This was an excellent event with a unique location and we were fortunate enough to have a bunker to ourselves. It was well run and the Russian reenactors were top notch. We all enjoyed the scenario which was very simple. During certain times of the day and night the field became active. It made for a very interesting battle. There was no over all command structure established but there were distinct boundaries to the battlefield which meant that reenactors could come and go from the battle as they pleased. The immense system of trenches, shell holes, emplacements, and real barbed wire barriers made for one of the most unique experiences any of us have had. Moving in and around the trenches and craters plays games with your mind in a way that is completely unique compaired to reenacting in the woods. It was never a sure thing that German lines were free of Russians and you never knew who or what was around the next corner. As soon as we crossed the road separating the bunker from the battle field we had to assume the trench had been compromised. To assume otherwise could easily lead to being captured or worse. Even the light rain that persisted through out the weekend had little effect on everyone's desire to return to the field, many of us felt it added a great deal to the over all experience and the warm, wood stove heated, bunkers meant that drying out was no problem. Our groups intend on returning to this event next year and focus more on the bunker.

Our night patrol worked out great thanks both to the terrain of the trenches and the sensibility and class of the other reenactors participating. We did loose two men that night, one was captured by russians who had worked themselve to the rear of the german lines and one other took a nasty spill on the slick wood floor and completely crushed his mess tin.

Our action that following saturday started with us cautiously working our way forward in our own lines looking to meet up with other german units who were already engaged in a fire fight. They had their sector under control so we moved North to search out other units and clear our trenchs there; We thought maybe we could put pressure on the Russians from the side. Apon observation we discovered that the enemy had left the northern end of their line abandon except for a single bunker that covered the open ground between us an their empty trenches. As we manovered cautiously northward to put distance between us and the bunker the enemy sent two men to occupy the northern position. They set up in a heavily fortified section of trench that should have been easy for even a small number of men to defend. Most of the squad settled into scattered positions directly infront of the Russian position while one member armed only with a ppk sprinted from shell hole to shell hole closing in on an entrance to the russian position. The squad opened up with every weapon and drew the attention of both the bunker and the two russians in the trench. Our man made it through. Within a minute, the trench was clear and we were waved over. "Alle zusammen, Vorwarts!" the squad raised themselves from thier positions and rushed the open ground towards the now clear trench. The still occupied russian bunker didn't realize what was happening and hesitated to fire on us. One man was lost crossing this terrain but the remainder of the squad occupied the russian trenches and repelled several attempts to push us out. We held fast but had insufficient numbers to effect a further assult. With time other german units found their way north and across no mans land to join us. With our bolstered numbers we were able to then push the Russians back through their positions at a rapid pace, knocking out positions and clearing holes. The entire Russian force was completely routed over the course of the following hour. It seemed that once we had gained momentum the enemy had very little chance of halting us.

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