WW2 D-Day Reenactment at Conneaut Ohio!

The largest  D-Day (1944) living history reenactment in the country takes place in Conneaut Ohio. Featuring over 1,500 reenactors from across the US and Canada perform a living tribute to the veterans of WWII through dress, mock battles, and living history displays. We had the opportunity to be there this year!

There were many demonstrations over the weekend and the mock battles were superb, especially the beach landing!

Encampments for Allied and Axis forces were filled with relics the reenactors brought to display.

And loved showing how these weapons were used in the day.

You could meet the real men and women that lived through those times too. Last year the Conneaut D-Day hosted over 150 WWII veterans.

Reenacting the capture of the bridge at La Fiére, the Americans gained control of the key crossing of the Merderet River.

Here German light armor advances on the bridge.

And is incapacitated as it nears.

After the battle, a column of German soldiers head back to camp.

There were several "Big Guns" including the feared German 88

and several armored vehicles including a Panzer III, Stug (seen here), M4 and an M4A1.

Also three variants of the M5 Stuart.

Georgie's Gal, a B-25 Mitchell, twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation took part this year. It made several passes over the beach on bombing runs. 

The B-25 was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, although the majority of B-25s in American service were used in the Pacific. The B-25 was named in honor of General Billy Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation.

The Polish contingent brought an artillery piece..

jeep to deploy it...

and a nice sampling of arms.

The US camp held many jeeps, trucks, motorcycles and this M3 Half-track.

There were a couple more participating in the actual landing. One hauling a howitzer.

The German encampment contained its share of armored cars,

transport vehicles of every size...

and many motocycles.

Watch the D-Day Cooneaut site for next years event!!

You can see additional images from this year on Cleveland.com 

Have A Great Battle!!

The Old Crow

Black Powder Reenactment: Fourth Sub-Legion of The United States

The Legion of the United States was a reorganization and extension of the United States Army from 1792 to 1796 under the command of Major General Anthony Wayne.

The legion was composed of four sub-legions, each commanded by a brigadier general. These sub-legions were self-contained units with two battalions of infantry, a rifle battalion , a troop of dragoons and a battery of artillery. Light infantry skirmishers armed with Pennsylvania long rifles were used to screen the infantry.

The legion was recruited and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and built into four sub-legions. These were created from elements of the 1st and 2nd Regiments from the Continental Army. These units then became the First and Second Sub-Legions. The Third and Fourth Sub-Legions were raised from further recruits.

From June 1792 to November 1792, the legion was stationed at Fort LaFayette in Pittsburgh. The legion then moved to the United States Military's first basic training facility at Legionville in western Pennsylvania on the banks of the Ohio River.

The frontier fort was built on the orders of General Anthony Wayne General Wayne also established various forts along his line of march to ensure adequate re-supply, and garrisoned these forts with freshly trained legionnaires.

The legion was trained from its early days in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to fight in a woodland environment. Each sub-legion had its own attached artillery, dragoons and riflemen, light and heavy infantry. Officers, sergeants and enlisted personnel were trained to fight in small units and were used to being geographically separated and fighting on their own.

General Anthony Wayne's tactics were to fire and move quickly with the light infantry as his front line forces supported by heavy infantry. The legion was taught to move quickly on the enemy so he could not re-load, then attack with bayonets. This was the whole design and concept of the legion.

By August 20, 1794, the Legion of the United States had trained for over 25 months and was a finely honed machine. The success of the legion is owed mostly to Major General Anthony Wayne.

The reenactors of Wayne's Legion can be seen at the Woodville Plantation just outside of Pittsburgh PA.

For more information about events where they are participating and additional history, visit their site at http://wayneslegion.org/history/

Have A Great Battle!
The Old Crow

D-Day WWII Reenactment, food for Bolt Action?

A recent trip and visit to a D-Day Reenactment stoked the fire for some possible WWII Bolt Action inspiration! The weekend was a great annual event held in Conneaut Ohio, USA. There were over 900 reenactors, plus vehicles, encampments and aircraft.

Visiting the Allied, Axis and French Resistance camps was a real experience. The living history surrounded you wherever you turned.

If you'd like to see more, we've posted almost 200 additional images on our Flickr page

Here in the USA the allied camp was the largest. There were plenty of weapons and ordinance to be viewed.

There were British contingents...

as well as Polish,

and Canadian.

Even the French Resistance had a camp on the hill above the beaches.

The German camp was smaller but did not lack a wonderful display of equipment and vehicles.

The tents were done to a great display of accuracy and detail.

Weapons and personal gear were also plentiful.

The vehicles were a nice addition. Motorcycles, armoured cars, transports, and armor were all present.

Another sweet bonus was a B-25 and 4 P-51 Mustangs.

When the D-Day landing started the B-25 "Georgie's Girl" did several bombing runs The Mustangs also made several passes.

The flyovers continued as the landing craft and soldiers hit the beaches.

The advance was inexorable and the raucous caused by the shear volume of firearms caused many to cover their ears or retreat to a safer distance. Here a P-51 gives air support.

The advance picked up steam as allied armor also hit the beaches. A Sherman, halftrack and armoured transports all took part.

Now as we get the feeling of what a beach landing was like in Normandy, we can get into recreating it in a 28mm scale game of Bolt Action with their "Assault on Normandy" starter set.

For 92.00 USD you get the full-colour 216-page hardback Bolt Action rulebook, 40 multi-pose, hard plastic 28mm miniatures:

20 US Army infantry

20 German Heer infantry

1 hard plastic Ruined Farmhouseand 8 Bolt Action Orders Dice. A very nice set for the price and can be easily built upon with Warlord Games ever expanding selection of troops and vehicles.

Check their website Bolt Action section for the Assault on Normandy set and other deals!

Have a Great Battle!
The Old Crow