Comradeship and the Decline of Sunday Reenacting

[Sturmkatze]

Why can?t we have more comradeship? I mean there are many reenactors who just can?t wait to get out of their kit after the event? Why is this? Hell, you spent a LOT of money on it, why not hang out and have a beer and socialize? I have been doing it long enough to remember when WWI and WWII BOTH had battles on Sunday, not this crap of bugging out Saturday night or at 0-dark-thirty on Sunday morning.

One favorite WWII event that sticks in my mind was the 50th D-Day at Virginia Beach -- that was a damned great event! We got there on Wednesday and it went to Sunday? MAN what a flea market and we got a couple of good battles out of it, PLUS some really great comradeship. When you talk of WWI and WWII, nowadays it?s only Friday night and Saturday? used to be Friday eve, Sat afternoon, Saturday NIGHT and then Sunday morning. Saturday morning was reserved for stuff like training, trench work and the flea market? it was sad when that got changed. I can tell you that at the GWA's Fall event this last weekend (2-4 November) when I woke up at 08:50 on Sunday, there were like FIVE cars left in the parking lot That sucks! All that work and preparation for just a few hours?!? Let's go back to Sunday combat at events!
Best, Marsh

[Oskar_2ndChev]

Kind of a waste of time in my mind. If I'm going to go out to an event, I mean to be there for the weekend otherwise, it's just not worth it with all prep time it takes. In the case of WWI, since it only comes twice a year, there's no excuse to bug out unless you're a complete wimp or have a real emergency.

When we were actively doing WWI out here, the battles were 24 hour scenario and we didn't shut down for anything- if you couldn't deal with it, you went to the parking lot. Otherwise, it was just like the real thing (as best as we could get it). There was a lot of down time and it gave us a chance to socialize. Hell, sometimes we even did a variation on the Christmas Truce and we'd have informal gatherings in No Man's Land.

The idea was to definately socialize with one's comrades. That's one thing that put me off about WWII out here- everyone would run around the woods during the day, pop caps, and then go back to the barracks and get stiinking drunk...and then bug out the next morning. Considering it was a three-hour drive to Camp Roberts for me, it wasn't worth it for one day.

[Findabetterole]

All weekend events......  I'm all for it! Getting down and dirty, having fun, doing the things that your mum told you not to do!  I'm not going to spend my hard earned cash putting together a particular impression just to go sit in the car park, or prance about the place for a couple of hours like a peacock... lets do the stuff, sleep on the ground under the stars. Who cares about the weather? Did the chaps of the Great War call a halt because it was blowing a little windy, or getting a bit damp?...... NO THEY DIDN'T! You have a period groundsheet, waterproof cape, pup tent, shelter half... get it out, use it!

Come on guy's, this is our time...  lets enjoy it!   

Seph 

[GUNNYSARGE]

I still remember events in Okla that went from 1630 FRI night and ended Sunday 1300... No breaks , no dead time... lines were sent up to have combat and sleep.......Chow which was cooked by the Germans and shipped to the Allies was done by returning POW or left in a dead trench for them to pick up.....we never stopped... Very cool times............Guys hit the lines,all night long and the CO's/SGT's did the indoc......Safety and ammo check was done then......