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World War II Re-enactment - Page 2

© Jonathan Thrasher

One of the most often asked questions about World War 2 reenacting, and similar reenacting types is ˜How do you decide who dies?". In public events, it is decided before hand the casualties that will be suffered at different points. Who takes those casualties is up to the reenactors.

Sometimes it is obvious that someone has gotten killed (hidden machine gun suddenly opening fire on someone not under cover), but sometimes it's just a matter of someone deciding he's tired so he'll fall down dead.

At private events, it's a different story. At these events, there are often observers that keep score so as to prevent cheating (such as someone not playing dead when they just had a grenade go off in their foxhole). One way that is used, that I use to some extent myself, is to watch the flash from the opposing sides weapons. If the flash is perfectly round, the shot was probably aimed at me. To account for a possible miss, I may let one or two of those go by, but pretty soon I'll go down.

One interesting feature about private events is that when someone dies, they aren't really dead. They make their way back to a rear area, where they wait for a set amount of time, and then return in groups. This is to simulate reinforcements coming in and allows the reenactments to go on longer.

The most important thing I can think of to tell about in this article is why we participate in World War 2 reenacting. All World War 2 reenactors are at least amateur historians, while many are professional historians (i.e. Professors,writers, etc.). Some people learn and know more than others, but all have at least some small desire to learn more about the history of World War 2, or at least the history behind their impression.

As I've already mentioned, reenacting is another avenue to learn more about the era. As part of this, there is a moment during a reenactment that reenactors look for. In this moment, often occurring in the middle of an immense battle, with comrades falling left and right, with tanks grinding, and artillery firing, for a split second the reenactor momentarily forgets the real world and thinks that the battle is real, and that he or she could die. While these reasons may almost seem selfish, there is another,larger one that is anything but selfish.

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