WWI Guards Division Forum

Alright boys, as an Englishman I've got to ask why?
Don't get me wrong, I think it very admirable that you take an interest in this subject. As I mentioned to James Higginbottom, I am impressed in your interest in the subject, but what draws you to the guards? Why not the American input into the Great War. It was a touch late but influential never the less. I find the subject fascinating but your interest even more so.
Very best regards to you for your endeavours.
Sincerely
James Harris

Well for me personally, I like the guards for their reputation, tradition and history. Even going into WWI, the guards had a history that spawned several hundred years and continues to this day. They are also so iconic, when not fighting for the country everyone knows them as the guys gaurding Buckingham Palace with the bearskin caps. I enjoy this unit as well because it gives me the the opportunity to be both a musican and bomber, two areas which I am very interested in. The guards also are so wonderfully attentive to detail, in the war they were very determined to be spit and polished in and out of the trenches at all times. I think that I personally share or would like to eventually share some of these traits that they display so well. Not to say that other units didnt also have some of these characteristics, but this is why I have found a very happy home reenacting a Grenadier Guard!

I am totally with Roe on that one.

As for why we don't do American...

You hit one of the nails on the head. The Americans really didn't become involved in the war until very late.

In addition, several of us also reenact American GI for WWII (see www.5thrangersecoy.com) so British WWI allows us to expand our knowledge base.

Following up on what Roe said, the Guards also have the reputation for tradition, customs, and recognition of their own history, that is sometimes lacking in the US military.

That's my two cents....

Jim

Lads that is worth far more than 'two cents'! I whole heartedly agree with your opinions and observations.
To use some of your language, you really are cool.
All the very best to you all.
Sincerely
James Harris

Mr Harris,

To follow up to your question on "why I chose to re-enact the Guards in the Great War?", my answer is two fold with an unexpected result:

1) My grandfather Martin Walsh and his brother Tom Walsh were both Guardsmen in the Great War. I never knew them. They both survived the Great War. Walsh luck as my dad likes to call it. Tom died in the Irish War for Independance in an unknown grave in Ireland... we think. Martin died in 1934 when my father was five. The idea of re-enacting came about as a way to understand what they experienced in the trenches and as soldiers of the Irish Guards Regiment.. BOB'S OWN. Thru doing this you can somewhat reconnect with them in a shared expeience. The only real difference being at the end of the day, we go and have a drink with Jerry
(after dying an average of 8 times), where as their day in the trench their day never really ended until the next relief group came up and took your position.

2) the second reason is that up in Newville doing Great War Re-enacting anything can happen and usually does. We do not re-enact any specific battle. It's usually "a free for all." Conversely, if you were doing Rev War or Civil War, when you go to a battlefield, you folllow the footsteps taken of your particular regiment.
For example, you spread out along a ridge, charge 100 yards turn right and all fall down dead. That is it for the day. You are done. Plus, I don't have any known relatives in these engagements, so there was no interest.

An interesting result of re-enacting a relative is that every once in a while you feel as if you are taken over by the spirit of the person that you are portraying. This happens especially at night.(Newvile, where we re-enact, is a certified haunted place to begin with.) LOL

Anyway, these are my reasons for re-enacting the Guards. It has helped to bridge a "lost generation" gap and I feel as though I know them somewhat better as a result.

Steve Walsh (AKA Corporal Walsh)

A couple of reasons...

1) As to the Great War, I've reenacted American Civil War since the mid-1980s and it HAS gone progressively downhill in my opinion. It is more and more living up to it's nickname of "Silly War". I find that the people who study the Great War and who show up at Newville are usually of a better caliber of reenactor all the way around (always with exceptions) and tend to be more serious about "doing it right"

2) I think AEF has plenty of people who want to portray Pershing's doughboys, so I wanted something a little different that I had to learn -- British weapons, drill, etc.

3) I've always been a fan of the regular army that forms the backbone cadre of any nation's defense. I've portrayed US Regular Army for the Civil War and I guess that's what attracted me to the Guards Division (originally the Irish Guards when I got involved). They are the "core" when all else fails. No disrespect to the other BEF units, but when you want it done, you call the Guards.

4) I can trace my ancestry back to Ireland and thence to Scotland as far back as the mid-1300s. So I have some connections in that regard. A truly Scots-Irish family.