What is reenacting? Reenacting WWII is much like other forms of reenacting many people are already aquanted with such as civil war reenacting. Many different groups, each with their own unique impressions come together at a variety of events to either educated the public or just to take a trip through time for a weekend and catch a glimps of what soldier would have experienced. In WWII reenacting there a few distinct types of events; Public Display and Tactical battle as well as a sort of mix between the two called a Public Battle. The camradery between all reenactors reguardless of their impression is generally good and there is typically a good balance of interest and of impressions at events. Our group generally sticks around a select few groups of other units both allied and axis and for the most part it feels like we are all part of the same group. Below is a bit more about each kind of event.
Public Display
Public displays are fairly self explainitory. Each member brings pieces from their collection and we form it all into a display, normally a period campsite or position for the public to view and we answer any questions they have. This is our opportunity to share our hobby with the world and serve as a reminder to people of those who served their perspective countries during the war. It is one thing for the public to have watched news reels or movies, but it is another for them to actually see it for themselves. This isnt something that can be expierenced on a screen.
These events can last anywhere from one day to three or even four days. These events almost always take place during the summer; we camp outside, rain or sun shine. What makes our display so unique is the motivation of our members; few other groups put forth the energy to bring out a more comprehensive or high quality display. This is where we wear the title museumjagers proudly.
Tactical Battle
The tactical battle is an opportunity for us to put the equipment and tactics of the second world war to use for a few days. It is essentially an unscripted mock battle using blanks in which both sides try to meet certain objectives. There is no one way to describe tacticle battles as they can differ wildly depending on the terrain or the event coordination. It could be that we spend the day probing the allied lines using the motorcycles of Aufklärung Abteilung 95, comming close to the line on the bikes and then slowly crawling right up to allied positions, at another battle we might spend our day opperating one or more of our 8cm Gr.W.34 (mortars) and fighting off all allied attempts to neutralize these guns, or we could simply be patroling a woods or field on foot with nothing more than the standard K98 rifle in hand watching allied airbourn hit the ground in the hours just before sun up.
These events can last from one day to a three or four day weekend, though our unit typically enjoys the longer weekends better. This way we have a bit more time to enjoy our work. These events typically take place from fall through spring and we generally camp outside or in whatever period shelter we can find. The public is not invited to these battles; they are more for reenactors to have the opportunity to create a more authentic experience and just catch a hint of what it would have been like. There are no bullets but the expierence of knowing it is your turn is still unsettling to say the least. Our group even brings the museum quality expierence to the tactical battle in the set up of our positions and our conduct in the field.
Public Battle
A public battle is basically a public display at which there is also a staged battle for the public to view.
