For a real living history experience, it would be hard to beat the Tank Farm event. RKKA reenactors usually don’t get to play with the big toys, like the Fritzes and the G.I.s. Here we not only got to be tank riders on a real T-34, but we had another one as the backdrop for our camp for the weekend. The same was true for all the other participants. Even a miserable drizzle off and on all day Saturday , ending in a downpour( which soaked many of the reenactors’ displays) late in the afternoon, failed to ruin the weekend. It helped that Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day with blue skies and moderate temperatures.
If you have never heard of the Tank Farm, its real name is the ‘National Museum of Americans in Wartime’, located on Aden Road near Manassas, VA. While this a regularly scheduled event, I have never been able to attend before. I must say, that I don’t intend to miss another.
The weekend schedule consisted of various activities including visits by VIPs, informational presentations and vehicle and helicopter demonstrations (the Vietnam display had a Huey land in their area). As the museum has a large number of functioning vehicles, the weekend had rarely a dull moment.
The museum has had some fascinating guests over the years. I was interested to note that the T-34 in which we were riding had ‘Mikail Kalishnikov’ written on the side of the turret in Russian. As this is not something you would have seen written on a WWII period tank, I inquired about it. As it turns out, the famed weapons designer was a guest speaker at the museum a few years ago. Since he was a tanker in the Red Army during WWII, they painted his name on the tank and gave him a ride. As the story goes, during the war, his tank was hit by German fire and he was severely wounded. While recovering in the hospital, he began thinking on an idea for a new rifle. And the rest, as they say, is history.
The museum treated the reenactors like royalty all weekend. We were provided lunch on Saturday and Sunday as well as breakfast on Sunday and a mixer on Saturday night which featured beer and sausages. (As we walked out of the rain and into the shop for the mixer, I spotted the weiners on the grill and noted to my comrades that the ‘wurst was yet to come…’ Sorry!)
We had good crowds of spectators both days, but special kudos go to the large number of folks who stood out in the rain Saturday to watch the demonstrations. Some of them had umbrellas, but many were just getting wet. They all seemed to love the show.
Reenactor units which I noted in attendance were:
Soviet – 193rd Rifle Division
Treity Vzvod
33rd Guards
American – 29th Infantry Division
British Commonwealth – 1st Airbourne Division
15th Scottish Reconnaissance Rgt. Living History Assn.
German – 3te Kompanie, Infanterie Rgt. 226 (IR226) 79th Infantry Div.
SS Fallschimjager Battalion
I’m not sure what Jerry Smolkin’s Afghan-Soviet group is called, but they do a fantastic job and looked great deploying out of the BMP!
Also, the US Marine Corps Historical Company and the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter #617 had excellent displays.
I’m sure that I’ve missed someone and I apologize in advance, but I don’t know all the folks who were there and was so busy with our camp, that I didn’t get to circulate as well as I would have wanted.
The museum is eventually planning to relocate, as I understand it and will hopefully be able to get more of these wonderfull vehicles under roof when they aren’t out running around a course. You can help support the museum by becoming a member and/or volunteering if you are in the area. If you can’t do either of these, it is just a great place to visit. Please check out their link:
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