 First Presentation (group) |
 Winning Award | )
 Second Presentation (group) |
First Presentation (group) |
Winning Award | )
Second Presentation (group) |
During
the annual Summer Camp i.e. "Supply Point", organized by the local Historical
War Wheels Association (of which we are individual members), August 3 > 6,
2001 - our group decided to look for a special theme . We elected to do a WWII
impression for a large audience (visitors & re-enactors alike) with a
dynamic presentation of the evolution in individual clothing, equipment and
weapons during WWII - covering the US Army in the E.T.O. from 1942 to 1945 .
This presentation, involving "Strictly G.I." members, took place in 2 phases;
the first one showing the general evolution taking place between 1942 - 1945,
which was held from 1100 to 1145 hrs; and the second related to specific
(Normandy + Bulge) aspects of clothing, equipment and weapons from 1944 - 1945,
held from 1500 to 1545 hrs . We did this on Saturday, and all over again the
next day i.e. Sunday, and again with success ! Everything that was shown belongs
to members of our group, since they all are WWII collectors, that proved not to
be too difficult - however it became necessary to sometimes lend 'extra' items
from one collector to another in order to fill up some gaps, and consult some
additional documents and photographs to crosscheck some historical facts in
order to avoid errors . Preparation itself lasted almost 2 months, and
finalization took some extra days as well … Alternate comments (for the public)
for the different impressions were given by Pfc "Peter J. Owens" and Sgt "Andrew
S. Vilinsky" . First Presentation (1100-1145)
ICELAND, May 1942 -
first US forces land in Europe - WWII impression of an Infantry soldier belonging to the 10th Infantry Regiment,
5th Infantry Division "Red Diamond" (campaigns : Normandy-Northern France-Rhineland-Ardennes Alsace-Central Europe)
NORTH AFRICA, November 1942
-first great Allied offensive - WWII impression of an Infantry soldier belonging to the 15th Infantry Regiment,
3d Infantry Division "Rock of the Marne" (campaigns : Algeria-French Morocco-Tunisia-Sicily-Naples Foggia-Anzio-Rome Arno-Southern
France-Rhineland-Ardennes Alsace-Central Europe)
ENGLAND,September 1943
- training and preparation for the Allied invasion of continental Europe
- WWII impression of an Infantry soldier belonging to the 29th Ranger Battalion,
29th Infantry Division "Blue and Gray" FRENCH-BELGIAN BORDER, September 1944
- Fighting on the European mainland - WWII impression of a QMC soldier belonging
to the 3326th Quartermaster Truck Company, Third United States
Army BULGE (Ardennes), December 1944
- German Counteroffensive - Bitter struggle to counter enemy thrust in the Bulge -
WWII impression of an Infantry soldier belonging to the 393d Infantry Regiment,
99th Infantry Division "Checkerboard" (campaigns : Rhineland-Ardennes
Alsace-Central Europe) CENTRAL EUROPE, March 1945
- Combat in Central Europe - WWII impression of an Infantry soldier belonging to the 112th Infantry Regiment,
28th Infantry Division "Keystone" (campaigns : Normandy-Northern France-Rhineland-Ardennes-Alsace-Central Europe)
(campaigns : Normandy-Northern
France-Rhineland-Central Europe)
(campaigns : Normandy-Northern France-Rhineland-Ardennes Alsace-Central
Europe)
Remark:background of the pictures does not necessarily reflect the 'historical'
landscape related to actual WWII campaigns
