Last weekend, I had the privilege of participating in a WWII tactical re-enactment with my WWII re-enacting group and other groups from the tri-state area. The event was called Sons of Valor III and was supposed to take place in the European Theatre late in the war, around 1945. I signed up to participate with the knowledge that in WWII women were not at the front. Nurses were close, but not too close, and women war correspondents were extremely limited as to where they could go as well. But I wanted to participate and support the guys from my group so I signed up and presented myself. My intention had been to portray a war correspondent, but one of the leaders of our group suggested I do a nurse impression because he had the gear for it. He also said he thought I would be able to get closer to the front at an aid station. Therefore, I agreed to the switch. On Saturday morning, the same leader advised me that our group was going to relieve the engineers who had been out all night at 7:00 AM. I could not join them, and he wasn't sure of the aid station so he suggested I make my way to the Command Post (CP) at 8:00 AM and let them know I was a nurse. So I did. Only problem? There was no aid station and since the fighting had already started, the commanders were very busy. They noticed I was there, but I did not have an opportunity to interrupt and ask what I should be doing. I watched them brief groups of troops and then abruptly jump in a jeep and drive away. I sat with a clerk and a some other CP support troops for a while. I had just about made up my mind to walk back to camp when an MP showed up and told us all to hurry up and move. The CP had to be moved to a new location immediately. As they loaded up, he looked at me and said, "Are you riding with us or him (the clerk)?" Stumped, but not wanting to hold anyone up, I just said, "Him," and jumped into the jeep (no small feet for my bulk).
We drove into the woods on a dirt path and ended up close to the fighting. I could hear the guns and watched as more troops came through the new CP location. For a couple of hours, I stood around watching and recording the commanders and troops at the CP. No one said anything to me, and I was really aware that I was probably somewhere I should not have been so I didn't want to draw attention to myself and get sent back. This was so much closer to the action than I had expected that I wanted to enjoy it as long as possible.
After a few hours of this, all the troops had been deployed and all the commanders except for one had moved forward. The head guy (hey, still learning my ranks and whatnot) came to the three of us left - me, the clerk, and the other jeep driver. He let us know he was moving forward and noted that since we did not have weapons, we should wait in this position until he sent a runner to move us forward. We did as we were told and eventually were told to load the jeeps and move to another position. There, we did more standing around and waiting. I have to admit, the most exciting part of my morning so far had been riding in the jeep which was a welcome relief for my tired legs, aching from standing around in ill-fitting WWII combat boots for so long. I felt bad because I knew my guys were out hoofin' it across the combat zone, but they are all in MUCH better shape than me. My legs were already so weak I was staggering.
At the new position, we all ate our rations (granola bars for me) and waited for something to happen. Troops wandered randomly to our position to get water from the water jug. Then they wandered back to their fighting positions. Honestly, at this point, I was beginning to wish I had waited back at camp after all. Standing around waiting in the rear makes for a long day. But I stuck it out. At one point, at this position, I looked around, and my ride was gone. I felt a little panicked. I didn't even know where I was to get back. But a group of soldiers remained at this position so I hoped someone would come back or I would just link up with them. Just when I had about made that decision, the jeep driver showed up and told me to come with him.
We ended up back at the 2nd position again, but not for long. My group and the Brits were there so I finally got some video and pics of my guys. Yay! Then we were off again. This time, we made our way to where a wooden bridge had been constructed over a ditch. We rode the vehicles over and started to drive through combat zones. We were being fired on the entire time. At one point, our convoy stopped in the open, and we all had to jump out and take cover. My weak legs gave out at this point, and I fell into the bushes I had been squatting next to. The video posted below is from that point. The jeep driver loaded back up and left me in the bushes (an oversight, I am choosing to believe). I looked down the road and the Allied commander was waving for me to catch up. I ran down the road and loaded back into the jeep. We traversed some of the worst, washed out dirt roads I have ever seen, and those jeeps just plowed right through. Remember, these are vintage, restored WWII period jeeps, not repros. They were very impressive. At one point we stopped, and a lone German pulled his empty pistol and shouted for us to surrender in German. Of course, our troops just unloaded blanks on him. But we revived him and made him a POW, adding him to our caravan. He laughed and admitted he had been separated from his unit and wanted a ride. The troops took off into the woods to find his unit and left us (jeep drivers, MP, and nurse) back on the road. About twenty minutes later, a group of Germans sneaked up on us and shot those of us left including our German POW. He laughed and said he had been just fine until he hooked up with us, and now he had been killed twice. The Germans left with the POW, and we continued to wait for word.
That's when we heard the half track coming up behind us. We gathered our grenades and took cover in the woods to surprise them. But it never showed up. Finally, our MP rode forward on his motorcycle to see what was happening. He returned to advise the war was over and everyone was heading back to camp. We headed back as well. Once there, the skies opened up. My unit had not brought a regular tent, we only had our individual pup tents so we all packed up and went home. I was disappointed to miss out on the barbecue dinner and AAR, but the rain was cold and miserable. Still, I had the time of my life and was quite aware that I had been a part of something very rare to get so close to the fight that I was shot by Germans. I felt very honored and exhilarated! I went home on a wet, cold, sore cloud. At home, I told my roommate about some of my experiences, ate supper, then I went to bed and did not get up until the next day. All's well that ends well!
