I went to this event today, in Georgia. WWII Heritage Days | Presented by the Commemorative Air Force Dixie Wing It was a good event and we enjoyed it. There were a large number of aircraft and maybe 75 or so reenactors, representing several divisions of the US Army and Marines, several German Heer and Waffen SS formation, Japanese, and a single Russian. There were a large number of exhibitors, including collecting personal accounts of soldiers that I will be getting in touch with them to send my 40+ hours of recordings of Mr. Sanford. All in all it was a nice event that I will probably go back to visit next year. I have included some photos here: They had a ball turret set up on a frame and would allow visitors to get inside it and I did so. To say it was confining would be an understatement of Anglican proportions. I am nearly 6 feet tall and I was folded up like a pretzel. When they closed the hatch, I was concerned briefly that if they could not get it open, I would be tearing up that ball getting out of it. Here I am contemplating my fate Crawling in Almost in There was also a nose turret from a B-24J. Good gracious, it was tight also and cannot imagine sitting in that thing for an extended length of time More photos are here: http://www.ww2f.com/media/albums/wwii-heritage-days-2018.536/ 8.5/10 will do again.
The aircraft were beautiful, especially the B-17. It was fairly well maintain inside. Some I have seen were not. There was a Goodyear Corsair and an exquisite P-51D. Also on display were several trainers and a civilian DC-3. There were several "camps". A Marine, representing 2/8th greeted us at the gate. Out in the field were several other camps representing Germans, Japanese, and a large US Army contingent. Germans were a mixed group of SS and Heer. The US contingent was mostly armored and airborne, but there were some regular grunts, too. I found a second group of 30th ID there (the other was back at the hangar) and we had a good conversation and knew several of the same men from the 30th ID veterans groups. There was a display of a Waco glider, cut-down for easy transport to events like this. My friend knew the owner and we talked to him for a while. The glider lacked wings and the rear fuselage and the owner had replaced one side of the siding with clear plastic to make it easier to see inside. He was a parachutist himself and his father had landed with the 325th GIR in Normandy and The Netherlands and he had served with the 325th later, when it had transitioned to parachute status. The hangar had a good collection exhibits, including a large "homefront" display. I talked to some more 30th ID guys there, as well as men from BB60. @A-58 Bobby, I'll need to talk to you about a trip there on specific dates so we can be involved with activities not generally open to the public. This is where I ran into the Russian. I did not recognize his uniform; the insignia was not what I was accustomed to seeing. I spoke to him and he explained himself. He was an actual Russian, living here in the States with his Russian wife. His uniform looked good. The other reenactors knew him well and it was good to see him there. I gave the event 8.5/10 because of an "reenactment" they did at the end of the event. Otherwise, it would have been a 9/10 I realize the boys were working with what they were provided (and using their own money) and they were not actors, but it was just weak. Scale was greatly compressed and they lacked supporting weapons, which is understandable given the cost, availability, etc. Reminded me somewhat of a Hollywood old west shootout at the OK corral. I think they would have been effective giving a demonstration of squad-level tactics with a commentary on what they were doing and why. If the reenactors are knowledgeable about their craft, then a basic understanding of squad (or even platoon) tactics is a must. This event is in its 15th year and the organizers said this was the largest turnout to date. I hope it continues to do well.
Not sure how I missed being aware of this event. I've been to several airshows at Falcon Field. The made you get into the ball turret the hard way. In normal operation, the hatch was rotated to the top and the gunner stepped down into the turret from inside the waist area. The nose turret may have been tight, but it had the best view in the ship.
I posted more photos in gallery if you are interested. They fired that 37mm gun several times. Quite loud. Also in the group, is the cut-down Waco glider I mentioned above.