Worcester Re-enactors

The Second Annual Armored Picnic was rather wetter than we would have liked. In fact it pretty much rained all weekend. But were we downhearted? Well, a little. But adverse conditions will always bring out the best in a good re-enactor, and good re-enactors were thick on the ground, with a very healthy amount of WWII Americans in the form of 2nd Armored Division, complete with several jeeps, a halftrack and greyhound scout car. The Americans used the weekend to practice embarking and disembarking from the halftrack, which tore merrily around the field later on with a very excited Napoleonic Drummer Boy manning the 50 cal machine gun and his equally excited father (myself) trying to keep his lunch down in the seat behind him.

This year also saw the very welcome appearance of some English WWII chaps: The Warwickshires and the Norfolks, representing their D-Day appearance. There was also an impressive showing from first time guests 916 Grenadierkompanie who showed us that the Germans were issued with the best waterproof coats that ever graced a battlefield, not to forget their impressive array of rifles, machine guns and sub-machineguns.
The English Civil War presence was good again, with members of Ffoxes Coy King's Guard and Birches representing Parliament.
The American Civil War contingent was larger this year, with an impressive camp and a particularly large camp fire which became the venue for some late night banter and several misguided attempts at sleeping outside.

It has to be said that the Napoleonic Wars were not represented quite as fully as they might have been, with the notable exceptions of the ever-faithful Major Parker and Brig. Gen. Ellis-Jones. Me and Oliver were the only representatives of Wellington's scum-of-the-earth, but some brave (foolish?) Frenchmen were able to put together a reasonable squad.
The highlight for many was the "Twang to Bang" display of shooting through the ages, which gave each period present the opportunity to display the virtues of their various guns, from the matchlock musket to the sniper rifle.
One thing every child who visited will remember will surely be Sailor Sam and his drunken shipmate, who regaled every visitor with their tales of derring-do on the high seas, and their adventures with the okty-puss, a fearsome sea creature.
All in all, a good, if wet, weekend. There was a splendid meal and drink out of the rain at the Nightingale, a good drink with friends back at the period camp and the sun even made a late show on Sunday evening, drying out the canvas of those brave enough to stay the distance.
Thankyou to all those who attended and we will make every effort to book some sunshine for next year's event.