WWII Weekend: The 40s Live Forever
WWII Weekend takes place during the first weekend in June each year. This year was my ninth visit, and one of the things I most look forward to each year. My blog comments follow.
Unprecedented traffic on Saturday. I spent more than an hour (!) in the exit lane to get off Rte 222. For much of this, I sweltered in the heat, and looked longingly on a Coke truck one car ahead of me. Yankee Lady, a visiting B-17, sailed lazily overhead, like a resident in another world.
Getting In. Eventually torment ended, and I parked and waited 45 minutes for a bus. But the time was well-spent, chatting with two re-enactors. One had made a nurse’s outfit from the Afrika Korps period, relying on a pattern, and seeking the fabric, buttons, etc. The other, her son, had a U-Boat captain’s uniform. This seemed a little more worn, and had the feel of authenticity. Together we swatted horseflies and discussed their favored periods.
First Entrance. The event had been redesigned for this year, and the entrance immediately debouched into the French Village recreation, through which wandered civilians (i.e., folks like me), and German soldiers of widely varying ages and ferocity. Every year the re-enactors stage the fight for the town’s liberation. It felt very homey, semiautomatic weapons aside. But I pushed on, and found myself in the presence of Frank Speer as he lectured on his life as an ace and POW. His story as compelling, but most attention (mine at least) was taken by the gleaming, proud shape of the P-51 parked right behind him: Glamorous Gal. I was somewhat distracted by the glorious hardware, and hope that Speer’s comments were recorded to be distributed on the event’s DVD.
The re-enactors are always one of the most compelling features of the weekend. There are two types.
Military re-enactors. They laboriously acquire or recreate the uniforms, hardware, and accessories of the period. Uniforms, insignia, sidearms, helmets, belts, tents, texts, pots and pans, and of course weapons. Even food is authentic! I remember one year watching some German re-enactors boiling potatoes and chowing down dark bread, washing it all down with beer. A Russian re-enactor explained how he had been a Civil War re-enactor, but has shifted to the wartime USSR for a change of pace. Plus, he added, it was pretty cheap to get started with the basics: uniform, decorations, minor battle gear. Rifles went for a song. However, inevitably he ratcheted up his ambitions, and soon had his own machine guns and other battlefield accoutrements. Women were also to be found under the snapping red flags of the Soviet camp, in period dresses, with the jaunty Red Army caps. One officer poured water from a jerrycan into a bottle, from which he sipped as we chatted. There was a peasant woman re-enactor, lolling about with a couple of soldiers.
Perhaps the Germans had one of the most ambitious camps. There were the usual, inevitable warnings “Achtung!” “Minen!”, but no Nazi slogans were in evidence, which was quite a surprise. And one officer explained to me that the SS insignia on his lapels were covered in response to sensitivities. This seemed quite odd, since a stone’s throw away, vendors were selling Waffen SS and SS Panzer Division T-shirts! But the ways of American civilians are a mystery left unexplored this day. The Germans had a splendid exhibition of superb battlefield equipment, including a swath of awesome automatic weapons!
Not only that, the Germans had artillery and even a tank! An officer explained that the tank had been used for closeups in Saving Private Ryan. I watched in wonder as it fired several rounds. In addition there were some transport vehicles, and several artillery pieces, all meticulously maintained and looking appropriately menacing. Alas, there was no 88, thanks to the ATF. The ATF record of success speaks for itself (think of Waco). When this re-enactor group had applied to bring over a mint-condition 88 found in Europe, the ATF had insisted on cutting it in three pieces, to prevent its possible re-use. The re-enactors demurred. Apparently the ATF bureaucrats fretted that terrorists might smuggle the 88 into an airport or near the White House. Similarly, they had rendered inoperable the field pieces on display. I could not help but marvel at how well they protected us from the threat of attack by law-abiding re-enactors. I’m sure they list this on their great accomplishments for the year…
Not all the camps were built for conquest, though. There was a Polish encampment, and several UK groups. Mournful notes from a bagpipe contended with a 40s singer’s ballads. Most had tents, with beds and furniture and cooking utensils. These seemed to be sine quo non; others had firearms, bayonets, hand grenades, maps, signals books, manuals, field radios (early cell phones), ammo boxes, machine guns, and mortars.
The Americans, as might be expected, had the greatest establishment in terms of personnel and gear. And not merely in terms of tents, either! They had armored personal carriers, half-tracks, artillery, and jeeps like there was no tomorrow! It looked like someone had shaken an army surplus store over the field! On Friday the camp had driven as a task force through Reading on the way to the airfield. I was particularly impressed by one man, from the building industry, who had worked with a partner to put up a wood construction to house his loot. It displayed a huge collection of communications equipment. Everything from phones to walkie-talkies to backpack radios to telephone switchboards, along with the manuals and documentation to make them work, as well as wall-litter for signals tents: the maps and charts, etc. It was a labor of art as well as a labor of love. He explained to me that this represented only a portion of his collection!
Nearly every tent could have told a similar story: the medical tent, the officers’ tents, the German officers’ hangout, etc. So spellbound was I by these labors of historical love that I almost forgot the second type of re-enactors! The civilians!
Civilian Re-Enactors. Besides the military enthusiasts, many many others find WWII Weekend of compelling interest, such as civilian re-enactors. These people also look for the authentic 40s look in terms of clothing, accessories, and personal preparation. For men this might mean zoot suits (which were in evidence) with the wide-brimmed hats, or standard suits and shoes from the period. However, as is usual in matters of fashion, women made the most effort and achieved the greatest results.
Much in evidence were the hard red lipstick, penciled eyebrows, and thick curls of the period; in fact one magazine last year (Atomic?) had a cover story on how women could achieve the 40s look. Other went further, and had the shoes, belts, bracelets, purses, compacts, and even gloves (!) so common then. Many had the de rigueur hats with veils. Four meticulously recreated young ladies lined behind me for funnel cake, and social catastrophe was only avoided through careful use of the confectioners sugar dispenser. The eldest told me how she had found ancient patterns for sale on Ebay, and used these to create the four outfits. The hats had been acquired. One vendor told me how some of the women attended all three days, spending all their time shopping to expand their wardrobe collections, and to see and be seen. And it must be said that the results were impressive.
A few chose different paths, and recently I saw two women in Soviet-style worker’s coveralls in a Stalinist interpretation of Rosie the Riveter. They were a decided minority.
Vendors. No visit to WWII Weekend is complete without a stroll down vendor row. I was disappointed that some attendees of years past were absent, such as GhostWings, Aberjona Press, America in WWII magazine, Borders, and Atomic. But there were still vendors aplenty. T-shirts (my personal fave) abounded. Toy guns and gun recreations were everywhere. Models, complete and in boxes were available. Military and especially aviation art was purveyed. All kinds of military paraphernalia, from helmets to ammo boxes to field radios to manuals to airplane junk to imported DVDs and Waffen-SS T-shirts, could be had. This year I was particularly struck by a T-shirt for Sherman’s Civil War “BBQTour” of the South and several CDs of Panzer marches and Japanese wartime music. Now there’s something you won’t hear on the radio any time soon! A brisk business in dogtags hummed.
Besides all these recreations, the genuine articles were also to be found. Three merit elaboration.
The People. This event is annually blessed with dozens of veterans and experts who speak and meet with the public. I’ve heard Pearl Harbor survivors, combat engineers, pilots, B-24 gunners, and crewmembers of the Enola Gay speak at this event. This year had, among others, Lawrence O’Rourke, who worked as an engineer on the Manhattan Project, and Bob Bolinder, who flew a P-61 in combat. Several members of Easy Company from Band of Brothers were also present. Every year I am humbled anew by what they have done, and their matter-of-fact style. I’m hoping the DVD of this event will include either video of their presentations, or at least MP3s.
The Aircraft. In recent years WWII weekend has enjoyed the presence of a B-24, a B-29 (!), an Me 109, as many as two B-17s and three P-51s at a time. You never know who will show up from year to year, but yesterday I enjoyed Yankee Lady (B-17), a P-51, a P-47, and two B-25s (which I never see without thinking of Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo). A Yak was there as well. They showed off, they preened, they roared, they took off, they flew by, they smoked, they shot. They were gorgeous. And this leads us to the third genuine article.
The P-61. The pride and joy of the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum is its P-61 night-fighter, retrieved from a New Guinea crash site and under laborious reconstruction. Every year I see the progress, and hope I’ll be around to watch it fly. This year I saw the plane with a complete nose, standing on its own landing gear, and its cannon installed and the front crew compartment (for pilot and gunner) largely intact. The skin gleamed in the lights. It’s seen major progress, clearly. I chatted with a former P-61 pilot, and we discussed the project and its future. Of course I bought a(nother) P-61 T-shirt.
The variety of events was intoxicating. Veterans spoke, re-enactors displayed, aircraft flew by, a B-17 sold rides, troops marched, a fashion show was held, 40s songs were played by Carolyn Hannan and others, Abbot and Costello re-enactors performed, and R. Lee Ermey from History Channel’s Mail Call was available for autographs and pictures.
Really, there is too much for anyone to do everything. The only solution is to go every year.
Some miscellaneous notes:
- Be sure to buy a copy of the War News annual, available when you buy your $18 admission. It has total background on everyone and everything. The ads are fantastic, each one a loving recreation or copy from a 1940s counterpart. Worth much more than five bucks!
- The Spirit Of the Airwaves Players presented a fabulous recreation of period radio programs, using authentic props as much as possible, and in period garb. They do this really well every year. I'm getting the feeling they do the same repertoire every year, and wonder if they have been able to branch out into other episodes as well. But it is always a pleasure to listen to them, and see their joy for their art.
- In 1942, a flight of several P-38s and a couple of B-17s got lost in bad weather, and landed in Greenland. Several years ago one of the P-38s was located, reached, disassembled, retrieved through 300 feet of ice, and reassembled to fly again. What a story! Well, now an expedition is organizing to return, and retrieve all the P-38s, and both B-17s. This is Operation Bolero. They were represented at the show, and have a great story. Check out their website!
- Next year, leave very, very early to avoid the insane traffic getting onto Rte 183.
Unprecedented traffic on Saturday. I spent more than an hour (!) in the exit lane to get off Rte 222. For much of this, I sweltered in the heat, and looked longingly on a Coke truck one car ahead of me. Yankee Lady, a visiting B-17, sailed lazily overhead, like a resident in another world.
Getting In. Eventually torment ended, and I parked and waited 45 minutes for a bus. But the time was well-spent, chatting with two re-enactors. One had made a nurse’s outfit from the Afrika Korps period, relying on a pattern, and seeking the fabric, buttons, etc. The other, her son, had a U-Boat captain’s uniform. This seemed a little more worn, and had the feel of authenticity. Together we swatted horseflies and discussed their favored periods.
First Entrance. The event had been redesigned for this year, and the entrance immediately debouched into the French Village recreation, through which wandered civilians (i.e., folks like me), and German soldiers of widely varying ages and ferocity. Every year the re-enactors stage the fight for the town’s liberation. It felt very homey, semiautomatic weapons aside. But I pushed on, and found myself in the presence of Frank Speer as he lectured on his life as an ace and POW. His story as compelling, but most attention (mine at least) was taken by the gleaming, proud shape of the P-51 parked right behind him: Glamorous Gal. I was somewhat distracted by the glorious hardware, and hope that Speer’s comments were recorded to be distributed on the event’s DVD.
The re-enactors are always one of the most compelling features of the weekend. There are two types.
Military re-enactors. They laboriously acquire or recreate the uniforms, hardware, and accessories of the period. Uniforms, insignia, sidearms, helmets, belts, tents, texts, pots and pans, and of course weapons. Even food is authentic! I remember one year watching some German re-enactors boiling potatoes and chowing down dark bread, washing it all down with beer. A Russian re-enactor explained how he had been a Civil War re-enactor, but has shifted to the wartime USSR for a change of pace. Plus, he added, it was pretty cheap to get started with the basics: uniform, decorations, minor battle gear. Rifles went for a song. However, inevitably he ratcheted up his ambitions, and soon had his own machine guns and other battlefield accoutrements. Women were also to be found under the snapping red flags of the Soviet camp, in period dresses, with the jaunty Red Army caps. One officer poured water from a jerrycan into a bottle, from which he sipped as we chatted. There was a peasant woman re-enactor, lolling about with a couple of soldiers.
Perhaps the Germans had one of the most ambitious camps. There were the usual, inevitable warnings “Achtung!” “Minen!”, but no Nazi slogans were in evidence, which was quite a surprise. And one officer explained to me that the SS insignia on his lapels were covered in response to sensitivities. This seemed quite odd, since a stone’s throw away, vendors were selling Waffen SS and SS Panzer Division T-shirts! But the ways of American civilians are a mystery left unexplored this day. The Germans had a splendid exhibition of superb battlefield equipment, including a swath of awesome automatic weapons!
Not only that, the Germans had artillery and even a tank! An officer explained that the tank had been used for closeups in Saving Private Ryan. I watched in wonder as it fired several rounds. In addition there were some transport vehicles, and several artillery pieces, all meticulously maintained and looking appropriately menacing. Alas, there was no 88, thanks to the ATF. The ATF record of success speaks for itself (think of Waco). When this re-enactor group had applied to bring over a mint-condition 88 found in Europe, the ATF had insisted on cutting it in three pieces, to prevent its possible re-use. The re-enactors demurred. Apparently the ATF bureaucrats fretted that terrorists might smuggle the 88 into an airport or near the White House. Similarly, they had rendered inoperable the field pieces on display. I could not help but marvel at how well they protected us from the threat of attack by law-abiding re-enactors. I’m sure they list this on their great accomplishments for the year…
Not all the camps were built for conquest, though. There was a Polish encampment, and several UK groups. Mournful notes from a bagpipe contended with a 40s singer’s ballads. Most had tents, with beds and furniture and cooking utensils. These seemed to be sine quo non; others had firearms, bayonets, hand grenades, maps, signals books, manuals, field radios (early cell phones), ammo boxes, machine guns, and mortars.
The Americans, as might be expected, had the greatest establishment in terms of personnel and gear. And not merely in terms of tents, either! They had armored personal carriers, half-tracks, artillery, and jeeps like there was no tomorrow! It looked like someone had shaken an army surplus store over the field! On Friday the camp had driven as a task force through Reading on the way to the airfield. I was particularly impressed by one man, from the building industry, who had worked with a partner to put up a wood construction to house his loot. It displayed a huge collection of communications equipment. Everything from phones to walkie-talkies to backpack radios to telephone switchboards, along with the manuals and documentation to make them work, as well as wall-litter for signals tents: the maps and charts, etc. It was a labor of art as well as a labor of love. He explained to me that this represented only a portion of his collection!
Nearly every tent could have told a similar story: the medical tent, the officers’ tents, the German officers’ hangout, etc. So spellbound was I by these labors of historical love that I almost forgot the second type of re-enactors! The civilians!
Civilian Re-Enactors. Besides the military enthusiasts, many many others find WWII Weekend of compelling interest, such as civilian re-enactors. These people also look for the authentic 40s look in terms of clothing, accessories, and personal preparation. For men this might mean zoot suits (which were in evidence) with the wide-brimmed hats, or standard suits and shoes from the period. However, as is usual in matters of fashion, women made the most effort and achieved the greatest results.
Much in evidence were the hard red lipstick, penciled eyebrows, and thick curls of the period; in fact one magazine last year (Atomic?) had a cover story on how women could achieve the 40s look. Other went further, and had the shoes, belts, bracelets, purses, compacts, and even gloves (!) so common then. Many had the de rigueur hats with veils. Four meticulously recreated young ladies lined behind me for funnel cake, and social catastrophe was only avoided through careful use of the confectioners sugar dispenser. The eldest told me how she had found ancient patterns for sale on Ebay, and used these to create the four outfits. The hats had been acquired. One vendor told me how some of the women attended all three days, spending all their time shopping to expand their wardrobe collections, and to see and be seen. And it must be said that the results were impressive.
A few chose different paths, and recently I saw two women in Soviet-style worker’s coveralls in a Stalinist interpretation of Rosie the Riveter. They were a decided minority.
Vendors. No visit to WWII Weekend is complete without a stroll down vendor row. I was disappointed that some attendees of years past were absent, such as GhostWings, Aberjona Press, America in WWII magazine, Borders, and Atomic. But there were still vendors aplenty. T-shirts (my personal fave) abounded. Toy guns and gun recreations were everywhere. Models, complete and in boxes were available. Military and especially aviation art was purveyed. All kinds of military paraphernalia, from helmets to ammo boxes to field radios to manuals to airplane junk to imported DVDs and Waffen-SS T-shirts, could be had. This year I was particularly struck by a T-shirt for Sherman’s Civil War “BBQTour” of the South and several CDs of Panzer marches and Japanese wartime music. Now there’s something you won’t hear on the radio any time soon! A brisk business in dogtags hummed.
Besides all these recreations, the genuine articles were also to be found. Three merit elaboration.
The People. This event is annually blessed with dozens of veterans and experts who speak and meet with the public. I’ve heard Pearl Harbor survivors, combat engineers, pilots, B-24 gunners, and crewmembers of the Enola Gay speak at this event. This year had, among others, Lawrence O’Rourke, who worked as an engineer on the Manhattan Project, and Bob Bolinder, who flew a P-61 in combat. Several members of Easy Company from Band of Brothers were also present. Every year I am humbled anew by what they have done, and their matter-of-fact style. I’m hoping the DVD of this event will include either video of their presentations, or at least MP3s.
The Aircraft. In recent years WWII weekend has enjoyed the presence of a B-24, a B-29 (!), an Me 109, as many as two B-17s and three P-51s at a time. You never know who will show up from year to year, but yesterday I enjoyed Yankee Lady (B-17), a P-51, a P-47, and two B-25s (which I never see without thinking of Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo). A Yak was there as well. They showed off, they preened, they roared, they took off, they flew by, they smoked, they shot. They were gorgeous. And this leads us to the third genuine article.
The P-61. The pride and joy of the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum is its P-61 night-fighter, retrieved from a New Guinea crash site and under laborious reconstruction. Every year I see the progress, and hope I’ll be around to watch it fly. This year I saw the plane with a complete nose, standing on its own landing gear, and its cannon installed and the front crew compartment (for pilot and gunner) largely intact. The skin gleamed in the lights. It’s seen major progress, clearly. I chatted with a former P-61 pilot, and we discussed the project and its future. Of course I bought a(nother) P-61 T-shirt.
The variety of events was intoxicating. Veterans spoke, re-enactors displayed, aircraft flew by, a B-17 sold rides, troops marched, a fashion show was held, 40s songs were played by Carolyn Hannan and others, Abbot and Costello re-enactors performed, and R. Lee Ermey from History Channel’s Mail Call was available for autographs and pictures.
Really, there is too much for anyone to do everything. The only solution is to go every year.
Some miscellaneous notes:
- Be sure to buy a copy of the War News annual, available when you buy your $18 admission. It has total background on everyone and everything. The ads are fantastic, each one a loving recreation or copy from a 1940s counterpart. Worth much more than five bucks!
- The Spirit Of the Airwaves Players presented a fabulous recreation of period radio programs, using authentic props as much as possible, and in period garb. They do this really well every year. I'm getting the feeling they do the same repertoire every year, and wonder if they have been able to branch out into other episodes as well. But it is always a pleasure to listen to them, and see their joy for their art.
- In 1942, a flight of several P-38s and a couple of B-17s got lost in bad weather, and landed in Greenland. Several years ago one of the P-38s was located, reached, disassembled, retrieved through 300 feet of ice, and reassembled to fly again. What a story! Well, now an expedition is organizing to return, and retrieve all the P-38s, and both B-17s. This is Operation Bolero. They were represented at the show, and have a great story. Check out their website!
- Next year, leave very, very early to avoid the insane traffic getting onto Rte 183.
posted by Prospero at 10:19 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home