Union Station Photoshoot

A Navy Couple Kisses Goodbye
Photo by "A Timeless Collection"

On January 28^th, 2018, our Commanding officer participated in a photoshoot being organized by Corporal Jasset (of “A Timeless Collection”) at Union Station in Worcester, MA. The theme of this shoot was the servicemen (and women) shipping off after Pearl Harbor. We had ten reenactors there in total, plus three people taking shots and video. We were split up into couples. Three of our couples were actually together in real life so that made it much easier, and with the atmosphere it didn’t take long for the other couples to get into the swing of things and act the part.

     Each couple was taken for individual shots as well as group shots in the main foyer of the station. Thankfully the venue still looked very much like it did in the 1940s so the ambiance was there and Cpl Jasset didn’t have to try and work around a bunch of modern garbage in the background. Large wooden doors and stone walls gave for a great atmosphere to get into “character” and look as though we were really waiting for our train to ship off. A small group of people portraying members of the U.S. Navy were taken off and given their own small photoshoot which yielded some very powerful images. 

Photo by "A Timeless Collection"

    While not everyone in the group chose to immerse themselves in this scenario that we were all trying to create, some did including our commanding officer, Lieutenant Fraser. Given the date that the scenario was centered around, Lt. Fraser chose to wear his winter service uniform with his sergeant’s stripes. He also chose to wear fewer ribbons as many of them had not been created and/or authorized by Congress in the early months of 1942. He opted for this for the reason of character continuity with the impression that he had created.

Photo by "A Timeless Collection"

     Many men, who started World War II as NCOs in both the Army and the Marines, would find themselves holding officer’s commissions as a result of battlefield promotions by the early months of 1943. The reason for this was a lack of experienced officers due to the 90 days it took to train a fresh officer, and the speed at which officers were often killed. Yet even with this common practice, it’s an impression that is rarely touched on by reenactors on either the Allied or Axis side. We will have more on this sort of role in a later post devoted to “mustangers.”

     Since Lieutenant Fraser has chosen the impression of one of these mustangers, he took the opportunity to utilize the photoshoot to deepen his connection with the “character” he has created for B/1/21. He was paired with Whitney Chaplin, a friend of Corporal Jasset, and together the pair played the part of a couple who has been through a deployment, but that doesn’t make the experience any easier for them.

     This story was fairly common in the early days of World War II.

Photo by
"A Timeless Collection"

While new recruits were being sent off to their training and then to join up with the units they would serve with in combat, many who were already in the military had seen duty overseas. For the Marines, the interwar period had been marked by combat operations in Hatti, Nicaragua, and Honduras during the so-called “Banana Wars” of the mid-1920s into the early 1930s. In addition to this the Marines had men deployed to the Philippines and China prior to the war as well. So it was not uncommon for Marines to have already deployed to faraway places prior to the outbreak of World War II.

     Lieutenant Fraser took the opportunity to think about this in terms of his character. How would “Mick Fraser” have felt about leaving? Who was he leaving behind? How would he deal with the knowledge that this might be the very last time he saw these people? These were all things he had to think about from the standpoint of a former factory worker who had been laid off during the depression and joined the Marines out of desperation? The answer was; he would be strong. He had already seen hardship before and knew that nothing in life was handed to him. He had joined the military out of a sense of survival after his regular working income had been terminated as a result of the national Depression; leaving to defend his country was just as necessary. Did he want to go to war? No. He wasn’t one of those enthusiastic young men who formed the que outside of the recruiter’s office that seemed to go on for miles, full of men who longed to see action and get their revenge for Pearl Harbor. That

Sgt. Fraser Says Goodbye.
Photo by "A Timeless Collection"

isn’t to say that Sergeant Fraser wasn’t angered by the attack on the US base, or that he didn’t want to see America’s enemies pay for what they did, but he knew what war would mean, he had known enough combat veterans during his time in the Marines, that he knew the horrors that awaited them. He would, of course, face them and lead his men to the best of his ability, but where some of the younger men shipping out would have smiled and laughed and told jokes about how many enemy soldiers they would kill, Sergeant Fraser knew better.

     These are the deeper thoughts and deeper understandings that events like the Union Station Photoshoot can provide for reenactors who have thought about their impressions and the background of those impressions. Events like these are rare, and the photoshoots allow for the participants to really put themselves in the shoes of their impressions because that’s what makes the emotions look real. Immersive events (which will be covered in later posts), Photoshoots like this one, and tacticals can be great places to start thinking about life in the 1940s and what these scenes mean for your impressions. Leaving for the war was something that every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, German, Russian, Japanese, Italian, Frenchman, Englishman did. It was one of the few things that everyone who fought in World War II (regardless of which side they were on) shared. So how does that moment, such an important moment of change, affect your impression, and your character? Are they better for it? Put yourself in their shoes, read the stories of those who really went through it and then ask yourself if your character could have really been strong and left everything they knew and loved to fight for what they believed? Understanding that moment, will give you a key to understanding your impression even better.

A Soldier gives one last smile to his sweetheart
Photo by "A Timeless Collection"

If you’d like to see the complete set from the Union Station Shoot, please go to Facebook and like “A Timeless Collection” and check out their brand new website at www.Timelessages.com!

Building Character

Many new reenactors who have recently purchased their uniform and gear often struggle with what their next step should be. There are many different directions to take, but in this post we'll examine one that is often over looked by many allied reenactors. For those portraying German, this step is a bit easier because they have to fill out their "Soldbuch" or "Pay Book" which documents the career of whomever it is they have decided to reenact. They have to come up with a new German name and home of residence, and many other details that make their impression into a real, albeit fictitious person. It really helps to round out their impression and get them in the proper mindset of those they are portraying.

     For allied reenactors, the story is a little different. Allied reenactors, typically use their real name and the only paperwork that many of them get is an ID card and their dog-tags. However, anyone looking to really hone and round out their impression, should start researching every day life in the late 1930s and early 1940s and decide what their "character" did before the war, and how they got into the war. This is where you go from having a "kit" to having an "impression" and a character to go with it. It is our hope that this post will help anyone struggling with this, find some direction and hopefully improve their impressions that much further. We will use the example of our Commanding Officer's "Character"; Michael C. Fraser to illustrate the steps you could take to build a fully rounded WWII soldier, sailor, WAC, WAVE, or Marine. So without further ado, let's dive in!

     The good thing about doing an American impression is that you can keep your own name if you wish. For many changing your name for reenacting is confusing and a hassle. First you have to find a name, then you have to start getting everyone to refer to you by that name at reenactments. It's confusing, but some people still do it, especially those with multiple impressions. Our suggestion, should you choose to pick a new name for reenacting, is stick with what you know. Take a look back at your heritage and see what nationality was most current in your family in the 1940s. Had your grandparents or great-grandparents just arrived from Europe or had they been naturalized for a couple generations? The closer your family is to their European ties, the more traditional your name might have been. There are many things to consider when looking at choosing a name for your new impression. Do some digging, talk to your grandparents and great-grandparents. Odds are they have some pretty amazing stories that they might want to pass on. Our CO went with the name "Michael Fraser" because his family has some Scottish roots and he wanted to explore that part of his heritage.

     So now we have a name: "Michael Christopher Fraser."

     Another area where people tend to pick what they know is "home of record." We agree with this idea, so we won't spend much time on it. The best idea is to stick with where you are from in real life. Not everyone in WWII came from a big city, many came from small farming towns, or factory towns in New England, the dust-bowl of the Mid-West, and ranches of Texas. Take a run down to your local Historical Society and see what your town looked like in the 1940s. Historical societies are great places to do research on local history and will give you a better idea of what occupations were prevalent in your town at the time.

     Lieutenant Fraser chose the town he graduated High School from: Woodstock, Vermont.

     The next thing you should consider is how old your character is. If you're a younger reenactor (16-20), you should figure out what year your impression is grounded in and subtract your age from that year and you'll have the year your character was born. For example, our CO is 31, but often looks younger so he chose a younger age and subtracted that from 1943 since his impression is grounded in the Bougainville Campaign. He chose to keep his birthdate the same, but changed the year. So he went with May 18, 1918. Your character's birth date is important as you will need this for your dog tags, and your ID card regardless of what service your impression is.

So to summarize so far, our CO's name is Michael Fraser, born May 18, 1918 in Woodstock, Vermont. Look at that! It's already taking shape.

Photo Thanks to "A Timeless Collection"

So what's next? You have a name, a birthdate and a home of record. Well, next you should decide what your character did before the war? Remember, so many people from different walks of life joined the military in World War II. Everyone from poor, dust-bowl farmers, to the rich and famous enlisted to fight. Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart already had budding film careers prior to the war, but they both volunteered to serve in the Army Air Corps. Does this mean you should pick someone rich? Probably not as most of the enlisted men who fought in WWII came from the middle and lower classes. So head on back down to your local historical society and see what your town was centered around? Was there a large textile factory in your town in the 1930s, or was your town predominantly made up of local farmers? This information should be easy to find and easily accessible through the Historical Society. Some people will transfer their real life occupation into their character if it fits. Was your character a railway laborer, a Police Officer, Detective, School Teacher, ect. The possibilities are endless. Pick something you love and build that into your impression. Does your impression center around engineers or SeaBees? Maybe your character worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps before the war. Use your real experience to pick something that works for you.
     Lieutenant Fraser chose a factory worker as there were a number of small factories in Woodstock during the 1930s who enjoyed playing music in his personal time.

Photo Thanks to "A Timeless Collection"

     Now that you have a bit about your civilian life, you can go on and focus on your military career. Word of advice for budding reenactors: pick something plain, simple, and common. People who try and build themselves up to be like John Basilone, or George Patton are usually looked down on by other reenactors. Most of the guys who fought in World War II were pretty ordinary and were just trying to survive day by day. They considered it a good day if they and their friends, survived. So, with that said, it's time to figure out when your character enlisted in the military.
     For most people, a good time to choose would be sometime just after Pearl Harbor. December 1941 through the early months of 1942, recruiting stations were flooded with volunteers wanting to enlist and join the fight, so for the common soldier, between December 8, 1941 and 30 March 1942 would be the ideal timeframe. However if you're a younger reenactor and your impression is based around the Normandy Landings, perhaps push your enlistment date to mid 1943. On the other hand, if you're an older reenactor, it's possible to choose a date prior to December 7th, 1941. The US Military was building itself up earlier in 1941 in anticipation of entering the war. So take a look at the age you have chosen for your impression, and the date that your impression is centered around and go from there.
     Something else to consider when choosing your enlistment date is WHY did your character enlist? Was it patriotism following the Japanese attack? Was it family pressure? Was it an alternative to jail? Was there a massive layoff at your job and you needed guaranteed income? Were you drafted? There are so many different reasons people joined the military in World War II.

     So for the sake of example, our CO chose to join in 1936 following a layoff at the factory he worked at. He joined the Marines because his father was a Marine in World War I.

     If you've been keeping notes or thinking about your character, look at how far you've come. You started with a pile of clothes and gear and now you have a name, a face, a date of birth, a history, an occupation to go with it! You have just doubled the depth of your impression and really started to get into the mindset of someone who lived in World War II. Of course there's more too it than that, but this is a terrific start for the budding reenactor. From here you can start collecting pocket trash, which we will cover in detail in another post. Letters will be much easier to write and collect now that you have a history for your character. In many ways this is like a Live Action Role Play, except that it's based in historical fact and is recreating an actual period in history, rather than some fantastical adventure into Middle Earth.
     Now that you have all of this and you have a character, start reading memoirs of men and women who fought in campaigns your impression is centered around and learn what they thought and how they felt and how their friends felt about what they were doing and what they were experiencing and think about how YOUR character would respond to similar situations. This is another step towards truly creating an immersive and realistic character and persona to present to the public and to portray for yourself.
     We'll build on this later, and in future blog posts we'll cover some more of Lieutenant Fraser's story, how to create, and collect pocket trash, and how to make your impression even better. We hope you found this post helpful, and we would like to thank everyone for helping us reach 100 likes on Facebook! Please check out our Baker Company,1/21 Facebook page, as well as A Timeless Collection, Emily's Vintage Visions, and The Vintage Express!
Until next time;
SEMPER FI!