The Smiley GI

Thank you to Jack Redd aka Peter Fitzpatrick, , and for helping me recreate the linkup of American and British Troops during the Battle of the Bulge! This was a great event, even despite the brutal cold.

Check out Jack Redd’s great work here:
https://jackredd.photography/about-this-project

Learn more about the linkup between British and American forces in my recent article here:
https://thesmileygi.com/british-forces-in-the-battle-of-the-bulge-5th-queens-own-cameron-highlanders-153rd-brigade-british-51st-highland-division-scout-platoon-of-a-coy-circa-january-1945/

Ever wonder about what the British were doing during the Battle of the Bulge? For an upcoming reenactment, I started poking around and discovered an interesting history!

Check out the whole article here:
https://thesmileygi.com/british-forces-in-the-battle-of-the-bulge/

A spooky story that haunts many a reenactor. Happy Halloween! Ignore the stupid autocorrect typo in the second pic lol

There’s been some times where I’ve thought about getting out of Living History/Reenacting but Rockford 2023 really brought back some of the passion that I think waned in 2022/2023. I’m trying to rethink how I do content here and on other platforms—I know reenactors love “aesthetics” and “vibes” but I want to figure out a way of sharing all the research I do. If you see me with an impression, I’ve likely read at least 5-20 books on that impression and have something like a 15 page document full of notes somewhere on my computer. I’m thinking of first trying to work on some topics to cover the Spanish Civil War and try to make as much sense of it as one can make in bite-sized chunks without losing the important nuances, but if there’s any other topics you’d like to see covered, let me know!

Pictured: American volunteer in training at Albacete, 1937

“Holding the line for months at a time” on the Jarama front with the XV Brigada Internacional (Abraham Lincoln Battalion). March, 1937

An American volunteer in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion poses for a propaganda shot at Jarama during the first year of the Spanish Civil War. Early June, 1937

Another Rockford WWII Days in the book! It was amazing seeing so many old friends and meeting some new ones too! I’ll be making some posts about it and the history my unit represented in the coming days/weeks.