Thoughts on partisans

[Armed 2 tha Teeth]

I wasn't talking about the paratroopers pants, but the resistance woman in the center.

[BrokenShovelDude]

I would be intresting to see PTO partisans. Heck a Philippine scout would be cool..... See p-17's feilded again..... But the problem with pto reenacting seems to be finding the Japanese... Or blanks for an arasaka...

 

ya, don't see too many PTO reenactments in general (as far as I know).

[pfarber]

Partisans were a HUGE issue for the Wehrmacht. Russia especially becuase quite literally they were nothing more than locals that were told to hate the Germans. Side note: I completely agree that if the German Army were to fight Bolshevism rather than 'the russians' they would have fared much, much better.

 

That said, the French, Belgian, Polish.. oh heck, any occupied axis territory, had a pretty large problem with partisans. From simple ambushes to more elaborate infrastructure damage.

 

To see it done CORRECTLY, as noted, is the problem. I think that if an event were set up correctly then a partisan element would be a nice diversion... ie make the Germans defend a bridge/road/telegraph system from partisans, then have the Allies come in.. depending on how successful the partisans were would give/take away the advantage from the Germans.

 

Plus its ALWAYS nice to have women around... (insert married joke HERE)

[Dirteater101]

Oh beleive me it is an uphill battle.

 

If one person with a "drop gun" can tie up a battalion for a few hours, their mission is achieved. We are hopeing to get something together with the lowell folks, just as an added interest thing. Most of us do paratrooper but a second impression is always good.

 

Women with guns,...... hummmm......................

 

 

 

Surprises the bejebus out of the krauts when she wips a broom handle pistol from her basket....

[Abby K-9]

For a wile this usually consisted of a few of the "uniformed" impressions members girlfriends or wives thrown into some shabby looking civilian clothes and loaned a mauser, or some doushe that refuses to get a haircut or shave. Not really interested or very active.

 

I know this discussion is already a little bit older, but I would like to weigh in here.

 

I have been reenacting since I was a teenager. When I lived in Europe in my teens, I did Roman. Later on, I got into Vietnam reenacting. I'd been doing a photojournalist impression for Vietnam for about two years when a friend of mine asked me if I would like to come out to a World War II event and maybe get into World War II. I gave that some thought and figured, why the heck not, I'll check it out. I asked him what a good impression would be for me to start coming out in the field to a couple of events and he said to start researching partisans. So I started digging through piles of photographs, both of partisans and regular civilians, and putting my kit together, and after the first event, I was hooked.

 

I quickly realized that I was one of the few ladies doing the impression who spent time looking at period photos to see what fashions were worn, how their hair was done, what things they carried. I learned that a lot of girls in the hobby were basically kitted out at Goodwill in civilian clothing that "looked vintage", borrowed a weapon from their significant other, and then spent most of the weekend whining about a lack of bathrooms and having to sleep in the dirt. My biggest pet peeve quickly became the fact that hardly any of the females, both those that portray civilians and those that portray military women, bother to do anything period correct with their hair or to take off modern accessories.

 

I stopped doing Partisan for those reasons. There are so many events where partisans are welcome but the event organizers don't know what to do with them, they kind of shunt them off to the site and tell them to go play and figure out a way to fit into the scenario. Then there are events where partisans are not welcome because they have had issues with farbisans and therefore don't want any partisans anywhere near their event.

 

For people getting new into the hobby, I think partisan could be a great way to go, as it can be done cheaply and it can be done with kit from the Salvation Army IF (!!!!) you bother to do the research and find actual vintage clothing (or modern clothing that is vintage style and made from period-correct materials) and make an effort to put together something that looks good. It's not difficult if you are interested and do the research, but it seems like a lot of people don't want to do research or don't know how to research using period materials and photographs. It's really disappointing if you think about it.

 

It's also disappointing for those who do partisan well because they continually get lumped in with the farbisans, no matter how good their impression is. We have done events where we spent the entire event as partisans doing "nothing", ie. being unarmed and simply counting Germans and reporting to and directing the Allies in the area. We've done some events where our main purpose was to unnerve the Germans by tucking leaflets into their kit, or scouting their area for the Allies. Not all partisans ran through the woods shooting at the Germans, after all. Those were actually some of the most fun events, even though there wasn't any "trigger time".

 

I guess I'm off on a tangent. *laughs*

 

I don't have any photos of me doing partisan scanned, but I do have one of me in period civilian kit.

[T-Bone]

I know this discussion is already a little bit older, but I would like to weigh in here.

 

if you are interested and do the research, but it seems like a lot of people don't want to do research or don't know how to research using period materials and photographs. It's really disappointing if you think about it.

 

 

I am embarrased that the pants on my 1940s style double breasted wool suit have a zipper...and the buttons are not quite right...am I just crazy?

 

IMHO Civilian is way harder than uniformed if you do it right.

 

Maybe I should get battledress and head for the mountains.

I hear ther is a Partisan camp there...

 

Wish we could get Yugoslav themed events!

 

T-Bone

[Bob Hudson]

A few of my posts sticking up for my buddies who play dirty, unshaven grunts just got deleted out of the blue. I like how I disagree with someone over the fact that most GIs weren't too concerned with their uniforms being pressed and freshly laundered so I just get my opinion completely erased off the board.

 

Sorry about that: if a moderator deletes something we hope they will post a reason why, unless it is something so out-of-place that it was obviously wrong to start with.

 

And, as for that above-mentioned re-enactors board mentioned by others: one of our policies is not to bash other boards (we hate to give the self-annointed chosen few too much attention).