Crich 40s weekend, August 2014. A Soviet and a partisan have sabotage on their minds, but homemade explosives obviously think otherwise.

Evening everyone, Ollie here after a very long day. Reece and I both attended a 40's weekend at Crich tramway museum, half an hour from where I live, I was in my Soviet guards impression, and Reece had cobbled together a Byelorussian partisan setup. We only got the go-ahead at the 11th hour, as Reece is up in Rotherham for a few days visiting family. Nevertheless, perseverance paid off, and we arrived just after lunch.

The museum itself is based around a village or town in England with its own tram service. There's buildings such as a pub, tearoom and bank at one end, surrounded by woodland, which makes for some varied patrols as a reenactor. We had decided on a particular scenario. I had been sent to link up with some partisans to act as my company's advance guard through the outskirts of Minsk, liberated in Summer 1944. There were some small groups in attendance, and a great many light vehicles, more often than not Willys jeeps, and more often than not the public had made an effort in terms of vintage attire.

All afternoon, we found ourselves moving tactically through the museum, using hand signals, orders and covering our advances. Despite there only being the 2 of us, I thought we did a great deal more to interact with the public than many of the attending groups, such as asking the public about the possible whereabouts of collaborators, Germans and units allied with the Germans. This, coupled with us, having looked around at the competition, possibly being the most out there impression represented, saw us be mobbed for photos for the most part, even if I do say so myself.

The highlight of the afternoon came towards the end. We moved from the bridge, down the street, behind some vintage cars parked up near the tram shed, while Reece planted some explosives by the tracks, with me covering him. After the explosives were planted, we scrambled for cover behind the cars...only for me to berate my partisan friend with "God dammit Roman, stop making your own explosives!"

While we didn't get any proper uniform shots for this blog, we did get several fantastic shots of the advance to the explosives, courtesy of my mother. I do recommend the Crich 40's weekend, it's a good little event, and there's usually some good groups attending, as well as a swing band or some form of 40's style entertainer. There's a pub and a tearoom as well, both of which are rather good, if very busy on event days. There's also a slew of WW2 vehicles and a fair few vintage cars as well.

More to follow tomorrow...

Ollie

Afternoon all, Ollie here with the pilot post of a series about individuals who had a significant impact on the 2nd World War. Being as I reenact Soviet, it seems appropriate to start with a gentleman many associate with Russia's struggle on the Eastern Front, a man who has been the subject of great controversy and suspect for one incident in particular. This man was played by Jude Law in the film Enemy at the Gates...and his name is Vasily Zaitsev.

Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev was born on March 23rd, 1915, incidentally the same date as my younger sister, in Yeleninskoe, Orenburg governate, and grew up in the foothills of the Ural mountains, the great divider that separates Western Russia from the vast, all-consuming wilderness that is Siberia. He was exposed to firearms and marksmanship at an early age, hunting deer and wolves with his brother and grandfather. His first rifle, a single shot Berdan rifle, earned him his first trophy at the tender age of 12.

Zaitsev first enlisted in the Soviet Navy, the voennoe morskoy flot SSSR, and served as a clerk in Vladivostok, one of the Pacific fleet's home bases. When war broke out on June 22nd, 1941, he, like many of his comrades, requested a transfer to where the motherland needed bodies at the front. His wish granted, he was transferred to the 1074th rifle regiment, 284th "Tomsk" rifles, 62nd Army, under the command of Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov, and assigned the rank of senior warrant officer.

Zaitsev's tactics revolutionised sniper warfare, and many of his tactics are still used to this day. His most famous/well documented tactic, the sixes, involved 3 teams of 2 men each, one sniper, one spotter, covering a large area from 3 separate points. This method is still used today, and was used heavily during the Russian Federation's involvement in Chechnya.

In his first 10 days in the city, Zaitsev's score was impressive to say the least. 40 Germans had fallen as a result of his skill and fieldcraft. Before long, the high command of the Red Army was on to it, and he was soon heralded as a hero. His exploits were published and heavily propagandised, inspiring the people of the Soviet Union to emulate his accomplishments. Before long, the Germans were training their own snipers, which leads us to the most debated part of Zaitsev's story.

In the film Enemy at the Gates, the German high command sends a Major Koenig, played by Ed Harris, to eliminate Zaitsev. This being Hollywood, Zaitsev eliminates Koenig in a very fanciful and artistic manner. Over the past 70 years, many historians have debated whether this Major Koenig existed, or whether he was a work of the Soviet propagandists at the time. In his memoirs, Notes of a sniper, Zaitsev does talk about a 3-day duel between himself and a Wehrmacht sniper school director, a Major Erwin Koenig. This Koenig is also mentioned in William Craig's 1973 book Enemy at the Gates: the siege of Stalingrad. The Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow, a museum I have had the pleasure of visiting, also claims to have Koenig's optic.

However, a different name is thrown into the equation in David L Robbins' novel War of the rats. This portrayal sees Zaitsev's counterpart as an SS Standartenfuhrer,named Heinz Thorwald,  an instructor at the Zossen sniper school, founded by the Wehrmacht. However, no SS units fought in Stalingrad, and no sniper had that high rank. To throw in my own 2 cents, I didn't see a German sniper optic when I went to the museum in 2012 with my reenactment group, but that's another story.

Zaitsev survived the war, and indeed the battle, despite being blinded during a bombardment. After the war he became a director of a textile factory in Kiev, his sight having been restored. He died in 1991, and after initial burial in Kiev, his wishes to be buried in Stalingrad were granted. He is interred at Mamaev Kurgan, the Tartar burial mound that dominates Stalingrad's skyline.

Good morning, Ollie here with some great news. My Schuster order arrived not even half an hour ago, after at least 5 long weeks of waiting. But, more importantly, in order to get Reece and myself into a regular posting habit, we've decided to start a series based on individuals, not necessarily generals, but individuals, such as Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, or Claus Von Stauffenberg, the German officer who tried to assassinate Hitler in July 1944. I shall post later today with the inaugural edition. But now it's over to you. Are there any individuals you want to see posted about? Leave a comment, and we shall try our best to get this series up and running.

Until next time, comrades
Ollie

Well, we're back from War and Peace 2014. Ollie here just assimilating myself back into the swing of things. Got back to Derby at about 5 this morning, slept in my friend's drawing room on the sofa until about lunch time. As planned, Reece and I met up, as well as meeting a few friends I'd met through facebook. We had some exciting weather, 2 days of searing heat and another 2 of oozing, squelching mud that brought proceedings to a complete standstill, as well as a fantastic cloud formation before the storm on day 2. I spent a ludicrous amount of money on a few things here and there, and generally spent a few days in excellent company with excellent food and mad weather. Reece will be coming up to Derby in August for an event near me, where he will be using some of his German kit and some of my Soviet kit to do an impression based around the Polish Home Army during the Warsaw uprising in 1944, and we'll take the opportunity then to get some impression photographs up.

I hope you've not missed us too much, and I do apologise for a lack of activity. Our first guest contribution will be up in good time, and hopefully we can get the hammer down properly and get some new content for you to mull over.

Until next time, 
Ollie

Good afternoon ladies and gents, Ollie here with some exciting news. First and foremost, both sides of Mentioned in Dispatches will be attending the War and Peace revival in Kent this year, Reece as part of Second Battle Group, and myself with some friends who own a ZIL cargo truck and invited me to come with them and camp for a few days, but that's another story. Secondly, I attended the Yorkshire Wartime Experience with my Soviet group, the 13th Guards rifle division, and as well as having a fantastic time and getting very, very sunburnt, got some pictures courtesy of my long suffering mum which I shall upload in short order, so the Northern half of this blog will now be more than a callsign. And thirdly, we will be having what will hopefully be the first of many guest contributions from a great friend of mine reenacting the Wehrmacht, and living in Sweden, coming along very soon. I hope you've enjoyed the content that Reece and myself have been able to put out for you so far, and I hope you plan to stick with us for a long time to come.

I shall put a link to my group at the end of this post, similar to what Reece has done with his youtube channel. Until next time, do svidanya!

Ollie

http://www.13thguardspoltavaskaya.com/

Why Do German?

Hi there ladies and gents! Reece here, today I'm going to cover one of the most controversial aspects in the reenactment community, even, funnily enough, within the second world war community itself...

Why do German?

It's a fair enough question I've had many times myself that often leads to awkward stares and the muttered rumours of possible far right political alignment, so I'll start by explaining why I do German.

My interest in the Axis perspective of WW2 pre-dates my knowledge of WW2 itself. When I was younger, I was a huge Star Wars fanatic, I played all the games, especially Star Wars Battlefront, and quickly learned that the strongest side to play was the Empire, and the best troops – the Stormtroopers. Then, as if by chance, I got playing WW2 strategy games, the first of which was Codename: Panzers – Phase 2, and would you believe it? They were the strongest side with the biggest and strongest vehicles, so I was treading on familiar ground. My interest in the subject grew, I inherited this great big book - “World War 2” from my late grandfather and read about this organisation that sounded a LOT like the stormtroopers I knew and loved – the Waffen SS.

Now, some of you may be reading this and hearing alarm bells going off - “Oh my god! The dreaded Waffen SS! He must be an evil racist white supremacist!” calm down ladies and gents, nothing to fear here. Some people get very wound up with the politics of the time and how this carries over to today, but I've always looked at history from a fairly neutral perspective, so all I can ask is that you hear me out.

There was always something fascinating about being the “bad guy” whether it be fact or fiction, and let's not forget that we're in this hobby to enjoy ourselves, and some people, myself included, like to play as the antagonist. Now the great thing about doing German is the sheer variety offered in terms of impressions – I remember at 14 years of age being mesmerised by the amount of choice I had! I could be a field grey glad soldier in the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) slogging through Stalingrad, I could be a hardened paratrooper in a camouflage smock fighting at Monte Cassino! But why portray the SS? The controversy behind the armed wing of the Nazi Party runs deep through history and in modern society, just look at a few newspapers covering the feature of reenacting and no doubt you'll come across “DRESSED AS THE NAZI SS!” what could compel a fairly ordinary teen to portray something so criminal? Well let me tell you this, I couldn't care less what I portrayed as long as it was German! I was introduced to a few like-minded teens just like myself who by chance happened to portray Panzer Grenadiers in the Waffen SS, now this was a huge discovery for me, thinking at the time I was the only teen interested in this sort of thing, I rocked up to events to meet them and was blown away by the variety of uniforms – camouflage trousers, lightning strikes on the collar, camouflage smocks and helmet covers and would you believe it, SKULLS on a cap! Now, if that doesn't make your inner child jump and down with delight then I suggest getting back in touch with your inner self because that sealed the deal for me there and then! Every reenactor I've spoken to who does German I've personally asked “Why?” because everyone has a different reason, and despite what the media may tell you, of all the ladies and gents I've asked in this question, I've never heard of personal support or belief in Nazi ideology. Sure, there is an interesting aspect to it no doubt, the Nazi regime tried very hard to bolster their image of military swagger which still impresses to this day, some like the smart appearance of the uniforms, the “undefeatable” image that's attached with the Germans, the weapons, or simply because they like acting as villains – just look at it this way, if I or any other individual within the circle wanted to show the glory watermark of the Third Reich, why would 90% of us portray a period from 1944-1945, when Germany and the German military was at the end of its rope?

Yes, we are more than aware of the stigma and possible offence this may cause to perhaps you or somebody you know, but before you answer the question “Why do they do German?” for us, why not swing by and ask us yourselves, yes, there is the odd “bad egg” that's in it for the wrong reasons, but they are dealt with fairy swiftly, you'll find us Krauts to be a friendly and approachable bunch that, just like your GI's, Ivans and Tommies are just here to have a good bit of light hearted fun as much as the next guy.

• Im Besten, Kameraden!
• Reece