It was probably about 7 years ago when first heard of "Living history" and "Reenacting".  There was a military open day at a local museum and, being interested in military history as a teenager, I went and had a look. Of course I was a big fan of the HBO series "Band of Brothers" at the time, and that chance to get up close and personal with men wearing the same uniform was exciting for me. I managed to get the chance to talk to some men who reenact the US 82nd Airborne as well as their German counterparts the Fallschirmjägers. We talked for quite a while about the equipment and weapons, and I got a real interest in the hobby and asked them how to join. At the time I was too young, but I did start reading up about it and in 2011 I finally had the time (and money) to join the hobby.

Reenacting is not cheap. They tell you that right in the beginning and it's very true, however it can depend on what time period you reenact and what army. For example a Soviet conscript rifleman kit (what we call our equipment and uniforms) and rifle can cost you all in all about $700 while an 1809 Napoleonic era British line infantryman can cost you up to 3 grand!. Of course you don't just go out and buy everything. Some research needs to be done, (lots of it) and asking others in the hobby what to get is a real help. (It's better to do it once than to having to buy other equipment again).

Having had an interest in the desert war, I naturally joined the German Afrika Korps (21st Panzer Division) unit based in Auckland, New Zealand, and at my first event pretty much borrowed all the gear from the unit commander. Living history is mainly divided into two parts, the public side and the private side. 

The public side of the hobby is teaching the public about history, or being used in documentaries or films. Now what a lot of people don't realize is that if you go to a military show, ANZAC parade, an RSA evening or an airshow and see all these reenactors with all their gear, vehicles, horses, tents and weapons on display (as well as shooting in mock battles with lots of ammunition), none of it is funded. We don't get paid to be there, the event organizers don't buy us food or pay for the truck transport for vehicles (an example being for one show we brought with us our German army Steyr truck and the cost to bring is was $1000 for the weekend!!).

The reason we are there is because we enjoy it, and we love getting people interested in history. This hobby lets us do it in a way like no lecturing room can; from a child getting to wear a real helmet to his dad struggling to hold up an MG34 machine gun as mum takes a photo of them posing. We bring history alive for them and they realise that history isn't just some black and white photo, but it's touchable and all around us.

Now as I mentioned earlier there's the other side of reenacting. The private side. Of course we don't just do the hobby for other people, but it's for us as well and the best way to do it is tacticals. Tacticals are about as close as we can get to what life could be back then. A tactical is when several units get together for a weekend (after much planning and notifying local police that there isn't a war breaking out!) and for 24 hours leave the 21st century and fight in fields and forests.

My first experience for this was 3 years ago as a German soldier. We were given an hour in the 2km x 4km forestry location to find ourselves a good base position and dig in before the British and Americans joined. The day was spent preparing positions and sending out combat patrols. But it's at night where it gets interesting. In the dark you're freezing, sitting in a hole, no fires allowed so you're eating cold rations, and in the distance you hear gunfire and see flashes from rifles on the hills nearby as night patrols engage each other.

It's there where most reenactors get what we call "seeing the white elephant" a term to describe those few seconds or minutes where you really feel like you are back in time and actually there. It's at tacticals where you realise just how horrible it must have been for men who were doing what we did for two days for months or years. Here is a video of one such tactical done in the States by some Vietnam reenactors.

Reenacting has been around since the 1970s, but it really took a boost in 2000 and has been growing ever since. So far it's estimated that internationally the hobby contains more than 100,000 people from all walks of life, mechanics, politicians, doctors, students and more who do all kinds of era and periods from the Roman ages to modern day Vietnam (my main focus being WW2 Eastern Front, though I do WW1 every now and then too). 

Another way that my hobby contributes to history would be the reawakening of lost skills, be it cooking over open fires, blacksmithing (as there are no online vendors, Roman, medieval and Viking era reenactors must make all their clothing and armor themselves) playing old instruments, riding horses (and shooting from them) and so on.

Yes, it's an unusual hobby, but it's one I'll do for many years, it's a fantastic experience, and I really recommend it to anyone with an interest in trying out life in the past.

Richard 

Bio:

My name is Richard and I'm a former student of Tony's. I'm a reenactor with a passion for WW2 and WW1 history as well as a budding historic firearms collector. I'm an encyclopedia of military machinery and weapons from the Napoleonic era to the first half of the 20th century as well as a student in gunsmithing and weapons restoration. 

My other interest are naval history of the Napoleonic era as well as the history of aerial warfare.

Richard

Ann has a fascination with World War I, and this is the first in a series of articles looking at different aspects of the war, and the soldiers who fought in it.

"It will be all over by Christmas".

That's what all the Boys thought - as we all know, that wasn't to be.

Of course, most young men in the early part of 20th century, hadn't travelled at all, some not even out of their villages or towns.  There were farm workers, factory workers and it was thought that it would be "a bit -of-a lark".  When War was declared, there was a rush to sign up, because they thought if they left it too late, they would miss the whole 'shebang'; therefore there was an influx of volunteers.  Factories, towns, villages, all decided they would volunteer as a group, so was born the many Pals Companies.  Of course, that was such a tragic decision ultimately, because there were whole Pals Companies just wiped out, and left towns, factories, even streets without any men coming home.

There was very little training, and then they were shipped off to France and Belgium.  Here are the first of many statistics - between 1914 and 1918 there were 60 million European Military mobilised, 10 million killed, 7 million permanently disabled.  I had to check on those figures, because I just can't get my head around these figures.

Life in the Trench for the Tommies: Tommy Atkins was the name given to the ordinary British soldier, this dates back to 1743. Historian Richard Holmes states the reason for this is that in "1815 a War Office publication showing how the Soldier's Pocket Book should be filled out gave as its example one Private Thomas Atkins, No. 6 Troop, 6th Dragoons. Atkins became a sergeant in the 1837 version, and was now able to sign his name rather than merely make his mark."

Well, where shall we start; the winters each year (1914-18) were the coldest and wettest since records began. So began the mud and horror of Trench Warfare, something the boys had never had to deal with; even the Farm lads. This was the first thing to overcome, but of course it wouldn't be long before all the rest of this War would turn into an absolute nightmare.

Most people didn't really know what 'this was all about'.  Yes, The Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated (this was successful after six attempts), but why did the Kaiser get Germany involved?  Depending on whose account you read, everything seems complicated but really I think the World Powers were all 'up for it'. There was Nationalism, and Military strength of each of the combative Countries.  Of course, there was the British Empire, which was just right to 'knock down a peg or two', besides which Germany especially thought they were just as deserving of an 'Empire'; after all they, Germany especially, had very many Colonies already.

I shall be talking mainly about the Western Front - the Eastern Front was equally as terrible but perhaps I'd like to debate it next time.

How can I begin to comprehend the awfulness of these Trenches. There were mud, lice, fleas, rats ("as big as yer 'at").  Nowhere to rest, nowhere to wash the filth off except perhaps an empty can that the dry milk used to come in; that held very little water as you can imagine.

On top of all this, the Boys (because that was what most of them were) were being shot at, bombed, and then of course there was the order to go Over the Top....of course, in the early part of the war Germany was militarily better equipped than us.  But we did have The Tanks! This was hopefully going to 'put paid' to those 'bloody Hun'. 

Well, the first outing was at Cambrai, and seemed to be quite successful until the dreadful weather conditions, mud and rain, plus previous bombing made enormous craters, but more about the tanks later. We were lucky enough to visit a lot of the sites and cemeteries as well as Ypres.  Again, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

Later the Germans devised the Gasses, Chlorine, Mustard and Phosgene (it is interesting to know that the French, early in the War, used a type of Tear Gas on the Germans), but the Germans got to work and 'improved' the Tear Gas!  We, the Allies, soon followed.  One of my heroes Mr. Harry Patch described the Mustard Gas as a rolling, low to the ground, muddy yellow colour.  They were issued with Masks but they were pretty awkward to wear constantly, and had to be worn properly so that not even a puff could get in.  Death was slow and so terrible it's hard to imagine. Harry was the last veteran of WW1 and died peacefully on the 29th July, 2009, he was 111yrs old. R.I.P.

Many soldiers suffered badly from Shell Shock, although the 'Donkeys' (i.e. the Generals etc.) thought, for a long time, this was just cowardice, and some were even shot, a fact that didn't come out until the doctors and nurses in the Aid Posts saw so many Boys with almost the same symptoms, and then and only then, were infirmaries opened in Britain just to look after these poor devils.

Of course I began this piece about the Volunteers, I omitted to say that these men volunteered from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and even some from America (before they too were embroiled in WW1).

Referring back to the early Tanks, if you ever get a chance to visit the British War Museum, they have a WW1 tank on show and you would be shocked, as I was, at how very small and cramped it was inside.  There was also on show some of the equipment given to them to wear whilst in the Tank.  One of the things that completely amazed me was a type of Medieval veil, about the size of a handkerchief, made from steel which attached to their helmets and was meant to stop them being shot in the face, but unfortunately as the bullets hit the Tank, they turned into molten lead and were practically worse than useless.  But of course it was a learning curve.

Next time I would like to continue with the long, long days and nights those Soldiers had to endure in the Trenches and perhaps talk more about the Battle of the Somme and the three Battles of Ypres.

Ann

When visitors to my flat start rummaging through the DVDs and flicking through the books on my shelves, they invariably say something like ‘You really like your war films don’t you?’ or ‘Why have you got all these books on history and battles then?’ Probably the most leading question I was asked, and put to me by a lady-friend after spying Ian Kershaw’s book, was the interrogational ‘Why are you interested in Hitler?’ That one really put me on the defensive because you just know that someone who’d ask that question in the first place has already made up their mind about you and your political leanings. It’s just lucky she didn’t see the polished jackboots under the bed!! I’M JOKING (I keep them in the wardrobe).

Nevertheless my curious, or perhaps nosey, guests are, in their defence, right to be curious. I certainly can’t argue with their assessment of my interests as around 70% of my DVD and book collections are indeed concerned with the themes of war, battles and sieges, uniforms, weaponry and other aspects of military science, plus a fair few books, movies and documentaries on all aspects of political and social history. Indeed, if my observant guests take a look in the hallway they will see a rather dusty-framed CNAA certificate; an indication that my interest in all things historical is supported by an honours degree, although the award dates from 1984 - almost a historical document itself!

My modest academic background, together with my post-grad interest in political and social history, does at least allow me to make a case for an interest in military history. I would start by paraphrasing Trotsky and say that war is the locomotive of history, accelerating, and sometimes leading directly, to dramatic social, economic and political change. I could then allude to the famous Prussian military-theorist, Carl von Clausewitz and his dictum about ‘War being the continuation of policy by other means’ and use both as expert witnesses for my defence.

To lend further support to my adult/respectable case of my love of war, or rather, my interest in the military aspects of history ancient and modern, I would point out that many of those books on my shelves are brilliantly written, well-researched and absorbing stories that are so much more than just narratives of armed conflict. The Spanish Civil War by Hugh Thomas, Dunkirk by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore and Liberators by Robert Harvey are just three I picked at random. Similarly, Ken Burns’ magisterial 1990s television series on the American Civil War or Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 feature film Paths of Glory are both masterpieces in their respective fields and both transcend narrow labels. But the real reasons for my interest in studying war and warfare happened a long, long time ago, some 50 years in fact.

The first thing to say is that back in the early 60s when I was at primary school, ‘war’ was one of the big themes in popular culture. The Second World War, a subject of hundreds of movies, TV shows, books, comics and toys, had only been over for eighteen years in 1964, when I was seven; and my Dad, like the fathers, uncles and grandfathers of many of my friends and relations had actually fought in it.

To these veterans of both the Second War, and to the smaller numbers of survivors of the Great War, films such as The Longest Day and 633 Squadron, and boys’ comics such as The Victor and Battle Picture Library, far from being the stirring action-adventure stories us kids loved so much, were real events that they had lived, and sometimes fought, through.

Also, at a time when there were no computer games, smart-phones, DVDs and 700 digital channels, the boys’ toys market was limited to: train-sets, toy cars, construction sets such as Meccano and a huge number of war-related toys ranging from plastic guns, swords, and bows and arrows, to toy soldiers, model forts and castles. and the relatively new phenomenon of the model plastic construction kit – a field dominated by the famous British company Airfix.

So where a lot of my mates played with Dinky or Corgi cars and train sets, I had my toy soldiers and model castle. Where they read the Dandy and Buster, I liked comics like The Hornet and The Hotspur that included war-themed strips. I vividly remember groups of kids in my class talking about the film A Hard Days’ Night and how the Beatles were great because they were both funny and could also play the guitar. I would tell anyone who’d bother to listen that The Alamo was a brilliant film too because it was a battle for an odd-shaped fort and the Mexican soldiers had all these colourful uniforms and loads of old-fashioned cannon. I don’t think any of my mates were interested in what uniforms a load of extras were dressed-in. To them it was an action movie in which John Wayne ended up on the end of a Mexican lance!

For me, films like Zulu and The Alamo provided: the testosterone-filled action, the fighting, the heroism and the ‘what would I do in their shoes’ fear that I, like most boys, craved. But they also gave me a Technicolor glimpse into the past where the clothes and weapons were exotic. This was supplemented by the odd comic-strip and by the fantastic Look and Learn, which was a sort of educational magazine that My Dad used to buy me, wherein you’d find lots of illustrations and features about these battles.

Another formative experience for me came on a family holiday visit to the Battlefield of Waterloo in the summer of 1965. On an overcast and drizzly day my Mum and Dad dutifully trudged around a bleak and featureless Belgian field, bored and wet for the love of their youngest son. Two things made that day very special for me and helped cement my love of military history. The first was the amazing 300 foot long, 360-degree Battle of Waterloo Panorama painted by Louis Dumoulin. The second was a small unprepossessing toyshop filled from ceiling to floor with beautifully painted toy soldiers; enough it seemed to refight the battle in miniature.

The panorama depicted the battle at its height, with massed squadrons of armour-clad cuirassiers, wheeling around neatly formed squares of kilted-Highlanders and scarlet-coated British infantry. I’ve since learned that the French cavalry in the painting are far too close to the foot soldiers to be galloping at the speed depicted! It wouldn’t have mattered to me if I’d been told that in 1965; I was too caught up in the drama and above all the colour of the thing. What I was interested in was the fact that the French were wearing blue coats but then some of their lancers were dressed in red! The British were predominately in red but the Royal Horse Artillery was in blue! Later in the little shop as I gazed open-mouthed at the three-dimensional miniature representations of these warriors from 1815, I thought of my anaemic collection of plastic toy soldiers in their wooden box back in South London.

I was finally persuaded to leave the toyshop after my Dad had parted with a few francs for a small box of white-coated French line infantry, a couple of Old Guard Grenadiers and a two-inch high Napoleon Bonaparte, who all these years later gazes across my living-room from his home on top of the telly.

Even back then I knew that war wasn’t really like these Quality Street soldiers, all Georgian ruffles, lace and colourful flags. I only had to look at my Dad, with his chewed up ear and shrapnel-flecked face - the result of a meeting with a German booby trap in Italy in 1944, to realise that it was indeed a deadly activity. John Keegan’s account of the realities of Napoleonic Warfare in his 1976 book The Face of Battle where, in-part, he analyses the Battle of Waterloo from the point of view of both the generals and the ordinary soldiers, showed 19th century warfare in its true, brutal colours. And speaking of colours and those white-coated French toy soldiers I brought back from Waterloo, it is said that Bonaparte ordered the change of tunic colour to blue from white for his infantry after seeing the blood-splattered bodies of his soldiers after the Battle of Eylau on 8 February 1807.

I’m well aware that in reality war is hell, and I’m glad I wasn’t part of my Dad’s generation when I would have had to carry a gun for real. But at heart I’m still that 8 year old boy who likes looking at pictures of soldiers in colourful uniforms, who still gets a kick out of collecting and painting model soldiers particularly of the Napoleonic era, who still likes to play the odd war game, and who will continue to read and buy books and watch films and TV documentaries on military subjects. Culture Club famously said ‘War is stupid’ and you know, they were right, but it is also a source of some of the most dramatic true stories known to man, and when re-enacting it on a tabletop it's also fun!

Peter