Operation Amsterdam (1959): Early WWII in Holland

This evening on Netflix, I watched one of those WWII films that has totally gone under my radar: Operation Amsterdam (black and white, 1959). From the Film4 page for the film: "Stark WWII adventure dramatising a real Whitehall-backed operation to smuggle industrial diamonds out of Amsterdam before the advancing Nazis overrun the city. Starring Peter Finch and Eva Bartok."

This is a chilling movie shot in a stark, matter-of-fact style without all the emotion of most WWII commando or espionage films. It captures the tension perfectly--slow at times, chaotic at others. Like the characters in the film, you never know who is on your side. Are those soldiers ahead real Dutch soldiers or German fallschirmjager disguised as Dutch soldiers? I'm glad I found this film while browsing Netflix. Lately, I've been highly drawn to the early war period. I give Operation Amsterdam an 8/10. Watch the trailer, check IMDb, and see what you think. Or better yet, skip the somewhat spoiler-laden trailer and just watch the film one chilly evening. You'll be glad you did!

Painting WWII Soviet Infantry - Part 6A:Finished Black Tree Design 28mm Infantry

Articles In This Series
Part 1: Series Introduction, Plus Ranks & Insignia
Part 2: Summer Tunics & Trousers
Part 3: Basing Tips & Tricks
Part 4: Winter Uniforms
Part 5: Painting Guides
Part 6A: Finished Black Tree Design 28mm Infantry
Part 6B: Finished Black Tree Design 28mm Infantry
Part 6C: Finished Black Tree Design 28mm Infantry

Until now, I've been showing odds and ends photos of these figures in various stages of painting. Finally, we have all of them painted and on pretty much done bases. I still need to buy some more autumn flock and debris, but these guys are good enough to start fighting those dirty fascists!

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Photo Above: In the foreground, I have four infantry wearing the cloth pilotka hat. Three of them are wielding the deadly but close-range PPSh-41, with one fellow getting ready to throw his grenade and assault. While some gamers dislike kneeling poses, I like having some of them in my skirmish games. The fellow pointing is quite dramatic, and I like the fellow aiming his rifle.

The two figures in the background are bareheaded, of course, but are the exact same pose. I got seven of this pose from the fellow who sold them to me second-hand! Seven bareheaded guys!?! Agh!!! I tried to make these two guys looks as different as possible, but what can you do other than different colored hair? Oh well. I have the other five figures primed in case I meet someone who wants to learn how to paint. I also used one as a test piece to try out some techniques.
 

Photo Above: Here you can see the rear of the figures. It shows some of the various pieces of equipment these figure sport. The figures second and fourth from the left in the foreground have a single flap pouch that I want to think is a PPSh-41 ammo drum pouch or a grenade pouch, hard to tell because this pouch is used on different poses regardless of weapon. I just realized the pouch also looks like a medical bag--this might be something I add later on for a medic figure, just paint a red cross in a white circle! Soviet equipment is so confusing and varied that I no longer lose sleep over it.

You can also see the different painting techniques I was trying and learning, such as how to line the the figures--use a black line? a darker shade color? something else? A little touch I really liked was highlighting the boot heels and soles.

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Photo Above - From Left to Right: I really like the drama of the first figure on the left. He looks like the hardened soldier. The second fellow has a rather frightened look befitting his new (aka matching and greener) uniform--how many days will he last in the field?

While I could have painted the officer in standard Soviet infantry colors, I decided to paint him in NKVD colors, which fit into the platoon's shot-to-heck back story I was cooking up in my head. He just isn't standing behind the platoon, ready to shoot anyone who even thinks about retreating. No, he has taken over a command, extending his left hand for his men to begin deploying to his left and right in preparation for the assault. Desperate times, you know.

The final fellow has a PPSh-41 with grenade, looking more like he's going to pass it to someone than throw it. His satchel could be a grenade pouch, but if you look at his rear photo you'll see he has no other equipment--no shovel, canteen, ammo pouch--nothing. Sloppy sculpting from one of the itinerant sculptors of the line or has this solider lost all his gear? You be the judge. (I like to think the latter, but suspect its the previous, hence the weak "here's a grenade for you, comrade" pose.)

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Until Next Time: The next post will show the remainder of the platoon, so stay tuned. I hope these photos and the series inspire you to give some Soviets a try.

Painting WWII Soviet Infantry - Part 5:Painting Guides

Articles In This Series
Part 1: Series Introduction, Plus Ranks & Insignia
Part 2: Summer Tunics & Trousers
Part 3: Basing Tips & Tricks
Part 4: Winter Uniforms
Part 5: Painting Guides
Part 6A: Finished Black Tree Design 28mm Infantry
Part 6B: Finished Black Tree Design 28mm Infantry
Part 6C: Finished Black Tree Design 28mm Infantry

Series Overview
This is the fifth in an ongoing series of articles documenting the research I have been doing for painting my 28mm Black Tree Design miniatures for 1:1 skirmish gaming. Finding historical information on Soviet uniforms that gamers can use was very difficult, with much of it scattered across various Osprey and other books, along with some websites. I hope folks find this series of articles helpful and might even stir some interest in gaming the Eastern Front. While I painted 28mm miniatures, nearly all this information is useful for all miniature sizes.

I hope you've been enjoying this series of articles and would love to hear your comments. And if you enjoy gaming the Eastern Front in any scale, please include a link to your blog or online photo pages.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Soviets with a lend-lease jeep with a Browning .50 cal.

While doing the research for painting my Soviets, I came to realize that there was no one correct color of Soviet uniform because of the country's poor quality controls and need for many uniforms quickly. Plus, uniforms quickly faded and changed color once they hit the battlefields. For example, tunics and trousers could range from dark green to light cream, with even some tans and browns tossed in. Equipment also came is many different colors, styles, and materials. It can be quite confusing, as well as very liberating because we needn't worry so much about accuracy as we would when modeling the Western Front.

Since I use 28mm miniatures for 1:1 skirmish games that border on roleplaying games, I wanted my soldiers to have as much individual character as possible and reflect the hard city fighting of Stalingrad and its surroundings. The video game Call of Duty 2 heavily influenced my decision to game Stalingrad.

Some Unity is Important
While I painted the uniforms to reflect the chaotic mishmash look of city fighting, I also wanted them to look like a unified fighting force on the table. Being a modeler all my life, I like to say that we don't model reality but people's idea of what reality is supposed to be. For example, I could have painted the steel helmets and ushanka winter hats all sorts of different colors and shades, which would have been quite realistic for my setting, but I used the hats and helmets to unify the soldiers. This is why I painted all the steel helmets the same shade of green. Same for the ushanka, though I did give a cigar-chomping NCO a grey hat to signify his "special" status.

I begin this post with my own guide I created to paint my figures. I also give you some additional painting guides that you might find useful and more to your liking. Finally, you can also check out the nice WWII painting and camo guides over at Artizan's website.

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CPBelt's Soviet Infantry Painting Guide
Here is the comprehensive painting guide I created to paint my infantry so far. It collects the bits from earlier articles and includes a lot of new info. I used Reaper paints because I can get them locally. While I have had some problems with some colors of Reaper paint being too thin or cracking while drying (the Olive triad and Uniform Brown all cracked, along with some others), I really like their Terran Khaki triad. As I paint my remaining figures--such as tankers, snipers, officers, NKVD, sailors, and so on--I'll add that info to this guide.

M35 & M43 Summer Tunics, Trousers, & Pilotka
Unless a soldier was a fresh to the fighting, I often painted the tunic one base color and the trouser a different base color. Often Soviet infantry would take better bits and pieces of uniforms when theirs would wear out. For example, a hardened soldier might have light trousers but a new darker jacket.

Fresh Troops
Highlight: Reaper 9122 Terran Khaki
Base: Reaper 9121 Khaki Shadow
Shade: Folk Art FA449 Olive Green

Veteran Troops
Highlight: Reaper 9123 Khaki Highlight
Base: Reaper 9122 Terran Khaki or Vallejo 988 Khaki
Shade: Reaper 9121 Khaki Shadow

Hardened Troops
Highlight: Reaper 9123 + White
Base: Reaper 9123 Khaki Highlight
Shade: Reaper 9122 Terran Khaki

Poor Quality Conrol Variation
Highlight: Reaper 9127 Uniform Brown + Reaper 9123 Khaki Highlight
Base: Reaper 9127 Uniform Brown
Shade: Americana DA180 Asphaltum

M41 & M43 Winter Uniform
These colors work for both the jacket and trousers.
Highlight: Base + Reaper 9123 Khaki Highlight
Base: Reaper 9162 Driftwood Brown
Shadow (and padding creases): Dark Brown.

Steel Helmet:
Highlight: Base + White
Base: Folk Art FA927 Old Ivy + Folk Art FA449 Olive Green
Shade: Americana DA157 Black Green
Chin Straps: Reaper 9122 Terran Khaki

Ushanka (Fur Hat)
For painting the standard infantry ushanka, you will need the colors below and then follow how I painted the hats. First, I painted the entire ushanka Reaper 9158 Olive Drab and then drybrushed the fur flaps with Reaper 9122 Terrain Khaki and then very lightly drybrushed some Reaper 9123 Khaki Highlight. I then painted the cloth part of the hat using Reaper 9121 Reaper Khaki Shadow, highlighting the edges with Reaper 9122 Terrain Khaki. Finally, I lined the edges of the fur flaps using Reaper 9158 Olive Drab. The last touch is to paint the Soviet stars, touching them up with some black and then simply painting them a shade of bright red, leaving some black along the edge for shading.
Drybrushed: Reaper 9123 Khaki Highlight
Drybrushed: Reaper 9122 Terran Khaki or Vallejo 988 Khaki
Reaper 9121 Khaki Shadow
Reaper 9158 Olive Drab

Blankets
I painted all my blankets using summer tunic colors above. You could also paint them shades of green-grey, maybe a brown, and so on. Again, nothing was standard.

Canvas Gear
This includes cloth grenade satchels, ammo pouches, shovel covers, straps, canteens, backpacks, belts, and anything else made of cloth or cloth webbing. Since there were no real standards, with this equipment coming in all sorts of shades, you can vary the base color as you like, using various khakis and light olive greens. Flap straps could be cloth or leather. I painted buckles a tin color.
Highlight: Reaper 9123 Khaki Highlight
Base: Reaper 9122 Terran Khaki
Shade: Folk Art FA449 Olive Green

Leather Gear
This includes leather belts, straps, and ammo pouches. You really have a wide selection of leather colors to choose from, from reddish leather to brown leather to tan leather. It seems that NCO's and better soldiers got higher quality black leather ammo pouches. From what I can see, belts were never black leather. Below are the three leather variations I used on my figures.
Base v1: Vallejo 940 Saddle Brown
Base v2: Reaper 9030 Leather Brown
Base v3: Reaper 9031 Tanned Leather

Boots
Any black will do.

M43 Shoulder Boards (Summer & Winter Uniforms)
The M43 saw shoulder boards come into fashion, both for summer and winter uniform. The board itself is darker than the uniform and trimmed in a color specific for that branch of service. Infantry shoulder boards, for example, has raspberry colored piping trimming the edges. The button on top of the board is brass.
Shoulder Board Base: Reaper 9121 Khaki Shadow
Shoulder Board Trim: Americana DA276 Razzle Berry

Grenades
Since Soviets practiced assault tactics, they loved their grenades. Again, these could come in many different shades like the uniforms, but I chose to paint them all the same color.
Base: Reaper 9122 Terran Khaki

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Panzer Aces Paint Guide
If I remember correctly, this is a guide I took from one of the Panzer Aces series. It uses all Vallejo paints. Some folks might find it useful.

Summer Tunic, Trousers, & Pilotka
Highlight: Base + 914 Green Ocher + 976 Buff
Base: 879 Green Brown + 882 Middlestone
Shade: Base + 872 Chocolate Brown + 950 Black

Winter Padded Jacket & Trousers
Highlight: Base + 976 Buff
Base: 897 Bronze Green with 913 Yellow Ocher
Shade: Base + 872 Chocolate Brown + 950 Black

Cloth Coat
Highlight: Base + 991 Dark Sea Grey
Base: 866 Grey Green + 872 Chocolate Brown
Shade: Base + 950 Black

Steel Helmet
Highlight: Base with 882 Middlestone
Base: 897 Bronze Green
Shade (washed):  950 Black

Ushanka
Highlight: Base with 986 Deck Tan
Base: 886 Green Grey
Shade (washed): 950 Black

Leather Equipment
Highlight: Base + 981 Orange Brown
Base: 984 Flat Brown + 940 Saddle Brown (varnished gloss)
Shade: Base + 950 Black

Canvas Equipment
Highlight: Base + 976 Buff + 951 White
Base: 917 Beige with 881 Yellow Green
Shade: 872 Chocolate Brown

Boots
Highlight: 950 Black + 872 Chocolate Brown
Base: 950 Black (varnished gloss)
Shade: 950 Black

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Vallejo Soviet Paint Set

The basic guide below is from Vallejo's Soviet boxed paint set and is for the M43 summer uniform.

Helmet
894 Russian Green or 823 Luftwaffe Camo Green

Greatcoats & Bedrolls
874 USA Tan Earth

SMG Ammo Pouches
983 Flat Earth

Uniform
880 Khaki Grey or 988 Khaki

Boots
950 Black

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Painting WWII Soviet Infantry - Part 4:Winter Uniforms

Articles In This Series
Part 1: Series Introduction, Plus Ranks & Insignia
Part 2: Summer Tunics & Trousers
Part 3: Basing Tips & Tricks
Part 4: Winter Uniforms
Part 5: Painting Guides
Part 6A: Finished Black Tree Design 28mm Infantry
Part 6B: Finished Black Tree Design 28mm Infantry
Part 6C: Finished Black Tree Design 28mm Infantry

Series Overview

This is the fourth in an ongoing series of articles documenting the research I have been doing for painting my 28mm Black Tree Design miniatures for 1:1 skirmish gaming. Finding historical information on Soviet uniforms that gamers can use was very difficult, with much of it scattered across various Osprey and other books, along with some websites. I hope folks find this series of articles helpful and might even stir some interest in gaming the Eastern Front. While I painted 28mm miniatures, nearly all this information is useful for all miniature sizes.

The M41 and M43 Winter Uniforms

In earlier articles, I focused on Soviet summer uniforms. Now I turn my attention to the padded winter uniforms, which were designed to withstand the brutal cold of the Eastern Front.

There are two main patterns of padded winter uniforms: the M41 introduced in 1941 and the M43 introduced in 1943. Both patterns feature nearly identical padded trousers, called "vatnie sharovari" in Russian. These are so similar that gamers really needn't worry about the details because on 28mm and smaller miniatures one pair of padded trousers looks just like the next pair to my eyes. However, when we look at the winter uniform's padded jackets, called "telogreika" in Russian, we can spot some significant differences between the M41 and M43 patterns.

The M41 Telogreika
The M1 telogreika has the same large, folded-down collars as the M35 summer tunic pattern, which I discussed in Part 2 of the series. Rank insignia are displayed on these collars, as you can see in the drawing of the uniform to the upper left. As I discuss later in this article, most telogreika-clad Soviet WWII miniatures use the M41 pattern.

The M43 Telogreika

The M43 pattern, on the other hand, eliminated the telogreika's large collar, replacing it with a short upstanding collar buttoned at the top. This follows the same collar design as on the M43 summer tunic. As with the M43 summer tunic, senior NCO's wearing the M43 telogreika were to have shoulder boards displaying their rank insignia. However, photos show that many NCO's chose not to wear any sort of shoulder board on their telogreika. The photo to the right clearly shows the M43 telogreika, though the photo looks like a publicity shot because the uniforms and equipment on these soldiers look practically brand new and way too clean to have seen any fighting. (Soviets in WWII were fond of staging publicity photos, including combat photos.)

Mixing and Matching Jackets and Trousers

Because the telogreika was warmer than summer uniform jackets while still allowing a soldier more freedom of movement, soldiers often wore their telogreika in spring and autumn as well as in winter. You can see this in some photos, with soldiers wearing their telogreika and regular (non-padded) wool or cotton trousers, while other soldiers are wearing the full summer uniform.

In fact, on the cover of Red Army Uniforms of World War II in Colour Photographs (1993), you can see the fellow on the right wearing a telogreika along with the summer uniform trousers. By the way, this is a great book, with each page featuring one or more color photos of reenactors in Soviet uniforms. There is also a section of gear. This book has been a valuable asset for me, but its info can be a bit sketchy at times. You can pick up perfectly fine used copies of the book on Amazon for $20.

The Ushanka

Nothing screams Soviet/Russian winter like the ushanka! The ushanka, which means "ear hat" in Russian, is a distinctive feature of Soviet WWII uniforms and remains popular today. (In fact, my nephew up North likes to wear a rather large ushanka. Of course, we in Central Florida have little use for such a hat. But I digress...) Sometimes you might see this hat called a shapka or chapka, but from what I've read WWII uniform books prefer calling them ushanka. These hats come in many colors, from the same color as the uniforms, to shades of brown, to shades of cream, to shades of grey. The Soviet Star on the front flap could be red or gold, though I prefer red for my miniatures. You can tie the ushanka's ear flaps at the top of the hat, pulling the flaps up, or you can lower the flaps over the ears, tying them under the chin to keep you nice and tosty on those cold Stalingrad nights. Pretty nifty and very Soviet-looking!

28mm Miniatures in Winter Uniforms

On the page WWII 28mm Soviet Infantry, I discuss in detail which miniature companies make soldiers clad in winter uniforms and identify the uniform patterns they wear. (Originally, that page started as part of this article but grew too large!) Still, I'll briefly say that Artizan, Black Tree Design, Crusader, Warlord Games, and West Wind figures all wear the M41 telogreika with large collars. The Assault Group and Victory Force figures wear the M43 telogreika with short collar and shoulder boards. Some figures wear padded trousers, while most others wear regular trousers.

Painting Winter Soviet Uniforms
Information about painting Soviet winter uniforms can be found in Part 5 of the series, Painting Guides, which will be posted in a couple of days. I'll also post it as a page. This is a comprehensive list of guides covering all the uniforms covered to date.

Road to Victory 2012: USS Barb 1:72 Model

I've been extremely busy the last several weeks teaching two 6-week classes during our summer semester, so not much being done on the hobby front. But here are some more photos from this year's Road to Victory Reenactment.

This year, the Central Florida chapter of the US Submarine Veterans set up a display. Several retired submariners were present to talk about working on submarines. The photo to the left is their trailer they take to their events--I thought it was pretty nifty. This past spring semester, I was lucky to have as one of my students a retired Lt. Commander submariner, who had been based out of Saint Marys, GA for many years. My young college students really admired him and worked harder because of him! He really inspired them, and loved telling them stories of working on submarines.

USS Barb (SS-220)

The main draw for me was the 1:72 scale model of a Gato class submarine, the USS Barb (SS-220). From the USS Barb's Wikipedia entry: "During the seven war patrols she conducted in the Pacific between March 1944-August 1945, Barb is officially credited with sinking 17 enemy vessels totaling 96,628 tons, including the Japanese aircraft carrier Unyo. In recognition of one outstanding patrol, Commander Fluckey was awarded the Medal of Honor and Barb received the Presidential Unit Citation. On the sub's 12th and final patrol of the war, Barb landed a party of carefully selected crew members who blew up a railroad train. This is notable as the only ground combat operation that took place on the Japanese home islands." Below are some photos of the model and the fellow who built it. If you ever thought of using a submarine in a game, this is how big it would be in 1:72. If you wanted a sub for 28mm gaming, it would be about 130% larger. Yipes! I hope you enjoy the photos.

The entire 1:72 model of the USS Barb in its display case.

Another shot from the front. You really need to click on these photos to enjoy the model!

The gentleman in the red vest built the model himself. I didn't get his name! Nuts!

A professional painted and weathered the model. He did a great job!

It even comes with a painted crew!

Click on the photo to go to the US Submarine Veteran's homepage. Tons of great info on submarines!

Road to Victory 2012: US Reenactors

More photos from last month's reenactment. This time the Americans.

Central Florida Air Museums

While working on the latest Flying Tigers post the other day, it suddenly dawned on me that we have some big air museums here in Central Florida. Being more of a railroad and armor guy, knowing very little about aviation, I've never been to any of these museums. I'm hoping to change that this year and visit them, weather and time permitting. Of course, if any of you guys have been to any of these or want to give your input, please drop me a line in the comment section below.

Kissimmee Air Museum (Kissimmee, FL)

Click here to visit each museum's website.

Probably the smallest of the museums is the Kissimmee Air Museum. From their website: "We share Florida’s rich aviation heritage through aircraft displays, educational exhibits, aircraft restoration and exciting training flights in WWII fighter-trainers. Visitors experience aviation first hand as they interact with the planes, pilots and projects; taking a front row seat to an aviation adventure at the Kissimmee airport in the heart of Florida. Guests can experience an authentic WWII fighter-trainer from the front cockpit. Not a simulator but a real WWII airplane with you at the controls!" Admission is only $7 per person, which is cheap enough. Right now, this one is farther down my "to do" list because it's so small.

I got these photos online to show what the museums look like.

Fantasy of Flight (Lakeland, FL)

This is one of the larger museums in the area and seems a bit like a theme park, with an admission of $29 a person. The blurb from their website: "Our stunning Art Deco facility is home to over 40 rare and vintage aircraft, many of which have been restored to flyable condition. But that is just the beginning. We offer a variety of guided tours including visits to our working restoration and maintenance areas. You can take a spin on a state-of-the-art hang glide simulator in our interactive Fun with Flight center for families and climb on board a real B-17 Flying Fortress in a WWII bombing mission." We've past by this a number of times on the way to Lakeland and Tampa, but my wife has never been too interested in it. The price tends to put her off, especially since she has no interest in planes. I think this will be for our second museum visit when she's more used to the museum experience.

Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum (Titusville, FL)

They really need a better website!

This museum strikes me as one of those more down to earth places (pardon the pun!) run by a dedicated group of individuals who care about our heritage instead of making a buck. Their admission is $18 per person. They do an amazing air show every year. Unfortunately, that was last month. (March seems to be a busy month here for historical events!) I think this is the one I'm leaning toward visiting first because my wife loves to go to the beach but rarely gets over there. So we'll be able to take care of lot of interests in one trip. When the wife is happy, everyone is happy. Right? You know I'm right. :-)

Again, the blurb from their homepage: "The Valiant Air Command is a non-profit museum. Presently the Museum has 10 acres of property at the Space Center Executive Airport in Titusville, Florida. The museum displays, maintains and restores all types of aircraft that were indigenous to the world's military Air Forces starting before WW1 to the present. The Main Bay/Display Area contains approximately 30,000 square feet and is wide and high enough to accommodate the wing span and tail assembly of all but the largest bombers. In addition to the main hangar bay, there is an area 15,000 square feet dedicated to the display of memorabilia associated with the 'Valiant' individuals who flew, maintained these aircraft."

Flying Tigers on Video

Vintage Flying Tigers Newsreels
 Below are some vintage newsreels of the Flying Tigers AVG folks might find interesting.




Restored P-40 Warhawk in Flying Tigers Colors
This is a very cool video of a restored P-40 taxiing, taking off, and flying. I just love the sound of the engine! Back when I built plastic airplane models and did RC planes, I never built a P-40 for some reason.

Road to Victory 2012: Flying Tigers AVG

New this year to the show, Peter Colón represented the Flying Tigers American Volunteer Group. The Flying Tigers were an air unit the US government secretly organized in 1941 to help China fight Japan prior to our engagement in the war. Before speaking with Peter, who is a fascinating person to speak with, Jeremy and I knew little about the Flying Tigers. Peter does chaplain reenacting for WWII (Flying Tigers) and the ACW, and is available to give "in character" living history presentations at schools and other events. It was nice of him to come to the Road to Victory program that day instead of heading down to the ACW reenactment in St. Cloud.


Flying Tigers websites Peter recommends:
Flying Tigers AVG (Official)
Flying Tigers AVG Living History Group
Flying Tigers US

Peter set up a nice table display about the Flying Tigers and spoke to many people that day.

Peter has a tri-fold brochure about the Flying Tigers AVG and another for chaplains in WWII and the ACW. I scanned these into a PDF for easy viewing. Click on this image to view and download the PDF in GoogleDocs. The PDF is 14MB large. Since it's a tri-fold, start reading on the far right column, then onto the 2nd page, then back to the 1st page.

Road to Victory 2012: German Weapons

I forgot to add some of the other German reenactor photos I shot when we first arrived. I have to paint up some snipers, so the top photo will come in handy. And who doesn't like a machine gun? Photos of the American camps and jeeps coming next.

A German MG34.

So that's what they kept in the gas mask cans--balsa wood airplanes!

Road to Victory 2012: Intro & German Entrenchments

We had a great time last month at this year's Road to Victory military reenactment benefiting the planned Central Florida World War II Museum. The weather was warmer than normal, but clouds and a strong breeze make the day comfortable. There weren't as many reenactors and spectators there on Saturday as there had been last year because just south of us in Saint Cloud was a large ACW reenactment that same weekend. (I wished I could have been at both the same day!) I'm not sure how or why two large events were scheduled for the same weekend, but it seemed to cannibalize the RtV event quite a bit. (To see photos from last year's RtV, check the WWII Reference link in the Archives.)

So What Was Different This Year?
Quite a bit was different, which often is needed to keep everything fresh and fun. I was happy to see a much better food service than last year, with a large area for grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. The funnel cakes were back as well--yum! Still, they need some tables and chairs for folks to eat at. But that is a minor gripe.

On the reenactment side, the ACW fellows were missing from our show, preferring to spend their time down in Saint Cloud, which is understandable. I'm sure the local subdivision didn't miss the ACW artillery setting off the car alarms all day! The M-8 Greyhound was missing, but there were more awesome jeeps than last year.

This year, for a donation, you could have the Germans arrest someone and hold them prisoner for a while. The German officer would suddenly pull up in his motorcycle, accost the accused 'criminal,' toss him in the sidecar, berate him endlessly, and then haul him off to the 'jail' (aka food stand tent), while taking a rather lengthy trip around the reenactment. Sadly, we didn't learn about the motorcycle part until just before the battle, which ended the day for us because rain was coming, otherwise we would have done it.

A few new organizations also set up this year. I'll be posting info about them as well, including photos of a highly-detailed 1/72 Gato submarine. I think you'll like that!

Anyway, I only have a little time this weekend to post something, so onto some photos!


German Entrenchments
When we arrived for the opening at 10am, we popped over to the German encampment, which was much more interesting than last year. Here we see some young Germans digging entrenchments for their machineguns, laying land mines, and stinging barbed wire  Yes, they dug those holes by hand! They didn't use them for Saturday's battle, which was on the other side of the field.

American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1945) by Ira Wolfert

"This is the story of Lt. Iliff David Richardson, USNR. The story explains, for one thing, the role of the people in the guerrilla operations and what they did to help. Richardson was the executive officer of PT 34. After it was sunk by the Japanese, Richardson and a dozen fellow Americans attempted to sail a native outrigger to Australia, but the boat was sunk in a storm. He eventually joined the Philippine guerrilla forces, setting up a radio network to keep the various bands in touch with each other and Allied forces in Australia. After the liberation of the Philippines, Richardson dictated his memoirs to war correspondent Ira Wolfert, who published them in 1945 as this book." Actually, it's a great how to manual for conducting a guerrilla war! It seems this book is currently out of print.

This is another one of our recent thrift shop finds, paying less than $1. This is the original 1945 edition. It's a bit beaten up and foxed, but it's always fun holding and reading an original copy of an old book. Many years (decades!) ago, I put myself through college selling used and antique books at our family's antique store. My grandfather sold 19th century oil paintings (usually several thousand dollars each), my grandmother and step-mother sold antique jewelery, my dad sold old lithographs and other prints, and I sold old photos, old books, and 1950s porcelain kitchen tables that I restored. Pretty cool, eh! Thankfully before he died last year, my dad passed on his love for art and antiques to my son. He also passed on the fine art of haggling, which I don't like to do, but that is another story!

In 1950, the book was turned into a movie starting Tyrone Power, written by Wolfert, and directed by Fritz Lang. I've never seen the movie, so it's on my list to watch. You can read more about it at its wikipedia page. It's IMDb page is fairly skimpy.