”GI" Joe Razes and more than 1,000 other reenactors march into Pennsylvania’s Fort Indiantown Gap to re-create the winter of 1944-1945 fight in the Ardennes forest.
Photographs by Joe Razes • Captions by Brian John Murphy
Modern World War II reenactors give a glimpse of history in living color as they stage a re-creation of the Battle of the Bulge on the Ardennes-like terrain near Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. A German self-propelled gun with heavy infantry support leads the attack. In the foreground an American wields a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR). Tanks and other armor were the tip of the Nazi spearhead that broke through the American front line on December 16, 1944, in an attempt to drive to Antwerp, cutting the Allied armies in two. This self-propelled gun, which appeared in HBO’s Band of Brothers, is owned by a New Jersey reeneactor, who shipped it to Pennsylvania from England for this battle re-creation.
A German opens up on American troops (in this reenactment) with a Sturmgwebr 44, one of the world’s first assault rifles. The precision-made weapon was light, offered full automatic or semi-automatic fire with low recoil and good accuracy at close and middle ranges. It was in short supply in 1944 and was usually issued to the most proficient soldiers—who could do the most damage with it. After the war, captured StG-44s inspired a contest among Soviet arms makers that resulted in the development of the famous (or infamous) and ubiquitous AK-47.
As alert as any other soldier, the German shepherd Donner awaits the call of duty under the greatcoat of his master. The insignia on the epaulette of the coat indicates that Donner and his master belong to the division Liebstandarte Adolf Hitler ("Adolf Hitler Lifeguards") of the Waffen SS, the oldest military formation of the SS. The division did fight in the Battle of the Bulge.
A German sniper peeks out from his hide, getting ready to create mayhem among retreating American troops as the December 16 assault gains momentum. Snipers like this man and German special forces disguised as American troops spread considerable confusion and destruction behind the Allied lines, making it all the more difficult for US forces to rally in the face of the blitzkrieg.
Two medics, one a German POW and one American, help a wounded GI to an aid station to the rear of the American lines. The American medic is a paratrooper, as you can tell by the chin strap, the parachutist’s knife worn at his right boot, and his baggy cargo-style uniform pants. The wounded GI is probably also with the airborne, judging by his pants. Notice that the American medic wears his insignia on his helmet. The German’s red cross is displayed on a medical haversack.
A paratroop sergeant (judging from the baggy uniform trousers and flag patch) grips his M-1 as he prepares to resist the surging enemy. This soldier is taking a risk by handling his weapon in the below-freezing cold without at least his glove liners on. If the temperature dips he could be leaving pieces of skin on the metal parts or risking frostbite—all much <I>too<P> authentic for a reenactment.
Even as the lines crumbled in the face of the German attack, scattered groups of GIs offered resistance to the enemy juggernaut. Here a machine-gun team prepares to meet the enemy. One soldier has settled in behind a .30-caliber Browning Automatic Rifle while his partner uses a monocular to spot the oncoming enemy.
Not giving up without a fight, a dismounted tank crewman (note the tank goggles on his helmet) gets ready to ambush a squad of German infantry that are practically on top of his position. The closest enemy has a black collar tab with two silver lightning bolts—the mark of an SS infantryman. The GI is carrying a submachine gun. The Germans are armed with bolt-action G98 rifles, the standard Wehrmacht infantry weapon.
A medic lends a hand as an army major tries to figure out a map of the local terrain. The Ardennes forest, where the battle was fought, was a maze of improved highways, dirt roads, trails, and footpaths. And the fact that German Lieutenant Colonel Otto Skorzeny’s special forces troops were changing road signs and misdirecting traffic while disguised as American MPs didn’t help matters. Soon soldiers were asking anyone in a GI uniform that they didn’t personally know questions about baseball and movies that only real Americans could answer. It worked. The fake GIs were captured, convicted as spies, and executed by firing squads.
This operation is called “crossing an obstacle.” It is not being done by the book, and a wet disaster seems impending. It was a very cold January when this photo was taken, and the man spanning the little creek is understandably reluctant to submit his feet to icy water. In the real Battle of the Bulge, a soldier would be even more reluctant to dip his feet in the creek. Socks always seemed to be in short supply. Spending days in soggy frozen socks could mean crippling injury to one’s feet.
An American half-track has come to a halt, and its occupants are searching the landscape for signs of a German ambush. There is a .30-caliber Browning Automatic Rifle mounted where a .50-caliber ought to be. Still, the make-do nature of the weapon atop the half-track accurately represents the make-do nature of things in combat. Men improvised and made do with the materials at hand.
Here is what the world looked like for a half-track driver. The window would seem a lot bigger and a lot more vulnerable when the firing started. There were armored flaps, however, that could be let down to protect the driver. Overhead, the vehicle’s machine gun plus the rifles, BARs, and submachine guns carried by troops riding in the bed of the half-track could give the convoy a lot of defensive fire in case of an ambush.
A typical half-track carried a half-dozen soldiers comfortably plus crew. During this battle re-creation there is some doubt as to how comfortably the half-track hosted these men. It was bitterly cold (as it was for the actual battle) and the men seem to be suffering despite being bundled up in winter gear and GI blankets. Riding high up and catching the razor-cold wind could make anyone miserable. Notice that the soldier on the far right wears the partly visible shoulder patch of the US First Division, known as the Big Red One.
Deep in the piney woods of Fort Indiantown Gap, a patrol tensely stalks at the edge of the German advance. A little imagination allows us to see these men as replacements, green troops, flung into the line to try to stop the enemy. Notice the leggings, which look new and unused. The uniforms are equally clean and undamaged. The hallmark of a line soldier was the miserable condition of his clothes, which he fought in, dug fighting holes in, worked his way through barbed wire and brambles in, and slept in. These men are just too clean to be combat veterans.
In a forest clearing the vehicles in an American convoy pull over off the road and the men dismount to form a column of soldiers marching toward the enemy. In the real Battle of the Bulge these mostly untested men were facing the flower of the German army—and beat it. By mid January they had taken back all the real estate they had lost in the frightening first days of battle. More than that, they had destroyed the assault force, the best infantry and armor that Adolf Hitler could scrape up from every fighting front for this one battle. Hitler no longer had enough forces to hold back the Soviets and the Western Allies.
Two white-haired veterans of the Battle of the Bulge watch as reenactors honor their service and sacrifice by re-creating the Ardennes battle. What memories the sights and sounds of the reenactment revive for these two veterans can only be guessed at. By stopping Hitler’s last blitzkrieg, these men and their buddies, living and dead, earned the love and gratitude of all Americans.
The distinguished-looking gentleman at right, standing by what looks like an artillery transporeter, is Joe Razes, America in WWII contributing editor and the photographer for this web gallery. Having slogged through this icy battle reenactment, Razes said he was exhausted—and reminded of the soldiers who, unlike himself, had no clean and cozy hotel room to retreat to at the end of the day.
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