It tends to get boring and dull during the summer. Not many battles take place in the summer cause its too hot for wool. so they seem to run out of stuff to talk about I mean how can you write a cool after action report when there hasnt been any action? In my head visions of mauser muzzles peeking out of bunkers and stealthy soldaten doing the old cover and movement thing on the Ivans etc. :bang: :smok:
The Civil War is reenacted in the summer, mostly because that's when most of the battles were fought. But for the reasons you stated, a lot of us only do events in the spring and fall. I did a small battle one June in Pelham, NC; the temperature was up in the 90s. Our commanders, God bless them, allowed us to fight in our shirtsleeves. When we weren't fighting, we stayed in the shade as much as possible. There are always some heat casualties at summer events.
Wow, you should come to Europe... Over here, summer would be about the only time when the weather would allow reasonably comfortable reenactment! 90 Degrees F is about 30 C right? Well, it hasn't been that hot here since last August.
That is interesting - what kind of casualties would have been caused by heat in the actual Civil War? I know that British troops stationed in India suffered problems - one unit (I think of cavalry) had polished brass helmets. Every man in the unit died from the heat. It must have cooked their brains!
post subject No Ricky, they did not die! they all went to Sandhurst and became high ranking commissioned officers!!
Yep, the Lifeguards, I think. Have you ever left a nice shiny piece of metal out in the sun for a while, then tried to pick it up?
True but the metal is not directly on the head. But there again most old British uniform is impractical for hot weather. Wool is not good in heat. Can't say for early 21 century but my Mess Dress (drinking suit) is hot.
Oh, yeah! Take it from me, wool is definitely not good in heat. This is the voice of experience talking. Reenacting the Civil War gives one a lot of respect for one's ancestors for actually being able to function in the heat in wool for extended periods of time. Someone earlier asked about heat casualties during the CW; I don't have any numbers, but there were such casualties in every summer battle, on both sides.
During the recent remembrance ceremony of the Hitler assassination attempt in Germany, several soldiers collapsed from the heat because they had to stand there for hours while the politicians present (one of which was the Dutch PM) made their speeches. So I guess modern uniforms aren't that much better...
It's not the uniforms, it's the positions that military personnel have to stand in during such ceremonies that does it. "Attention" and "parade rest" are NOT comfortable, nor were they ever intended for use over long periods of time. And yet, time after time soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have to do just that. I had to do it when I graduated from boot camp, and I nearly fainted myself. I reckon the brass and politicians figure that if they let the enlisted people stand in a comfortable position, they might not listen to the speeches. :roll:
They told us to flex our knees, that this would help keep the blood flowing and prevent us from fainting. However, standing with one's knees flexed is also quite uncomfortable.
