WWI Guards Division Forum

Alright lads,

I thought it might be good to start a thread on the Do's and dont's of world war one reenacting for the new guys. I know from experience there are loads of simple things you can do or not do to make your whole experience alot more pleasant.

1. Tommy Cookers...
While these little field stoves are very nice to have, one must be careful
not to burn anything down. The fuel inside these is like napalm and if
you spill them little scraps of inextinguishable flame will scatter everywhere and burn things. (lol Just ask Jim) To put them out do not
try and take them apart, as both parts will be very very hot. Simply put
the lid back on to suffocate the flame or fill it with water.

2. Dry Shirts....
Dry shirts are essential to keeping warm in the coldest of weather. After a long day of reenacting change your shirt before you go to bed. Trust me on this one, it works like a charm and you will be quite warm. If you do not have a dry shirt the don't wear a shirt at all while you sleep. Having no shirt on is much better for keeping you warm that having a sweat dampened shirt on. Again just trust me or simply try it once and you will notice the difference. Socks also play a big part in keeping warm change them before you go to bed and change back into your old ones in the morning.

3. Getting damp clothes dry in damp/cold weather
Ok guys I know its a bitch to slip out of a nice warm shirt into another shirt in the morning that is cold. It just sucks. To solve this problem before you go to sleep take your damp shirt and slip it in between your ground cloth and you or in between your ground cloth and the blanket you are sleeping on. By doing this your body heat will help to dry the shirt and make it warm to put on in the morning.

4. Keeping warm Contd.
ALWAYS wear something on your head. be it a hat of any kind or a extra blanket or anything. Keeping your head covered will prevent loss of heat through your exposed head. Remember you lose most of your heat through your head.

5. Grenades
Ok so grenades suck to get killed by lol I personally hate it. To avoid having a grenade explode near you simply step on it and smash it it will almost def. put the fuse out. If you can try to throw it back or at least out of the hole you are in. Also when throwing grenades if the fuse looks to be more than an inch protruding from the egg hold it for 2 seconds before throwing if the throw is shorter than 30 ft. If you do not the Germans will throw it back and you will be dead. The British army did it during the war when they began to use jam tin bombs for the same reason. I have documented proof of this if you would like to dispute it.....


Well thats all I can think of for now im sure others will be along shortly to give more advice....

Cheers
Bomber Macgregor

Thanks for bringing up the Great Newville Fire of Ought-Seven.

Other than that...Great post!

Jim

I personally like the German Esbit stove, much safer to use and they heat up water or whatever super quick, they are small and easy to light. Other than that, good post and great advice.

I definitely agree with the advice on a dry greyback. My first event I went all day and night in the same shirt and nearly froze by the time cease fire was called. I always carry AT LEAST two now.

As far as stepping on a grenade fuse, I try and avoid that as IMHO that wouldn't happen in real life. For example, if we throw a Mills Bomb at the Hun, he couldn't step on the fuse as it is internal. Same goes for an Egg grenade. To me it adds to the fun (and confusion) to have to get away from the darned thing (jump out of the hole you are in or run like mad).

I'm not going to mention any names but at one event there were about 30 of us BEF getting ready for the evening raid and it was just before sundown. We were ALL crouched in the same large shell hole in no-man's land (it's attached to the AEF sector...or was...by a sap). We were counting down to jump off and the Huns got wise to what was up and started launching grenades towards the hole. Two were direct hits and landed amongst us. The officer present said,"Just step on them..." and someone did. That was kind of disappointing. I don't like being killed off necessarily, but we WERE dead to rights on that one. To say,"Just step on them..." was a bit of a cheat in my book. It killed the whole mood (not just the raiding party).

I would have to agree with you on that one John. I would much rather have an attack fail and have that great historical experience than lose that experience just to "win".

Jim