Reenacting WWII As Allied And Axis Soldiers

World War 2 seems like a distant memory.  Think about this for a moment.  The second world war begun in 1939, that is over 80 years, this year to be exact it will be 82 years.  it lasted 6 years, ending in1945, that is oh lets see, 76 years since the last round was fired.

There are not many veterans left, in fact if we go back and look at the first world war there are none, zero.  The second world war it is estimated that 300,000 vets are still alive today.  During the war 300 million soldiers saw combat the biggest numbers coming from the U.S. Germany, Russia and Japan.  To say it was bloody is an understatement, estimates number the dead between 40 and 120 million civilian and soldiers combined.   

Why am I pointing this out, well because there are people out there running around in the countryside reenacting battles and yes they dress in period costume, allied and axis alike.  It's quite interesting a bit controversial and a hobby that really takes up time and energy.  

Vice did a report on reenactors who play the role of German combatants check out the video on YouTube.  I also found an interesting YouTube channel called wwIIFreak001 that features a reenactor.  And yes he does dress in the field uniform of the SS. 

There has been some controversy about the inclusion of reenactors who play the role of the German, in 2018 a railway in Yorkshire England stopped allowing reenactors who portrayed the Germans from participating in the reenactment.  The Story comes from indy100.com.  History is messy and sad but important to recount.  Hence my posting today.  Please note I am in no way a supporter of any ideology that promotes harm to any group in any form.  I do not condone or support the existence of any hate group such as the KKK or white supremist groups.  This post is to showcase reenactors portraying life as soldiers of a unit in the military during the second world war from the perspective of allied and axis views.  Just like me these groups shun ideology but do not shy away from showing what it was like to be a part of the unit they represent.  

A list of reenactor groups found on Milsurpia's website.

Another reenactors list composed of German units and the main page is at http://www.worldwartwohrs.org/index.htm.  I am sure there are others out there so look around.

Thanks for reading and have a super weekend.  

Cliff T.