Kelmarsh 2009

Festival of History

Kelmarsh Hall, Northants

25th-26th July 2009

For this year's Kelmarsh Festival of History event the group chose an Italy scenario and the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, the 95th Evacuation Hospital and a detachment of the 5th Army's 101st Military Police Battalion.

For us, the event started on the Thursday afternoon with an advance party arriving to establish the perimeter and erect some tentage. On Friday, the Military vehicles and prime movers arrived with the main group stores, by 2300hrs most of the group were in Camp with only two jeeps and crews arriving on the Saturday Morning. Camp Crowfoot was established well before the public arrived and the relevant elements of the group were undertaking training and mess hall duties.

This event would see the Army Nurses in a MTO scenario for the first time and allow the FAAA to re-establish its Core 509th PIB Impression.

The scenario was pre Operation Dragoon the invasion of Southern France by the 1st Airborne Task Force in August 1944. The date time was mid to late July just before the 509th and the 95th EVAC transferred over from US 5th Army to the 7th Army for "Dragoon" On a flat field site it's difficult to do anything other than a Bivouac camp scenario, however this suits us for this event as it gives us the opportunity to invite into the camp the public and show them around. For this year the Army Nurses and the parent unit FAAA worked together to make the camp scenario, with the Nurses 95th Evac Receiving element of their Hospital the main focus, the Five O Niners were just passing through!

Deploying for this one was a good cross section of the group split between the different units being represented.

As the show got underway, the main focus was on the 95th with the entire group up to midday representing this unit, so we had the manpower to represent several elements of the Hospital, again being an open display area it's difficult to get good period pictures with so many public there. This was achieved in some cases, but not in others.

First light on Saturday, Corpmen of the 95th Evac erect the last of the unit's nurse's quarters

The 95th Mess Hall is established and stores are off loaded

Nurses prepare for morning muster

XO does her rounds of the Nurses Quarters

Corpmen get an early Breakfast before flag raising

With the 95th Evac Receiving admin established, it's time for breakfast for the girls

Corpmen and Nurses share KP Duties

After a hearty breakfast supplied by the 95ths' Mess Hall, under the direction of Sgt MacDonald and cook's assistant, Private Davies, the Unit mustered with the visiting Headquarters Company 509th personnel for the flag raising.

This was done as a training exercise for the Army Nurses. This was the first time they had done this and a splendid effort by all the nurses achieved a very fitting ceremony.

Present Arms!

After the flag raising training started in earnest, not only for the public's benefit, of course, but also for the troops too.

While the Nurses busied themselves with medical training, the visiting 509th prepared kit and vehicles for the move to US 7th Army.

Mail Call!

While the 95th's mess hall is prepared for the next meal, the troops of the 509ths Headquarters Companys Machine Gun Platoon undertook Squad level training.

More mail and Red Cross pacels find their way to the 509th

Time to relax in the hot Italian sun

Camp security is maintained by the MP's of Company A 101st MP Battalion

The 509th was a parachute Battalion, every man in the Battalion was jump trained including Cooks, clerks and drivers. For some months, the Five O Niners had been waiting for their next jump. It was now soon to come, the 5th combat jump for the Battalion was to be into Southern France as the lead element of the First Airborne Task Force.

The 1st Airborne Task Force was an ad-hoc United States Army / British Army airborne force activated for Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France.

The task force was activated on July 11th, 1944, under the command of Major General Robert T. Frederick. It consisted of the British 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade, the U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion (PIB) with the attached 463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT), the 550th Glider Infantry Battalion, and the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion.

Our Battalion had the most combat experience of all the U.S. airborne units. It fought in French Northwest Africa and saw extensive action in Italy including storming ashore with the Fifth United States Army at Anzio. The 517th PRCT, commanded by Colonel Rupert D Graves, was the largest unit assigned to 1st ABTF. It included the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion and the 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company (596th PCEC).

On receipt of the warning order to move from 5th Army to 7th Army and our role in the jump into Southern France defined, jump training commenced. Chutes that had been used as pillows in pup tents we brought out, dusted down and repacked. Replacements prepared to jump for the first time since jump school, vets became jump masters. It was back to basics.

One of the sections many of the members of the public found interesting, of course, was the weapons and in the Armaments Platoon workshop.

Here, when he had time between talking about his favourite subject, Sgt Galloway and his team serviced all unit weapons.

Sterling work by our imbedded WARCO produced some fine shots. When representing a parachute unit, it is important to have a basic knowledge of how the Parachute equipment works, you may be asked!

Certainly one of the most interesting of events and we feel the best multi period event out there.

A bit of a flat display platform, but for this type of location you just have to adapt the best you can. Not all we did was within the display area and of course under the guidence of the MP Detachment, the public were encouraged to enter the camp where they got a guided tour.