Hi all, Thought this might be of some interest to some people out there. I'm a member of the Luftwaffe Air-crew Re-enactors' Association. (disclaimer: no political sentiments among our group - we do this purely for historical education.) We recently participated in a re-creation of Operation Market-Garden out in Western Pennsylvania. Our director used some films and footage of the event to make an interesting film clip of our role in the event which I thought was pretty neat. It can be viewed at http://www.luftwaffereenactors.org/kino.html One of our members bought his Czech L-60 Brigadyr, a copy of the Fi-156 Storch, to the event for us to fly recon missions; I was flying as co-pilot/observer. Enjoy the clip! Regards, Jochen
To be honest, I would love to go tour battlegrounds in the USA that are frequented by those men and women who re-enact the fights that took place in the USA and CSA in the 1860s. I have a hard time imagining Market Garden without the help of many people re-enacting being Dutch Civilians. If I go and look at a civil war re-enactment, I am assured there are people playing the roles of Camp Followers, slaves, freed slaves, cooks, clerks and mule skinners. There is something very impressive about hundreds of men in extended line firing volleys. Men scattered about re-enacting modern fights, I am sure is exciting also, but remember, those guys were not dressed beautifully, they had weapons that could shoot a LONG way [maybe too far to see what effect]. This is NOT to say WHAT A STUPID IDEA A MARKET GARDEN RE-ENACTMENT IS: I say, Hey COOL! Still I really really want to go and smoke some fat ones and spend a July 1 long weekend at Gettysberg, PA. That would be so cool. Macpherson's Ridge - Herr Ridge, I could handle, lines were only a couple miles long, A tourist could walk along and see the tide of battle going this way and that... The confederates turned the Horse Soldier's flanks and that was the end of Part One. Which would be pretty easy to follow along with. [I wonder who would re-enact all those wounded lying in the Peach Orchard who pleaded for water for hours, days......]
Some how I bet these will never be re-enacted.... Somme Quote from page: "Comprising the main Allied attack on the Western Front during 1916, the Battle of the Somme is famous chiefly on account of the loss of 58,000 British troops (one third of them killed) on the first day of the battle, 1 July 1916, which to this day remains a one-day record." I've read somewhere that in Somme British forces lost 15.000 men in first attack alone. Verdun Quote from page: "By the end of the attack, the Germans hadn't made any important progress. On the German side, 54,000 men were lost, and the French 65,000. These huge figures are only for March. Since the beginning of the battle a daily average of 4000 casualties was typical." This is by no means ment to underestimate US civil war. This just came to my mind when biles mentioned it. IMO WW1 was by far the cruellest war ever. airfax ps. Sorry for the OT
Would you fly one with an Iron Cross? I know a guy who builds model airplanes and, whenever the plane he makes is from WW2 and is Luftwaffe, he pulls out some little decals he has and sticks a Iron Cross where the Nazi swastika would be... Hardly anyone notices the difference, yet there IS A WORLD of difference. Prussian tradition is well thought of. Nazi tradition would be better left burnt and scattered. Just imagine the Storch part of Friederik Graf's airforce. [BTW] Cornelius Ryan's book, Operation Market Garden is ONE FUCKING GREAT READ!!!!!!!! He didn't neglect the heroic efforts of the Dutch Civilians who were stuck in that area either. I REALLY LIKED THAT! [Canadians and Dutch have a special connection. We love them. They love us. Want to know why? Go look in military Cemetaries in Holland and Belgium...] I want to go there and drink beer for free during my holiday!!!!!!!!!! *the love and care that Nederlander's schoolchildren and mom's and dad's give MY COUNTRY'S fallen warriors just astounds me. If ALL people in our world hurt and THOUGHT about past wars, maybe there wouldn't fuckin' BE ANYMORE: nevermind
in WB, there's no nazi cross on planes, only army cross, that's what i would fly. btw i'd like fly in a storch.
WW1 horrible. WW2 eastern front horrible. Sino Japanese war, horrible. Vietnam, 194? to 197? horrible [for the viets]. Tibet: STILL horrible - deportations, iron heels, subjection. BOSNIA 199?, horrible - genocide Turkish Armenia 192?, horrible - genocide South America, 1492 - ???? horrible - genocide North America, 1492 - ???? horrible - genocide War is a failure of Bullies to get want they want to steal from others by DIPLOMATIC or "economic" means. Continuation of a "lost cause" by the "conquered" is proof that some humans refuse to bend over and take it up the ass. Read Granfalloons, wampeters and foma, by K Vonnegut jr. What he has to say about bending over and spreading your cheeks in the name of peace, I am simply aghast over. Geniuses can be stupid too.
I read somewhere American Civil war was the first of the true rifle wars. The kind that would reach its most developed form in WWI. How you define cruel? I cannot really imagine modern wars reenactment? I kinda thinking of people duelling with swords or spears. That is quite jolly.
IMO US civil war was rifle war, but tactics they used were more like from "bow and arrow" era. There's no reason to walk to 150m from the enemy, if you got a rifle that shoots up 600m's. Unless you gonna throw the damn thing at the enemy and hope to hit someone with it after your ammo is gone. cruel...well...if f.e. british losses were 58000 men in one day, it shows that soldiers lives were cheap and their commanding officers had no respect to human life. Also it indicates that leading tactics were incapable for their job. Fine example: Gallipoli airfax
