Review
by Doc
I participated in the WARGAMMING YOUR WAY ACROSS EUROPE TOUR 2003 (WYWAE) held April 13-28, 2003. This vacation was designed for the historical gaming hobbyist. You will see that we saw some great military history sites in Europe. And I would like to state up front that there was a great camaraderie among all of us traveling historical gamers, which greatly enhanced the touring experience.
This world wind trip had us visiting historically sites from the invasion Beaches of Italy and France to the Casements of Luxembourg. And we spanned the ages from Agincourt to World War II, which was our main focus. And we were able to meet, play with or see games run by our international brothers in this hobby in Rome, Ghent, Paris and London.
Bill Owen of Franklin Travel (bill@franklintravel.com) did all the work to organize this great trip. There is a future trip to Eastern Europe/Russia being planned a couple years from now, so if you have interest e-mail him. I sure am going to try and attend. The participants included the Midwest Contingent: John Holtz, Dave Nelson, Bill Owen, Ed Pauley, The New York Contingent: James Andruk, Charley Elsden, Jim Meersand; The Florida Contingent: Doc Ramos and Doug Steigerwald, and Rich Baier from Pittsburg, PA. Our small group of ten traveled in style in a huge tour bus customized with tables for board and miniatures gaming.
The official tour included Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, France and England. Doug and I took and extra few days to shoot up to Scotland. During this whirlwind tour we visited 16 Military Museums plus 7 Major forts or other installations. We had a great opportunity to see almost every Armored Fighting Vehicle, uniform and small arms used in the European Theatre of War, as well as some other significant historical sites.
We could have easily spent more time in each of the sites we visited, and had to pass by many more historical sites for every one we stopped at. The places we did stop made the trip a very worthwhile experience. And one that will be with me the rest of my life. Of course the tour members experience fine cuisine, the beauty of the land, extremely good weather and very friendly people.
ITALY
Doug and I flew from Florida to Rome, Italy while the rest of the tour members were stranded in London because of an Airport Strike. I was able to arrange to have us met at the Rome Airport Leonardo da Vinci by Mercedes V Class Limousine Service that included a personalized five-hour tour of the city of Rome.
We started with the Basilica of Saint Paul inside of which is a portrait of every Pope. We then continued on to see all the standing Gates to the old city of Rome. The Column of Marcus Aurelius, Emperor Trojan's, and Ethiopia. The Presidential Palace that had a parade of troops reviewing in front of it at the time. Saint Peter's in the Vatican that did not have handicap access but the Pope was in residence and we did see the Swiss guards with all their spears. The Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, Castle Saint Angelo built as a tomb to the emperor Hadrian, River Tiber, Bridge of Prostitutes, Capitol Hill, the Campidoglio, the Cordonata, Palatine Hill, The Roman Forum, the Circus Maximus, the Tabularium, Necropolis, The Arch of Titus, the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum.
We also stopped at the Piazza Venezia, which contains the Vittoriano, which is a monument to King Victor Emanuele, the unifier of Italy, the Palazzo Venezia that Mussolini used to orate, The Church of Aracolei (Altar of Heaven). Many Italians call the Vittoriano the Wedding Cake. There is a flame in the center with military guards which mark's Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. And there are some ruins that are the remains of a Roman insula (apartment house).
We ate lunch at what we learned later was the best Piazza in the city to eat. Then we met the rest of our companions. Where we joined them for a whirlwind tour of Rome that evening. Seeing a few of the same sites we saw in the morning plus Dante's House, the ruins of the Palace of Augustus, the ruins of the stables of the Colosseum, a couple of different buildings by Micelangelo. But what was nice was seeing the Forum at dusk and the lighted Colesseum at night.
The next day we spent the day with the Roman Military History Association, our host wargaming group in Rome. Arturo Lorioli and Maurizio Bragagha hosted a number of games for us and provided Roman Pizza for lunch. I played a World War II scenario using the Command Decision 3 rule set. Some of the others enjoyed games WWII game using Men Under Fire, the Sword and Flame in the Sudan, WWI Russians vs. Germans and many more we did not have time to play. Arturo was a very gracious host.
Next day we toured the Italian Motor Corps Museum (Museo Storico Della Motorizzazione Militare). Here were World War I vehicles like classic old staff cars, truck mounted guns, and the type of ambulances driven by Ernest Hemmingway. Then came all the Italian vehicles used in WWII--tanks, SPs, armored cars--and some Allied vehicles as well (tanks, AT guns, artillery both British and American). We were told we could not see the other hundred or so vehicles because it was no safe, but Arturo convinced the Sgt. Who was guiding us to go to lunch for 4 hours and promised we would be gone before he returned. We were all over those vehicles. We were also given a copy of the official Italian Army magazine ("Rivista Militare").
From here we headed off to the town of Anzio. Here we visited the Beachhead Museum which is a one room exhibit just packed with many photos and artifacts from the invasion. The museum was officially closed when we arrived, but Arturo talked our way in during a time when it was officially closed, claiming he was representing the 'Distinguished American Military Historians.' We had a nice seafood lunch and then headed off to the airport up the coast road for our flight to Luxembourg.
LUXEMBOURG
Luxembourg City is two cities in one. One side of the river is all very modern and set up for the international political community. The other side the original old City as it must have always looked. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is located in the mountainous regions of Ardennes. First stop was the Bock Casemates. Hewed into a rocky hill overlooking the city, it once controlled the area during many disputes between major European powers. It took an international treaty to demilitarize the city by demolishing the superstructure of the fortress in 1867, which commanded the strategic gateway to northern Europe. But the underground sections could not be razed without causing a landslide and taking the city with it! In WWII, the 17 kilometers of tunnels sheltered up to 35,000 people from air raids and shelling.
We then viewed the old section of the capital itself, which included the Palace of the Grand Dukes, Neumuster Abbey and the Cathedral to the Blessed Virgin. We then left and headed off to the American Military Cemetery of Luxembourg. Here we were brought face to face with the graves of American soldiers who perished in the Battle if the Bulge, in 1944-45, at the end of the Second World War, against the German Wermacht. George S. Patton, the commander-in-chief of the 3rd US Army Corps, found his last resting place here, as he wished. There are 5, 076 white crosses that form an arch in front of the memorial chapel.
FORAY INTO FRANCE
We drove into France near Thionville just north of Metz like crossing a state border. We drove through beautiful green fields of Galgenberg and up to a large bunker that was built into a hill, which if you viewed it from Germany would be invisible. The area was surrounded by rusty barbed wire and a cupola on top that is the only indication of the entrance to this vast underground complex called the Maginot Line. The day was sunny and warm and did not prepare us for the freezing temperatures we would encounter within the tunnel complex. We were told that we could only have a half hour tour, but our young military guide was so impressed hat we were so enthusiastic that he stayed down underground with us for a couple hours extra. It was hard to vision be stationed under hear for 3 months at a stretch.
When you enter and go past the machine gun position covering the first bend at the entrance tunnel we started our trek inside. This part of the line is still not restored. Which I preferred, for much of the original equipment and furnishings remained. We toured barracks with bunks and gun racks; kitchens that still had their stoves and cooking utensils, artillery storerooms with hoist and rail carts still in place, offices, showers and many other rooms.
BELGIUM
We ended the night in the very picturesque town of Bastogne. In the town square is a M4 Sherman tank, a flagpole flying the American Flag and a statue with plaque to general McAuliffe of the 101st Airborne. We ate a fine dinner in the "Le Nuts café." In the morning we headed off to the fine museum at the Bastonge Historical Center and Mardisson Monument. In front of the museum entrance is a German Hertzer and an American Hellcat Tank Destroyer. Inside the museum are some very nice full size dioramas in full uniforms. One for the USA and one for Germany. There were cases of equipment on display. The sort of items only seen in books. There was also an orientation film actually shot during the Battle of the Bulge. The monument outside includes the names of all 50 US States with the unit patches worn by the troops involved.
As we drove along the hillside road passing medieval buildings and US Tanks on pedestals, which every town seemed to have, we stopped at the town of La Roche en Ardennes. The town square had a Pershing Tank in it. Here we saw the small Musee de la Bataille des Ardennes. They had full size dioramas with uniforms, vehicles and heavy weapons. Each floor was dedicated to a different country, one for the British, the German and the Americans.
Next stop was the Museum Ardennen Poteau '44 that has small dioramas and artifacts from when the US 14th Cavalry was basically ambushed by the German 9th SS Panzer Divison. The museum is located in the original unrestored farmhouse; you could still see the bullet holes. We all had a great ride in a restored German SdKfz 152 Halftrack. A very fun, dusty and noisy rides. They also have a running American Halftrack and are presently restoring a Stuart tank. There were even artifacts of the battle for sale upstairs. That night we stayed in Liege were we were on the Prussian line of communication as that early 19th century army prepared to meet the troops of the defeated but now triumphantly returning Napoleon Bonaparte, who was marching north to meet them.
In the morning we went to Fort Eben Emael, which is completely restored and heated. The fort is located above the Meuse River almost on the border of Holland. The fort had a small museum in it, a diorama set up to show all the German uniforms used in the area, had many living areas including a very nice officers mess and many other rooms. This was a comfortable fort and the soldiers stationed here could visit the nearby town.
Our next stop was the Battlefield of Waterloo. The battlefield, though only 4 km wide and the troops separated by 1km, was rolling terrain. When you are there you can see the opposing troops could not see each other. It was really eye opening and explains a lot about the results of the battles. The Chateau Hougoumont, which is open to the public. We had a guide that pointed out the places where the combatants had clashed. The walls around the garden have not been rebuilt since the battle. We continued around the battlefield and drove past the farm complex of La Haye Saint and the village of Papelotte.
We preceded to the town of Ghent the birthplace of Charles V the Hapsburg Emperor, where we spent the next two nights. Ghent is a large city with narrow streets. The town is built on the side of a large hill it seems. The road seems to climb at a 45-degree incline in most places. The next day we toured the old town. Some of the group went to the bus where there was a 35"x80" table and played out the Battle of the Bulge using spearhead rules. The bus also had two other tables that where 17"x50", which we used for board games.
Next we headed to Ypres where in World War I (W.W. I) 800,000 men perished. On the drive there we passed by the site of Courtray, The Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1300 AD. In Ypres the Cloth Hall is famous in W.W. I photos. It was totally leveled, but is now restored and contains the In Flanders Field Museum which exhibits that show
FRANCE
We entered France were we stopped for a very good lunch in St. Omer. After lunch we headed off for the Bunker Eperlecques. It is hidden in the forest of northern France. Construction was accomplished with the help of slave labor from allied nations. This site was to launch V2 rockets against England as soon as it could. The site would include a railroad siding and a factory for liquid oxygen. But it was found by an RAF recon flight and was bombed on 27 August 1943 from 185 B-17's. You can still see the devastation today. The 12,000 lbs Tallboy bombs made sure that this site never became operational.
The path through to the site has a couple of W.W.II vehicles including a German two-man submarine and a V1 rocket on a launch rail. The structure is very imposing. It stands at 35 meters wide, 75 meters long, 22 meters high and 11 underground; which is only one-third of its designed completed size. There is a ramp that leads down into the structure pass doors, which weigh 213 tons each. It is cold and damp inside where you can see the chambers where the V2's would have been launched. The lower areas of the structure are underwater and not accessible.
Next we went back in time to 1415 AD, where we visited Agincourt and the Historical Center located on the site. The Battlefield is still clear. We finished the day at Caen. The next day we stopped at the Memorial Museum at Caen, which is one of the largest in the area. There is a British Typhoon airplane hanging from the ceiling of the huge entrance area. The museum has several floors of exhibits.
We started down the coastal area starting with the British sector on the north. Our first stop was the Pegasus Bridge and the Pegasus Memorial Museum. The original bridge is now on museum grounds. Inside the museum are very nice exhibits on the British Paratroops of the 6th Airborne. On the other side of the bridge from the museum is the Café Gondree where we had lunch and a bottle of Calvados. The Hostess named Arlette, is the daughter of the famous family who are documented in many books for their work with the Resistance. She claims her house was the first one liberated on the morning of D-Day.
We then drove down the coast past the British beaches. We stopped when we reached the Battery Longes with its bunkers. It still has three of its four guns and is located between Juno and Utah Beaches. The command bunker is forward overlooking the cliff.
We continued on to the Musee du Debarquement at Arromaches where if you look out over the water, you can still see the remains of the Mulberry. The town is on a hill overlooking the ocean and you can see the cliffs off in the distance. The museum has a large diorama showing the Mulberry being used on D-Day (and the water in the Diorama actually moves as if it is a living ocean).
Next stop was Omaha Beach, which looked very wide, flat and exposed. The beach has a modern monument. Located here is a small museum with more original equipment. We continued on to a location with very big gun on display, Pointe du Hoc. This is where the American Rangers scaled the cliffs. The huge shell holes covering this location of a created by the 16" guns of US Battleships. These craters are easily 12 feet deep and 40 feet in diameter.
Utah beach has only shallow sand dunes bordering the landing zone. There is a small museum here. At the entrance of the museum is a blue Buffalo amphibious tractor with US Navy insignia. We then headed off to the town of St. Mere Eglise. On the familiar church steeple hangs a dummy of a US paratrooper John Steele as a memorial. Located off the town square is the Paratroop Museum where one can see a C-47 and Waco Glider surrounded by uniforms of the US Airborne. Outside stands an Easy Eight Sherman.
We stopped for the night in the city of Bayeaux. Located her is the Tapestry which is 76 yards long and 18 inches high. Embroidered on this long tapestry are the depiction of the Norman Invasion of England that took place in 1066 AD, a very beautiful work of art and history.
From here we headed off to the Loire Valley filled with wine vineyards. We went to one of the best military exhibits of all, the French Army Tank Museum at Samur. This museum has almost every major vehicle from the World War II with the exclusion of Japanese. The most rare of the tanks were the French Schneider and the St. Chaumond from WWI. This museum also has a very large King Tiger and a running Panther.
Our time in Europe was coming to a close, so we headed off to Paris for our flight to London. The drive was through just absolutely beautiful countryside. We had dinner in Paris with local gamer Francis Garnier. After dinner we went on a night tour of the cities most famous sites. Paris is the city of lights. Next morning we headed to London.
ENGLAND
From the London airport we went straight to an outlying farm where most of the guys spent the day driving tanks. They drove a Chieftain tank, Abbot SP, an APC and a Quad Bike. This was all accomplished on a very cold day in the rain and mud. Everyone had a great time. We went back to the Kensington section of London where our hotel that was to be our home while in England was located.
The next day we attended the British SALUTE 03 Convention, the largest annual hobby event held in the U.K. It covered three large floors of the Olympia Convention Center. They had everything here. There were dealers galore and lots of games to play. Also present were re-enactors from Victorian Colonial days and the American Civil War. The British usually play exhibit games that are not open to the public, but I was invited to play in many of the games. I spent the whole day at the convention.
The next morning we went to the British Tank Museum at Bovington camp, probably the best AFV collection in the world. When you enter the museum, the first exhibit is a life size diorama of trenches from World War I that you walk through. First through the British lines and then into the Germans. Which leads out into the World War I tank exhibits which includes an exhibit on T.E. Lawrence. Next is a collection of Inter-War vehicles including a Rolls Royce armored car. Next we enter the very large World War II section. Here you see Both the Tiger I and II, a Churchill Crocodile, T-34 and Sherman Firefly plus many more. Finally you enter the modern section. On the way back to town we stopped off and walked around Stonehenge.
The next morning the rest of the guys flew home to the good old USA leaving Doug and I behind to go on to the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon. Which has to be one of the best Air Museums ever. They have a collection of well over two hundred aircraft from all over the world on display. They include the legendary Spitfire and Lancaster Bomber. The aircraft covers all eras up to today. They even have an Avro Vulcan inside on display! Doug and I stayed here from open to close. And once again back to Kensington to sleep.
The next morning we headed off by train to South East England to visit Leeds Castle. Leeds castle is listed in the Doomsday Book. This castle has been a Norman Stronghold, a royal residence for six of England's medieval queens, a palace of Henry VIII, and a retreat for the powerful and influential. This is a very beautiful location within 500 acres of glorious grounds surrounding the castle and moat. There is an aviary with over 100 species of endangered birds while the castle itself has a museum of dog collars in the moat house.
Once again we woke up and took the British Rail System, which is great, to the Walled city of York. Our first stop was to go under the city and visit the excavation of the Viking Town contain in the Jorvik Viking Centre. Then we went by the Fairfax House and Clifford's Tower on the way to the York Castle Museum and York Prison. Then we crossed town passing by the Shambles, Holy Trinity Church, and St. Cuthbert's Church on the way to tour the York Minister.
In the York Castle Museum you can take the opportunity to walk along Victorian Kirkgate, the famous cobbled street that has been recreated in vivid detail. All the life of Victorian England is here from the shops displaying their wares, to the stagecoach getting ready to leave for London. Kirkgate is not the only street in the museum. A second life-size street called Half Moon Court has been built in the former debtors' prison and represents life in Edwardian York. From the Court, the path takes you into the prison cells. The first contains fixtures that were brought to York from Northallerton Gaol. The rest of the cells have been turned into workshops, which demonstrate the many crafts and skills that were practiced in Yorkshire.
When evening approached we went back to the train station and headed off to our hotel in Edinburgh.
SCOTLAND
This morning I hired a tour guide to takes us to Craigmillar Castle and Rosslyn Chapel. Craigmillar Castle consists of a 14th-century L-plan keep, surrounded by a 15th-century curtain wall with round corner towers. Early in the 16th century it was given an additional walled courtyard, protected by a ditch. The Prestons held the property from 1374, and built a new castle on the site of a much older stronghold. In 1477 James III imprisoned his brother John, Earl of Mar, in one of its cellars, where he died. The Earl of Hertford burnt the castle in 1544, after valuables placed here by the English had stolen the citizens of Edinburgh. James V visited the castle to escape 'the pest' in Edinburgh. Mary, Queen of Scots, used Craigmillar often, and fled here in 1566 after the murder of Rizzio by, among others, her second husband Darnley. It was also here that the Regent Moray, Bothwell and William Maitland of Lethington plotted Darnley's murder. Mary's son, James VI, also visited. Sir William St Clair, third and last St Clair Prince of Orkney, as it was to have been, founded Rosslyn Chapel, or the Collegiate Chapel of St Mathew in 1446. It is in fact only part of the choir of what was intended to be a larger cruciform building with a tower at its centre. This took the whole day.
The next morning we toured Edinburgh Castle that dominates the capital city's skyline. 'The stronghold of Eidyn' was first recorded before 600AD and by the Middle Ages it had become a mighty fortification and the royal residence of Scotland's kings and queens. A rich mix of architectural styles reflects the castle's complex history and role as both stronghold and seat of Kings. The tiny St Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh's oldest building, dates from the 1100s; Crown Square, the principal courtyard, was developed in the 15th century; the Great hall with its impressive hammer beam roof was built by James IV, the Half Moon Battery was created in the late 16th century; and the Scottish National War Memorial was added after the First prisoners of war were held in the 18th and 19th centuries; The 'Honours of the Kingdom' exhibition telling the story of Scotland's Crown Jewels - saved from Cromwell to become some of the oldest surviving regalia in Europe; the Stone of Destiny - taken to Westminster Abbey in 1296 and returned to Scotland 700 years later; the One O' Clock Gun and a display on the history of time guns and timekeeping; and the giant medieval siege cannon Mons Meg, once again standing proudly on the castle ramparts. We were there to see the One O'clock firing.
That evening we caught the train for a great ride down south to Gatwick, where we spent the night. Next morning we flew home to the good old USA. Bill is planning to run the same type of tour in a couple of years to the Eastern Front of World War II. Imagine starting in Finland and making your way south through Russia. I plan to go.
Copy Right 2003.
