Don't Mention the War POLL.

Do continue to discuss 40s events on the 'Don't Mention the War' thread, but I felt a quick straw poll would be interesting to gauge opinion.

 

I voted for 'anything goes', but on balance would perhaps go for a designated area, if one side of the railway is representative of occupied Europe etc.

 

i would have thought heritage railway followers would have a keen respect for history. My Father and many like him fought to keep the Nazis out of the UK, I dont see why history should be corrupted by showing those same troops in a British context.

Now have a vote whether or not those troops should be shown herding Jewish people on to trains with destination boards of Dachau etc...

For shame any Railway that allows such phoney "re-enactments".

 

My father fought in WW2 too and he was fighting for freedom. Surely that freedom includes people donning uniform and "re-enacting" the past even if they don't "stick to the script." Freedom is more than what you approve of as an individual.

 

Freedoms more an ideology than a reality

 

And it will remain more of an ideology if people go around saying "you can't do this, you can't do that" just because they don't agree with it.

 

Maybe a new theme for a diesel weekend could be a miners strike event ?, more historically accurate for the uk.

 

yes it will of course, but sadly the tide of change within society is not an easy one to change, I certainly don`t live in the same one I was born into in the 50s. The ELR are supported by local councils, tax payers of those councils live in the vicinity, a large jewish community who for a number of years had been giving the ELR some very bad publicity, as a business the ELR can not afford this type of publicity and to some extent I can understand the jewish communities concerns, the ELR took the only sensible route available to them under the circumstances. On a personal note I love to see the German re-enhanctors on preserved railways, but I feel its something we may see less and less of in the coming years. Of interest though here at the East Lancs, despite poor weather and the lack of German officers, our first days takings was very encouraging.

 

Why not continue to pile on the misery and have a 'Beeching' weekend?

 

freedom is bending History for the sake of a good time then? Lets not stop there then, lets include a few Roundheads and Kamikazi pilots, plus the odd Alien and, hey why not, lets have Mr T in a Tank....

 

That's what all heritage attractions are about, to be honest. Authenticity is impossible to attain.

 

I have fundamental problems with these events as they are staged at some lines. I do not like the "mock battles" that go on, involving gunfire. However, I accept that this is a personal opinion, and we are all entitled to one. However, what I cannot stand under any circumstances is spending ages training people re: safety on the line, only to watch re-enacters, etc, wandering around the line freely. I know that in 1944 Hi-Vis meant having a bald head on a mooonlit night, but to kids brought to these events, we are showing them that playing war on the tracks is fun. If re-enacters have to re-enact, can we at least have them remember that some people watching can't tell real from fake yet?

 

Now you're talking nonsense.

 

wow, you spotted that well....

 

For those who are offended by gun fire, possibly we could get the re-enhanctors to have those little flags pop out of the end of the guns that say BANG, would this help?

 

I think some of the remarks here and in the sister thread are a sad reflection on modern day opinions. It seems that rather than tolerate something which isn't illegal, some people simply want it banned. Express one's disapproval by all means but also acknowledge other people's rights to carry on doing things which are not against the law. Remember, if you get your way and get this of which you disapprove banned, you may find that one day something which you enjoy gets banned by someone else.

 

There are plenty of things you can stage to show what life was like in Wartime, particularly in our Cities. However remember the Germans never invaded the British Isles, so I would have thought that the mock battles would be both irrelevent and confusing to our youngsters if they have been taught aspects of our recent history. The re-enactors who do the English civil war battles and the like are generally re-enacting something that actually happened on British soil.

I also worry that "War weekends" might just give youngsters the impression that somehow it was "enjoyable". People in smart uniforms, lots of flags and bunting, music, food etc. Spare a thought for the reality of air raids, the thousands killed or injured or made homeless by the Blitz. Not "enjoyable" at all.

I am not saying that Heritage lines should stop doing War weekends, but --as the poster above (shredder1) mentions in respect of the East Lancs and their Jewish community--just consider that there is much you can do to depict life at that time without having people strutting around in German uniforms and fighting battles.

Out of interest, does anyone know how WW2 is "re-enacted" in Germany?

 

Erm................................................ no. My point is that at most events, there should be no need to stage battles or fights at all. Trains tended to stop when the fights broke out.

 

But the mock battle is a major draw for the paying public...it makes economic sense, even if it is not authentic. But neither are the overtly nostalgic 40s events as a whole. Neither are heritage railways, if we're honest. It's a case of where to draw the line, and if the line is drawn on the good side of the profit margin, so be it I think.

 

Hello,

I stand to be corrected, but to my knowledge it isn't re-enacted at all. There is plenty of medieval reenactment here in Germany with a number of markets and tournaments every weekend and I know there are some groups doing Roman and Celtic re-enactment. The latest period re-enacted I know of is early Prussian (Victorian for Brits), i.e. mid 19th century.

Regards

Christoph