Mayday! Mayday!
Ever wonder why they say Mayday? Not February Day? or Black Winter Night for that matter? (Yes I know it’s from the French “M’aidez”, so no need for all kinds of comments, I just needed an opening for this months blog entry). 
It’s been a few hectic months since my last entry. What with my car about to die and all these unexpected bills that have fallen on my mat. Some good times too with our 12 day trip in the Czech Republic, though half of it was very wet and cold.
And there was Jasper & Suus’s Bachelor party too. The Highland Games and the Sweet Vendetta Concert are all pictures you’re going to have to wait for though, as I’ve been busy scanning 13 rolls of film from the Czech Trip.
AAAAND, I’ve still got a trip to Ireland ahead of me in 4 weeks or so. Definitely looking forward to that. I hope that extra film I ordered gets here in time! 
Right, first some galleries.
My fellow shutterbug Kenny spent an evening at my place to play games and drink beer, and watch some “The Pacific”. The next day we went for a walk through the Loonse & Drunense Dunes with our cameras.
The re-enactment season started of with our annual event at The Royal Dutch Engineer Museum in April. Great to see and talk to the familiar faces again. The BBQ provided by the museum is always a great treat.
Testing another camera from my growing Argus Family. This time the Argus C-44.
The Memorial Museum Passchendaele in Zonnebeke opened its doors on ANZAC Day weekend for several WW1 re-enactment groups. We enjoyed a well organized weekend with good food and drink. It’s a shame all the pictures that Ed took with my cameras were fuzzy
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 2010
And lastly some Pictures from the “Road To Victory” Trip in the Czech Republic. The gallery is still growing as I make my way through the backlog of images:
Road to Victory After Action Report
Our group consisted of about a 100 men of different nationalities; British, American, German, Dutch, French, Swiss, Belgian and a missplaced Auzzie.
The column of armored vehicles concisted of a Sherman Tank, 6 M8 Greyhounds, 9 Jeeps, 3 halftracks, 3 GMCs, 2 Dodge weapon carriers and 2 Harley Davidsons
Our little contingent of Dutch participants (mainly from the MARS group) arrived at the Tapijn Barracks in Maastricht around noon on Wednesday.
Here we waited for some folks to arrive and we spent the afternoon in the city enjoying a meal and some drinks. Later back at the Barracks we shared a BBQ dinner with a group of Soldiers who had just returned from Afghanistan. The Beer supply was drained in short order and many took that as a cue to retire. It was going to be an early morning.
Thursday 5am, I’m awoken by the sound of a camera-click and a smirking Sidney standing over my cot with his mobilefoon. Time to get up. The coach has arrived, but unfortunately the drivers have to rest for another 5 hours before they are allowed to sit behind the wheel again. Grmbl.
Then we are told we will first drive to Oostende (200km the other way) to pick up the British Contingent, only to return here to the Tapijn Barracks to pick up those that have to load their vehicles here.
Roll around 7pm. Huzzah, we’re finally on our way to Pilzen.
I’m not a fan of traveling by Coach, certainly not for more than a few hours, so I was mightily pleased when we rolled into sunny Plzen around 5am on Friday.
A park in front of the local sport stadium was fenced in with barbed wire. Here we could stay in 3 5×10 tents, that we had to put up ourselves. Not a problem. After breakfast we went into the city center to do some reconnaissance.
Saturday the weather was just as good and the column moved into town to fight it out with a group of “Germans” from the VC Sturm group. They would be providing us with resistance for the rest of the week. The Mock Battle in the center of Plzen was spectacular to watch, with lots of explosions and smoke effects.
That evening there was live music in the city center and we paid a visit to Dolce Vita Pizza Parlour.
Sunday was spent parading through the center with our convoy, reinforced with local Vehicle Clubs (including 2 extra Shermans). A couple of Gentlemen from the ACES group joined us in our 5×10 tent, relieving the Polish re-enactors who were heading back home.
That evening more live music was performed in the square and the partying GIs swarmed through the city. Some managed to find their way to Pamela’s Strip club.
Monday was spent breaking down the camp. The convoy was split into 2 groups and the first group left early to be on time for an act-de-presence on Liberty Square in Susice. The second group remained behind to clean up the camp and preform some maintenance on a broken-down M8. A few more MARS members joined us in Plzen that afternoon. It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that the two groups rejoined. I came up with the 2nd group riding in a Halftrack.
After refueling the column moved to its campsite, an isolated valley near the city. It started to rain the temperature dropped noticable that night. We were warned of the chance of enemy contact so all lights were doused, which meant we could not work on the newspaper with the Press-group. Some of the group spent the night in foxholes up in the tree line.
Tuesday it was still raining and cold all the way up to the Ski Town of Strazny. We went through the towns of Kvilda and another village where we met with resistance. Every time our Armor proved the solution in driving the Germans out of their positions.
Unfortunatly during the last battle in Strazny, 2 M8 Armored Cars sank to their axles in the mud and it wasn’t until a local tractor-owner came up that they’ve were pulled free. By that time were were all cold, wet and miserable.
Thankfully Lt Sidney managed to secure a supply of wood and with the help of some Diesel a Camp-fire was started. Also the hearth in the local pub did wonders to raise moral and dry our clothes. unfortunately the cold rainy weather endured.
Wednesday we spent touring through the area, including towns like Nova Pec and Volary, before returning to Strazny for the evening. During the mock Battle in Nova Pec another M8 got stuck in the mud. After the Battle in Volary the press group raced back to the camp to finish a two page edition with the photos of the day.
The weather showed signs of improving early Thursday morning. As we left for Kaspersky Hory the sun was breaking through the clouds and morning mist. Again an M8 managed to get stuck in a Ditch which took some time to be hoisted out, another M8 suffered a fuelpump problem. But eventually we made it to the town with its castle dominating the landscape. A fierce firefight with the enemy followed to clear the enemy from our camp ground. We enjoyed the warmth of the sun, but the nights were still chilly. The remainder of the wood helped keep the campfires going.
Velky Bor was next on the agenda, here we spent the afternoon on the main square. The mayor provided us with free coffee, thee and cookies. Around 4pm another battle was fought with some sneaky ‘Germans’. They had waylaid a supply train and hoped to trap other American forces in similar fashion, unfortunately the power of the Allied armor was too much for them.
After the battle and the Vin-d’honeur it was time for us to leave for Mystliv. here we were given another warm welcome with home-made pastries and a warm dinner in the form of Sauerkraut and Dumplings.
The campsite was behind the local Fire Station and gave us our first chance to shower. That evening there was also a Dance at a hall on the other side of the village (a 2km walk). A chance for us to wear our Class A Uniforms and mingle with the residents. The Band played some well-known covers.
Around 1:30am I felt I had had enough to drink and Jimmy Bean was in my feet as well as my head. I hiked back to the camp site, poked up the fire and had a last beer before retiring to my cold sleeping bag.
The plan had been to drive up to Strakonice and return to the camp at Mystliv before heading towards Pisek and Podolski Bridge. This would’ve added a lot of unnecessary mileage to the trip. So it was decided to go to another camp site a few miles from Pisek.
In Strakonice we had another Meet&Greet. The convoy set up near the building where had General Patton negotiated with the Russians. We passed the time by playing Crown & Anchore, napping and shopping.
Then we drove up to the planned spot for the camp. It was a piece of terrain under a bridge over a cold fast flowing river. It was damp, had lots of gravel, mosquitoes and a lonely run-down chapel.
Instead of going to a nearby pub I spent the evening drawing some more cartoons for the “Armored Tribune”. Proceeded to strengthen the inner man with some Rum provided by our Czech hosts before crawling into my bug-ridden tent.
Sunday, the press gang and I drove ahead of the column to a small bridge (where a GI had carved his company details into the concrete back in 1945). We filmed and photographed the vehicles as they ran across the bridge.
Then we moved on together to Pisek and the Podolski Bridge; our final destination of our long trip. At the bridge a few group photos were made as well as a Then&Now picture with the tanks looking towards the other side.
On this historic spot the 4th Armored Division ended their eastward push. They had to wait 2 long weeks before the Russians made an appearance.
After a few hours the convoy left for Pisek to prepare the vehicles for transport, while the Press Gang and I raced to finish the last edition of the paper so we could hand these out before everyone returned home.
Around 8pm everything was ready to go and we boarded the coach back to the Netherlands. It was 9am next morning when I arrived back at my place.
In conclusion, it had been a great tour. Lots of miserable weather, but luckily some days of sun to dry out. Great to see al the mud-caked vehicles and crew, a chance to shoot some realistic photos.
I feel the trip was planned too quickly after the Roll on the Maas tour, so unfortunately not as many people came along this time. But then again, the 66th anniversary of the liberation doesn’t have the same ring as the 65th
Road to Victory, 65th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Czech republic
More pictures to be added later, so check back often.
Rick