Bringing History To Life

Last summer I was contacted by a group of British World War II reenactors planning to display a Bofors 40mm antiaircraft gun at Peak Rail in England. Sam Harris, the contact person for the group, explained their desire to go beyond a simple static display and properly dig-in and man the gun. I was happy to provide drawings and dimensions of standard AA gun emplacements, photographs of field fortified forties, and an outline of how a Bofors would be operated by sight control.

Sam's soldiers absorbed this information and did an outstanding job, as seen in the above photo. Gun pointers wearing tracer goggles are seated and ready, the loader/firer is at station, and an ammunition handler is passing another clip up to the gun. In the background, another soldier is standing in the pit that would have housed an M5 director. Sam and his crew presented a very respectable recreation of a U.S. 40mm fire unit ready for action. The display was well received.

Here in the United States, there are several privately owned Bofors guns. It is not uncommon to see one or two show up at airshows, like the one held every June in Reading, Pennsylvania. However, to the best of my knowledge, no one has attempted to bring the old pieces to life as did our British friends. That's too bad. I am a firm believer that living history can be a powerful vehicle to teach our younger generation about the past. It is impressive enough to see a 40mm AA gun on display. Consider the educational impact that same display could have with the gun properly emplaced  and manned.

I expressed these very sentiments to Sam last year. This summer, I relocated and discovered that I now reside within a few miles of two Bofors guns. Perhaps it is time for me to put my convictions to action and see if a group of Americans can pull together a presentation that would be just as good as the one created by our friends across the Atlantic. Is anyone interested?