Our Billet

Our billet at Abrefontaine was a welcome sight on arrival and we gratefully deposited our gear and then mounted the various trucks and jeeps put at our disposal for a hot meal provided by our hosts C-47 of Belgium. The meal and a cold beer went down a treat but sadly Dan was unable to finish his as Lasagne does not feature highly on his top 100 meals.
He was even more disappointed as we had been soundly assured by some old hands that the evening meal would be Spag. Bol as it had been for the last 15 years. Perhaps a touch of the Jonah effect at work there Dan?

It was tempting to stay on and sink a few more brews but most of us decided that the March would have to take priority. On our arrival back at the billet though we all attended a surprise 18th Birthday party for LLOYD's daughter who was in attendance with some of her friends portraying US Army Nurse's.

The March

We were woken up at 0630 hours for a quick breakfast and then parade. Gear was checked and double checked as we stood in the early morning light. The Hustler had his German army belt and dagger confiscated as being inappropriate wear, whilst I was informed that my Musette pack was going to rip my shoulders out unless it was adjusted properly. We formed up and our venerable 1st Sgt known only to me as 1st Sgt. Shady invited the Captain to say a few words before we mounted our vehicles to be ferried to the start of the march.

On arrival at our jumping off point I met the other members of my squad, 3rd Squad. Including me there was Dan BARRELL, Johnny COSTINO. Lloyd RICHARDS, BIG Tony DUDMAN, Val CZERNY, Daryl COPEMAN, Tom STUART, John “POSSUM” MAWER, BIG Mike WRING, Simon HARRISON and last but not least our Belgian comrade Vince KENNES (Vincenzo to those who now know him well). I mention the names of these guys above many others because the march was going to teach us a lesson. The lesson being that when you are up to your ankles in sticky mud or your feet are burning with pain and your shoulder aches from carrying a .30 cal. it's these guys who you focus on to keep you moving on.



We also had lots of encouragement from our 1st Sgt - “SHADY”. who never once complained and probably could add another mile or two to his total as he went up and down the ranks during the march keeping us moving and collecting the stragglers encouraging them to keep going.



Some of our team had to drop out but none of them without good reason because as it turned out with one significant exception none of us were used to this kind of thing. I know that Dan B. managed a good six or so miles over very rough terrain before twisting his ankle. He was forced to stop but continued to be present throughout the day assisting with re-supply and drinks for the troops. Dan did however manage to work some more Jonah magic on some poor French guy who was transporting him to the aid station in his jeep.

Apparently as Dan tells it the jeep jockey was headed for a trail which was not passable and Dan as it turned out wisely suggested that they go another route. The jeep jockey shrugged his shoulders and gunned the engine proudly announcing that his jeep was unstoppable! Enter the Jonah touch...picture in your mind one jeep impaled on the ground with all four wheels in the air going nowhere fast. I believe that the guy might still be stuck even now. Dan was evacuated by "Curle" and deposited without further incident back at the support area.



I myself began to feel the burn after our first major hill about six miles out but managed to get over this and plod onwards.



Plodding onwards was the operative word for most of us, although the weather was especially kind to us and glorious sunshine shone through beautiful scenery your mind after a while began to focus on the sheer effort of putting one foot in front of the next.
To that end you find yourself looking at the footprints in the mud of the man in front of you and following them as closely as possible occasionally stopping to take on some water and maybe grab your breath back.



Have you ever asked yourself why you want to be a re-enactor? What can you say to the detractors and the people who think what we do as a hobby is somehow wrong or just plain daft? I will say to those who would detract or poke fun that for one day I experienced a tiny slice of what life must have been like slogging along in the dirt and mud for mile after mile to finally experience the joy of "3rd of a Squad" as we had become known due to our depleted numbers crossing the finish line.



Rememberance

The end of the march, which for those of you don't already know was 18 miles long over a variety of terrain carrying full kit and rifle meant for me a ride back to a clean and warm billet, a hot shower, a change of clothes and a three course dinner. All of us even TROOPER "Vincenzo" Kennes ( I think he just said it to make us feel better) admitted to being knackered and many were carrying minor and some not so minor injuries. Imagine having to sleep in a foxhole and eat cold rations before getting up to do the exact same thing the next day. I am in no way boasting of our achievement because as I write there are troops out there doing it for real and I will never lose sight of that fact but at least we try to keep alive a memory of all those who went before their time so that we now have ours.

We all focus on the men doing the actual fighting and rightly so but consider how many people it took to enable us to complete the March. A big thank you to all our support staff. Credit to the FAAA guys who for charity were carrying the .30 cal between them. I have the guilty knowledge of spending 15 minutes with it over my shoulder knowing that had I kept it there my March would have ended very quickly. They saw their task through and I know that at least one young recruit lost a good deal of the skin from his feet as his boots were pulled off him after the event!

Another quiet hero was Vince from Belgium who is a committed and dedicated re-enactor who attended the event as the only representative from his group the rest of whom apparently bottled it. We marvelled as he took the .30 cal and slung it over his shoulder without breaking into a sweat! Vince just smiled and plodded onwards, at one point the cry went up from the ranks, "Man on the .30 cal slow it down!" "We can't match your pace!" Now is the time to reveal what I later found out, Vince is a real live bona fide Paratrooper and has just completed two years national service with the Belgian Army! Another man deserving of praise was FAAA’s Simon HARRISON who was clearly in a great deal of pain after lunch and the half way mark but encouraged along he completed the whole route and I can say he took the point across the finish line!


And so I will end my report there, it's a long one and to be honest I have missed out many parts not least being addressed by WW2 Veteran Paratrooper Bob MURPHY at the dinner held after the march.


However, I wanted to give a taste of this event to those who were unable to make it. Hopefully you might be able to make another one; I know I am signed up for 2009!

Ian Brophy
AKA Pat “Murph” Murphy
Boston USA