Wargaming Your Way Across Europe

2003: A Tour Commentary

by Charley Elsden

INTRODUCTION

I have returned from the WARGAMING YOUR WAY ACROSS EUROPE TOUR 2003, (WYWAE) held April 13-28, 2003, a specialty vacation of great interest to gaming hobbyists. In this article, I am going to mention the sites we saw for two audiences. One is those who cannot travel and wonder what these places are really like. The other is those who might, with a bit of encouragement, go see for themselves some of the great military history sites of Europe. Due to the great length involved, I am only going to tell a few personal stories, so be it noted overall that the great cameraderie among a bunch of travelling historical gamers, with all of our common interests, was a great part of the experience, including that aspect of our welcoming European host gamers.

Being at a historical battlefield or site brings home the military history we know so well like nothing else can. During this trip we looked up from the town square in Ste. Mere Eglise to the dummy paratrooper hanging from the church steeple, down the cliff at Point du Hoc where the US Rangers bled, and climbed down into the undeground tunnels, caverns, and casemates of fortifications, bunkers, war rooms--even a V2 launching complex! The group stood in the gardens of Chateau Hougomont at Waterloo, and saw crossbows and longbows in the museum at Agincourt. We met, played with, or saw games run by the international brotherhood of hobbyists in Rome, Ghent, Paris, and London. Tour participants walked along reading the pictures and inscriptions unfolding on the Bayeux Tapestry, and much, much more. I will be thinking about this trip for a long time. Here then, are the things we saw or did on our journey through time.

This trip was organized by gamer Bill Owen of Franklin Travel, Decatur, Illinois (bill@franklintravel.com, phone (800) 397-3535). A future trip to Eastern Europe/Russia may be planned a few years down the line, so contact Bill if you are interested! The participants included the Midwest Contingent: John Holtz, Dave Nelson, Bill Owen, Ed Pauley, The New York Contingent: James Andruk, Charley Elsden, Jim Meersand; The Florida Contingent: Doc Ramos and Doug Steigerwald, and Rich Baler from Pittsburg, PA. Our small group of ten travelled in style in a huge tour bus customized with tables for board and miniatures gaming.

American Express also provided Robert (Ro-bear) the bus driver; former Dutch Army APC driver and extra in "A Bridge Too Far," and Deryck Brown, our cheerful Liverpudlian tour manager and general guide from Luxedmbourg City to Paris.. The tour included time in Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, and England; this tour commentary will be divided up accordingly. During this time we saw 15 military museums (including 3 major tank museums) plus 5 major forts or other installations, and almost every Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV), uniform, small arm, and camoflage pattern used in the WWII ETO, (and WWI Western Front), as well as important sites from other historical periods, wargames in a European club, the major annual British wargame convention, SALUTE, and even actual tank driving and a ride in a WWII German Sdkfz 251 halftrack.

Although we could easily have spent more time with profit at many sites, and had to pass by many historical sites for each one we saw, the trip was truly amazing, and the experience of being at such notable places where history was made will be with me for a long while to come. We enjoyed great food and drink, fine weather, beautiful scenery, and friendly people everywhere for almost the entire trip. Although some of us suffered from the nasty germs making the rounds in the USA at the time, we kept on going-on my part with only a couple of days called early to rest up. This trip presented a unique opportunity to have wargames come alive through direct association with their actual locations. Thanks to all involved for making it the kind of journey that becomes a major landmark in one's life.

PREVIEW FIRST STOP: LONDON

"We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds ... we shall never surrender!"

    --Winston Churchill

"Who do you think you're kidding, Mr. Hitler
When you say that England's done?
We are the boys who will stop your little game,
We are the boys who will make you think again!"

    --English Music Hall Song

The group rendezvous at JFK airport in New York City (minus the Florida contingent, who would meet us in Rome) was followed by a pleasant flight on British Air. Due to a last minute scheduled air traffic controllers strike in Rome (!!!) we had several extra hours to spent in Heathrow airport. So the gang took the London tube to visit our first site, The Cabinet War Rooms, hidden under government buildings just off St. James Park. Churchill and the top British government ministers and military staff directed the war from this little known series of bunkers (in the film Sink the Bismark, the hero naval officer emerges from them at the end of the story). Living quarters, meeting rooms, offices, communications stations, and other spaces were tunneled out and are now open to the public. Huge world maps were spread out on walls, and personal objects were laid out in rooms that were recreated as if the wartime staff had just stepped out for a moment. Here is the platform tray Winston used to write on while in bed, there the typewriters used by the secretaries taking dictation from him in the office! Little did we know how much time we would spend underground on this trip--this first site was just the beginning! Here too we saw the first of many uniformed manikins in what would become the WYWAE "Dummies At War" series! This one was dressed as a Royal Marine guard in this center worldwide Commonwealth resistance.

Wargaming Your Way Across Europe 2003: A Tour Commentary

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© Copyright 2003 Hal Thinglum
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