Two guys in a trench!

Well after turning 34 (and trying to grow up......well not really ;) )  the best way I could think of celebrating was to sit in a foxhole overnight, in the cold, just for re-enacting (I don't even get paid to sit in a foxhole and have people shoot at me, this is just for giggles......well there is a far more important purpose.....to remind people what those incredibly brave, heroic men and women lived through in defending our liberties and life!)

 Whilst we battled through Saturday and there were all manner of stories and amusing moments, although they are probably those kind of stories that will only be amusing to fellow re-enactors, but after 8 hours in the woods we decided to retreat back to the foxhole. For those who have never seen a re-enactment it is a bit like boyscout camps, interspersed with periods of historical activity, and usually a rehearsed pitched battle. In the winter season there are private battles, where training and tactics are practiced (it's a lot like cops 'n' robbers but in period kit, and with period tactics). 

The battling was fun, but what really struck me was that whilst we do this hobby and try to ensure that we do things as correctly as possible, waking up on a foxhole was incredible. That poor young men from all over the world woke up in the bottom of trenches, or in bunkers, or foxholes, and are still doing so. We woke with mist and smoke slipping along the trench bottom and through the door, swirling in the slanting sunlight. 

We are incredibly lucky that we do not live through those times anymore, that whilst conflict still rages around us, we are still in a very long period of World peace. That countless young men woke up, and still do, to these conditions......to never see another. That those young men lived, and died that we may be free, and at this time of year, with Remembrance Day around the corner it is a time that I always take a few hours to remember and thank those that have come before, and those that are still to come.

Re-enacting!

One of my great passions is re-enacting,and as I will probably regale you with some of the many stories I thought I would explain why and how I got into it.

I come from a very military family (pretty much all the males for the last 5 generations have served in one or other of the forces, from my Victorian Great great Grandfather who was a naval captain, to my nephew who has just joined the Marines). I had dallied with the forces myself, being sent for commissioning board interviews and regiment visits, but was always told to get an education first (plus I really wanted to fly fast jets but was told that as I was 6 foot 2 at 15 I would be far too tall - roll on the lottery win when I can buy a custom built one!)

Leaving University with a degree in Anatomical Scinences I still had no idea what I wanted to do but again I thought about the army, but although I was offered a commission I had lost three good friends whilst in the TA and this was still very raw! In the end I went to law college yet still yearned for the military lifestyle (well to be truthful the comraderie that you get from spending time with your mates training and suffering all sorts in all kinds of weather!) Whilst at college my Father and I went to see an English Civil War re-enactment and both thought that it looked like a lot of fun, although we were both big fans of Sharpe and so decided to look into Napoleon's Grand Army.

In the end I found a group although when they turned up it turned out to be a group that portrayed a German paratrooper regiment from World War 2. My dad decided that he was too old to be running around, but I decided to give it a go, and have never looked back. Groups have come and gone, and I have dabbled in most historical periods from medieval onwards although the Guys are still the core of my first group, and we now have a very close knit group of friends who are more like family than friends. We have been through births, weddings and deaths together and I hope will be as close until we are too old to do it anymore!

So that was how, why is a bit more complicated. I think most of the re-enactors that I meet all had a real interest in history as children and progressed from toys to models, some through militaria collecting, to finally wondering what it would be like to wear the kit. I also find it important that those who went through it are remembered. It is a huge priveledge to meet veterans and talk to them of their recollections, and it keeps the memory of what they suffered still in the collective memory.

We are about to start a busy period, and I hope to keep you amused with some of the funnier stories from the camp!