Hill 107: The Yanks are coming.The Yanks are here.

Sun 5th June

A day late and a dollar short.

Finding that I had misread my shift and wasn't starting until evening I decided to do my care in the community good deed and head to the WW2 reenactment at East Fortune Air museum to help out Colin Jack and Bill Gilchrist with the SESWC display even although Bill was the only club member there and that included the visitors.

Young ATC learning to fly real planes.

Oor table.

The teddy bear table cover was brought out for the third time and this time it was for an early First World War engagement in the Mulhouse area of Alsace Lorraine which is now in France but in 1914 was still part of Germany.

With the three of us in attendance it meant that we could take turns in perusing the exhibits whilst two of us could watch for sticky childlike fingers man handling the figures.
Our friends from the Falkirk Wargames club were in attendance as always and it was nice to see a total of nine of their club members on parade.They had two participation games on the go.A WW1 aerial game and a WW2 Hunt the tiger game.Both were well enjoyed by members of the public.

Falkirk's other game

The weather outside went from overcast to a sunny day and helped to bring a good crowd to the venue.

The steadfast Boche.

Exhibits outside ranged from American,British and German soldiers,equipment and vehicles supplemented by WW 1 cavalry.Inside there was dance instruction and even the chance to get a forties hairstyle courtesy of couple of hairdressers suitably attired(apart from the leg tattoos-couldn't imagine my mother having one of them).

Our own display was situated in the Concorde hangar actually under the bird herself.

Our game began with the Boche dug in waiting on the French onslaught which wasn't long in coming.Waves of infantry supported by machine guns and artillery headed for the river crossings attired in their blue coats and red pantaloons.Easy targets for my marksmen.

Come and get us!

We played more turns than we usually do in an exhibition do to some unusual dice rolls giving as more time to look at the exhibits outside.

A tide of easy targets.

The day went by quickly with lots of families coming round our hangar before heading out into the sunshine to see the action displays.In the morning we had the unusual sight of WW1 British cavalry skewering some water melons-the dastardly cads!The morning was rounded off with arrival of a nice picnic lunch provided by the organisers.

Sten guns and tins of Pork and Beans-unusual combination.

Not the usual signs for an RAF base.

German kit

Wee bit more German kit

Three quarter tonner

Ready for American aircraft.

And get rid of the beard soldier.

WW2 Primark.

We continued our game into the afternoon with the arrival of some French cavalry onto the game table which proceeded to rout the Germans on my right flank but that just brought them into the range of my artillery and also into the range of some German infantry I had repositioned to cope with this threat which they did in true Teutonic manner stopping the threat in its tracks(or was it hoofs).

Mittagessen time.

The French cavalry ride into the jaws of death.

French corned beef on the hoof.

This ended the game meaning I could go out and watch the afternoon's entertainment of a WW2 re-enactment with German paras being attacked by Americans and a solitary British para.

Solitary para

The gist of it was that two Gi's and the para would encounter the Germans,a firefight would ensue and the reinforcing Americans would arrive in their jeep and truck and put the Germans to flight-something that wouldn't happen in real life.