weekend. I was able to attend the 22nd annual reenactment, and…
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Helmut’s Newville
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.…
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Ostfront – Odessa, NY, April 2012
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…
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An Interesting Fellow
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…
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Newville – March 2012
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…
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Capital Wing of APS Dinner
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…
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Torgau – Meeting on the Elbe
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…
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Meeting at the Elbe – Old Bedford Village 2012
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…
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Gap – 2012
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…
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Events for the New Year
As we enter a new year, let’s take a look at some of the upcoming events for the next couple of months: 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,…
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Mission to Moscow II
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…
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Mission to Moscow
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…
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Great War Association Event – November 2011
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.…
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Troops and Trains 2011 pt. I
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…
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Bulltown II
Here is a further account of the fighting at Bulltown, WV: (On the second day) I was asked to walk guard duty around the fort perimeter as the rest of the garrison was asleep from the party the night before. See attached photo. As I looked out across the hollow through the trees I…
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Logan Civil War Heritage weekend
We recently received this missive from a Union soldier involved in putting down the rebels in the Southern mountains (He has evidently had some schooling, but obviously lacks polish). Jim, There was a rebellion broke out in Logan Sept. 24 and 25th. It was so bad that President Lincoln himself had to come down and…
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Ike Farm 2011
On the weekend of September 17th, I had a lot planned. Some friends had asked me to accompany them to an airshow at Martinsburg in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. This was an opportunity to visit some good friends and take in an attraction that I had not seen before. As anyone who watches…
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New Oxford 2011
The following is an account of the ‘Liberation of New Oxford’, which occurs concurrently with the Ike Farm living history. Another bravura effort by our tireless Bill Donegan: Linda and I found another great WW2 event just 9 miles east of Gettysburg. It is New Oxford. The scenario is Alsace being first deserted by German…
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Tank Farm 2011
The Virginia Museum of Military Vehicles ( aka ‘The Tank Farm’) in conjunction with the American Wartime Museum, held its annual open house August 19-21 at its site near Nokesville, VA. This is an amazing event for no other reason than that it features so many vintage military vehicles in running condition, many of which…
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Remagen Reenactment – 2011
Bill Donegan (aka. Helmut Heudlass) reports from the front at Tidioute, PA on this past weekend’s reenactment of the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge by American forces. I was wounded on the eastern front and was sent to Remagen to the hospital to recuperate. When released from krankenhause I was permitted to stay…
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In the Heat of the Night…and Day…
I believe that I can honestly say that I have never been to a Manassas/Bull Run event that was not hot. This year’s reenactment, however, took the cake (or at least baked it!). When we arrived at camp, we learned that our Lt. Colonel, Kevin Skaggs, had brought a small table-top thermometer which informed…
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Rowlesburg Volume II
Patricia Patterson is one of our most creative and original contributors. Here are her musings on the Rowlesburg event. I was thinking about the standard AAR template, and then ever the curious researcher, I read a variety of reenactor AAR’s just for grins. I read some of the past AAR’s, some of my own, many…
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2011 WORLD WAR II LIVING HISTORY WEEKEND
This report by our correspondent, Matt Gillespie, is the first in a series of impressions on last week’s Rowlesburg WWII living history weekend. Not many would know or even believe that tucked away in the mountains of Rowlesburg, WV would be such a high quality museum as well as a high quality living history. …
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Reading Volume II
The Mid-Atlantic Air Museum’s WWII weekend is one of the two biggest events that I attend annually. There aren’t a lot of shows that offer such a combination of lot’s of WWII aircraft, reenactors and militaria vendors. Unfortunately, the show has been increasingly mired in complaints from the reenactors about their treatment at the…
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First Report from Reading
The following is a review of last weekend’s Reading Airshow by our correspondent, Mike Momot: Hello all, Richelle did a wonderful job with the registration process. I felt this worked quite nicely. It certainly would have been better to have later registration hours Thursday and Friday nights for those coming from far away,…
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Meeting at the Elbe – OBV 2011
The 2nd Gebirgs once again hosted their Elbe River event at Old Bedford Village on the weekend of February 19, 2011. This is always a well-run and fun event and this year was no exception. The event commemorates the meeting of Soviet and American troops at the Elbe River near Torgau, Germany in April, 1945.…
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GAP 2010
January 25th through the 28th saw me once again trekking up to Fort Indiantown Gap for the annual Battle of the Bulge reenactment/ living history extravaganza/militaria vendor mall. As usual, it was a large affair with a lot of activities for the WWII living historian. This year, for the first time, I got there on…
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Old Bedford Village – East Front Tactical 2010
The annual Fall Eastern Front event was held at Old Bedford Village on the weekend of November 12-14. This year offered an interesting change from the usual format. Rather than just a series of firefights between the combatants, this year involved a day-long scenario in which German units (in this case, Grossdeutschland and 11th Panzer)…
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PA Trolley Museum 2010
Another post that is a ‘little’ late. It has been a very busy Fall. On the weekend of September 11-12, the PA Trolley Museum near Washington, PA hosted the annual Antique Truck Show. As is customary,28th Division, 110th RCT, K Company,set up a WWII living history display as part of the show. As I have…
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Ike Farm – 2010
I attended the Ike Farm WWII Weekend on September 18. This was the first time in several years that I had gone and pleasantly, it seemed that it had grown since the last time I was there, although, it may just be that I can’t remember that much about the last time. There were two…
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Williamsport WWII Event 2010
The following report was submitted by correspondent Bill Donegan: Williamsport 2010 Event This year’s living history at Williamsport began with Kim sending me an e-mail message telling me that they had a “PACKARD†for me, for the parade. I misread it thinking it said package. I had a big laugh when Linda pointed out my…
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Jollytown Civil War Memorial – A Job Well Done
On September 4, 2010, the Reenactorpost and the Sons of Union Veterans drove to Jollytown, PA and cleaned up the Jesse Taylor Civil War memorial and repainted the guns. The SUV commander, Matt Gillespie, had gotten Lowe’s in Buckhannon to knock 50% off the cost of two gallons of Rustoleum. One can was olive drab…
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A Working Visit to the Tank Farm
This one is a little late, but it has been a busy summer and fall (so far). On July 12-13, Bill Donegan and I drove to the Virginia Military Vehicles Museum to work as volunteers. The ‘Tank Farm,’ as it is also known, is located near Manassas, Virginia and contains an amazing collection of 20th…
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HAMPSHIRE HERITAGE FEST, ROMNEY WV SEPTEMBER 10 – 12, 2010
In my haste to get this out, I neglected to note that this was submitted by Nick Korolev (Very sorry Nick!) ed. The Hampshire County Heritage Fest takes place every 2nd weekend in September. The Civil War living history and reenactment part of this fun festival has only been going on for a few years,…
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The Longest Weekend, D-Day pt. III
Here is Bill’s Continued Report on Longest Week-end- Conneaut Ohio: Following on the heels of that epic bridge battle the three West Virginians retired to the comfort of the 2nd Gebirgs camp for a rest and refit. While cleaning rifles and reloading bandoleers, we were approached by the local news media for snap-shots and interviews.…
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News from the Front – Tank Farm Event – 2010
The following is a report from our intrepid correspondent, Mike Momot: The Tank Farm†Nokesville, Virginia, 21-22 August 2010. This event is located on the grounds of the Virginia Museum of Military Vehicles. This event was attended by members of the 193rd and many other reenactment units. WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, the Cold War, and…
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Old Bedford Village Living History 2010
Old Bedford Village has been described as the ‘Jewel of Reenacting’ in the Mid-Atlantic region, and I certainly agree. One of the premier events that I look forward to each summer is the annual OBV 1940’s weekend. It is always laid-back, interesting and fun. This year was no exception. Between John Niemiec, Craig Hall and…
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Philippi Races 2010
The following is a report on the annual Blue-Gray Reunion in Philippi, WV by our correspondent, Bill Donegan: On June 3rd through June 6th Linda and I attended, and participated in, the 149th Annual Blue & Gray Reunion in Philippi, West Virginia. Linda and I started this year’s preparation back in March when we began…
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WVRA School of the Soldier
The town of Rowlesburg, WV played host to the annual WVRA School of the soldier again this year, on the weekend of May 1st. This was a small event with probably no more than fifteen to a side. There was a small spectated reenactment of the Battle of Rowlesburg on Saturday, which was probably more…
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Local Events You Don’t Want to Miss!
I wanted to give everyone a quick preview of some great events coming up in North Central West Virginia over the next few months. First of all, is the 5th Annual WWII Living History Weekend in Rowlesburg, WV on the weekend of June 19, 2010. This is West Virginia’s premier WWII event. Located in the…
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A Hidden Treasure
On April 24, Mark Tennant and I drove to Oakland, MD for a scheduled Civil War living history. We were to meet up with some other reenactors at the gazebo by the train station, however, to our dismay, we learned that there had been a glitch and the event had been cancelled, but no one…
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MTA 2010 – Beautiful weather- Great time!
The title says it all. March 20-21 was a great weekend for the annual Military Through the Ages event at Jamestown Settlement. Despite having been out at Newville the previous week and dreading the 7-hour drive, I still felt compelled to attend. I’m glad I did. This was even better than last year. I don’t…
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Crossing of the Chesapeake
We received this notice from Lt. William King, USN concerning an interesting event upcoming in May. It sounds like a fascinating endeavor and should be of particular interest to those of the maritime pursuasion. Good luck and Godspeed to all involved: On May 15-16 2010 a crew of 10 will attempt to row and sail…
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New Feature: Reenactor Post Classified Ads
We recently added a new feature to the website that we thought our readers might be interested in taking advantage of – Reenactor Post Classified Ads. If you are anything like us, you probably have gear you don’t need anymore or are looking for something you don’t have, so we thought this feature would be…
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WWII – Two Upcoming Events
After you get done with all your shopping at FIG, it will be time to start getting ready for the first two Eastern Front events in the southern PA area. The first is: The Elbe Crossing February 20, 2010, at Old Bedford Village. The scenario is the final days of the Reich. All Allied units…