King & Country
Captain
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
- Messages
- 5,015
Hi Guys,
I was tidying up part of my office the other day when I came upon a whole bunch of photos from way back in 1992.
I thought I had lost these so it was a pleasant surprise to come upon them and remember an amazing weekend in France almost thirty years ago.
At the time I was visiting France at the invitation of a good friend, M. Fred Finel, who owns the militaria shop in Paris called ‘OVERLORD’.
Back then Fred himself was a keen ‘Living History Reenactor’ who was part of a group that represented the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regt., who took part in the D.Day Invasion of 1944 on the beaches of Normandy.
Fred and his group, about platoon strength, were going north of Paris to a military festival in an actual French Army base at Mourmelon in northern France.
He invited me to go along with them. I decided to ‘kit’ myself out as a Royal Marine Commando circa 1945 and stationed on board one of the Royal Navy Cruisers that helped liberate Hong Kong in August of that same year.
Most of the uniform I found in surplus stores in Hong Kong.... the green beret is my own from my service in the Corps 1972 – 1977.
The webbing and fighting order I scrounged from the Quartermaster’s Store of The Royal Hong Kong Regiment and my pistol was a non-firing replica of a 9mm Browning Automatic... I also had a replica Thompson but thought that might be a wee bit difficult to get through French Customs (remember this was pre 2001).
Fred, myself and a couple of his platoon boarded his ex-French Army Hotchkiss Jeep and left Paris in the wee small hours of Saturday morning to drive up to Mourmelon.
Several hours later we arrived at the Military Festival Showground inside the French Army camp.
Honestly, it was like stepping back in time to June and July 1944... There were Jeeps, halftracks, ‘deuce and a halfs’, armoured cars and much more besides running around all over the place.
Then just as we met up with the rest of Fred’s unit I heard the sound of bagpipes! Around the corner came a little Bren Gun Carrier followed by a pair of pipers in British battledress leading about 20 more British Infantry advancing slowly with Lee Enfields, Sten and Bren Guns at the ready.
Being a proud Scot I immediately approached the group and could see from their shoulder patches they were from The Royal Scots Fusiliers.
“Hi Guys, where in Scotland are you from...?”
A torrent of answers came back... all of them in French! It seems they were another Reenactment group who had chosen to represent a proud Scottish Regiment of the British Army of WW2.
This was just a little taste of a fantastic, fun weekend... There were groups from all over France and the rest of Europe. Their attention to detail, right down to 1940’s haircuts, uniforms, weapons and equipment was amazing.
I met German U.S. Marines in the Pacific, Italian Red Army soldiers and hundreds if not thousands of French U.S. paratroopers and D.Day GI’s.
Alas I never had the opportunity to go back and attend Mourmelon again but the memories and the photos remain... Here’s a small selection... Enjoy!
Andy
Sgt. Fred Finel in the centre and a few of his French Yorkshiremen
Yours truly, Mne. Neilson helping to liberate France
Bren Gun Carrier, bagpipes and les Royal Scots Fusiliers
I think these guys were representing the U.S. 2nd. Infantry Div.
I decided to join the French Resistance!
I was tidying up part of my office the other day when I came upon a whole bunch of photos from way back in 1992.
I thought I had lost these so it was a pleasant surprise to come upon them and remember an amazing weekend in France almost thirty years ago.
At the time I was visiting France at the invitation of a good friend, M. Fred Finel, who owns the militaria shop in Paris called ‘OVERLORD’.
Back then Fred himself was a keen ‘Living History Reenactor’ who was part of a group that represented the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regt., who took part in the D.Day Invasion of 1944 on the beaches of Normandy.
Fred and his group, about platoon strength, were going north of Paris to a military festival in an actual French Army base at Mourmelon in northern France.
He invited me to go along with them. I decided to ‘kit’ myself out as a Royal Marine Commando circa 1945 and stationed on board one of the Royal Navy Cruisers that helped liberate Hong Kong in August of that same year.
Most of the uniform I found in surplus stores in Hong Kong.... the green beret is my own from my service in the Corps 1972 – 1977.
The webbing and fighting order I scrounged from the Quartermaster’s Store of The Royal Hong Kong Regiment and my pistol was a non-firing replica of a 9mm Browning Automatic... I also had a replica Thompson but thought that might be a wee bit difficult to get through French Customs (remember this was pre 2001).
Fred, myself and a couple of his platoon boarded his ex-French Army Hotchkiss Jeep and left Paris in the wee small hours of Saturday morning to drive up to Mourmelon.
Several hours later we arrived at the Military Festival Showground inside the French Army camp.
Honestly, it was like stepping back in time to June and July 1944... There were Jeeps, halftracks, ‘deuce and a halfs’, armoured cars and much more besides running around all over the place.
Then just as we met up with the rest of Fred’s unit I heard the sound of bagpipes! Around the corner came a little Bren Gun Carrier followed by a pair of pipers in British battledress leading about 20 more British Infantry advancing slowly with Lee Enfields, Sten and Bren Guns at the ready.
Being a proud Scot I immediately approached the group and could see from their shoulder patches they were from The Royal Scots Fusiliers.
“Hi Guys, where in Scotland are you from...?”
A torrent of answers came back... all of them in French! It seems they were another Reenactment group who had chosen to represent a proud Scottish Regiment of the British Army of WW2.
This was just a little taste of a fantastic, fun weekend... There were groups from all over France and the rest of Europe. Their attention to detail, right down to 1940’s haircuts, uniforms, weapons and equipment was amazing.
I met German U.S. Marines in the Pacific, Italian Red Army soldiers and hundreds if not thousands of French U.S. paratroopers and D.Day GI’s.
Alas I never had the opportunity to go back and attend Mourmelon again but the memories and the photos remain... Here’s a small selection... Enjoy!
Andy
Sgt. Fred Finel in the centre and a few of his French Yorkshiremen
Yours truly, Mne. Neilson helping to liberate France
Bren Gun Carrier, bagpipes and les Royal Scots Fusiliers
I think these guys were representing the U.S. 2nd. Infantry Div.
I decided to join the French Resistance!
