The questions re-enactors always have to answer to the masses are varied and always very intuitive, on the most part. The seasoned amongst us will always, have many a tale to tell, around the camp fire or NAAFI wagon, about just what line of interrogation they endured whilst on the display stand. For the most part, these questions are in-part, of why we do it. The sheer amount of time we spend in perfecting our own portrayals is astonishing, lets not forget the amount of money involved !
Years pass and the community evolves, displays grow bigger, the portrayals intensify and the media seems to take the remembrance of the era to a new level, wherever you tune in, radio, television, internet, you will notice that there is a very strong theme running through our media moguls veins.
2010 saw essentially no less than ten celebrities (and these are only the ones I am aware of) taking part in this media hype, I must say the RAF got a fantastic mention, and it appears that unless we had the ‘Spitfire’ and a faithful Labrador at our side, then we should all be speaking German, be 6ft in height and have blue eyes. This clearly isn’t the case so just how important is re-enacting, versus the mass media?
Well there are more events than ever across the world to choose from, based on a wide variety of themes, there are even more private battles and training days too, plus let’s not forget that that WWII didn’t just engulf the common soldier, but also pretty much everybody that didn’t fight too, the fashion scene has exploded, just think of all those ‘White Man Van’ advertisements ten years ago, completing house clearances, just think if they had stockpiled the huge amount of Home front items that were scheduled for the rubbish tip?Add to this the various special services, the elite units that always attract Film directors in their hordes, that sometimes just over glorify the sacrifices that were made, special effects have again further compounded the image of war, the imagination now for most of us who are too young, has almost been eradicated, as we can now witness some of the most harrowing images that have ever existed. After all War is no picnic, it’s a race for survival.
So what of 2011? What will you portray this year? Will you be rushing to buy, at one of the popular militaria fairs a brand new set up of a British Commando fatigues, or will you beat a path to your local Oxfam store and take a more humble approach? Chances are if you have been in this hobby a while, you will have a number of uniforms at your disposal, you may even have a various array of vehicles lined up undercover.What is the best portrayal to take? And why should you take this path? Where do you get information on your uniforms? What makes you re-enact? What is your motivation to swap 48 hours at the weekend and delve into the past?
These are perhaps questions you can only answer, as for me? Well apart from reading a fanatic amount of books on WW2, I have chosen a new portrayal, to honour my Grandfather, he fought in the BEF. His combat experience lasted around 15 minutes, his internment within the Nazi war machine has lasted his entire lifetime, and if I can just put his story in the hands of just one member of the public and show what that what he did, which was to serve his country and fight for freedom, then I can have the satisfaction that I have now portrayed another role, that continues this hobby in the right direction, something that our educational establishments have a hard time to achieve, to inspire. As without inspiration, the history books will be just that. I’ll be looking forward to snapping my braces into place this year and seeing one or two of you at an event this year.
Words Stuart Humphrey 3rd January 2010
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