Why Not DAK?

[supermario]

I wish to pose a question, as its one that i have always wondered about, and the Gebirgsjager thread got me thinking about it more. As the title of the thread says, Why not DAK? As a unit to portray, this is poorly represented in numbers, but is one of the highest profile units in WW2, and can be deemed one of the more palatable German units in WW2 within the British psyche (I speak of the great unwashed and MOP's in that sense). When you consider the bonuses of the DAK uniform (Cotton jackets, trousers and caps), especially during the summer months when most of the big shows are attended, i'm a little mithed as to why this portrayal hasn't taken off at all. With the current expansion of British units now portraying 8th army, DAK still seems to be a quirky unit to represent, rather than a serious contender. Why is that? Most of us will agree that the overall look of DAK troops is pretty damn smart, and those of us old enough will surely be influenced by the toys of our youth and saturday afternoon films with DAK being the bulk of the baddies in the matinee. However, within our hobby, its as barren as the desert to see DAK troops (With the exception of 288svb). So why doesn't anyone do 90th Leicht Div? Is it because there is limited scope for public battles? You can't really make an excuse for the British Climate being inappropriate, especially when you watch archive footage of Tunisia, where the grass grew long. If people deem themselves reenactors, then surely this is a great unit for German groups to portray, especially with the honourable and chivalrous way they fought their campaign. Does portraying such a unit mean that you have less chance of firing weapons at public shows, so therefore isn't a draw? Does that mean that most people do certain units so as to fire weapons? I'm not looking to open a can of worms, just a frank discussion about why it isn't done. The uniforms seem to sell from vendors, but you never see people wearing them. I must also say that this thread isn't about trying to make the Desert and north african campaign look like a better alternative, just because we reenact it as Italian, but is just begging the question...'why doesn't DAK attract a bigger following?'

Neil

[dbloge]

Here in the states, terrain does dictate DAK. There are some units in California and the in the Southwest and Texas that do DAK and do it well. I think that just about every German reenactor would like to do DAK, but the desert is hard to come by for most. Also, vehicles, and a large amount of land for maneuver are a must, which also limits DAK. Perhaps, MTO is a more realistic possibility. DAK units in the midwest or further east would look pretty foolish.




DL

[gewehrmonkey]

Here on the US west coast, we have LOTS of DAK events. The CHG hosts at least one per year put on by the 21pzr (many of the 12SS guys have secondary DAK impressions). The RPS in Washington state also holds frequent Afrika events, as do we here in Nevada. I'd be happy to share more if anybody is interested. We have a Facebook page (yeah, none of us are web savvy enough to have worked up a real webpage...) and would be happy to send an invite to interested parties.

[BaggyPants]

I'm guessing, Neil, but I would say it was mostly down to the British terrain and weather. It's difficult to realistically portray DAK in a wet, windy, green field of British grass. Personally, I love the uniform and kit, but even Beltring is too green to pull off the location effectively

[Stigroadie]

I've just about finished my Lufty N.Africa kit. Just a question of which colour waffenfarbe to wear.
Not exactly DAK but the idea is along the same lines.
Some folks are put off by the thought that you need all the 'DAK' webbing, waterbottle, breadbag and boots.
Continental kit was rife in N.Africa in all units, a mix and match approach would not be incorrect.
Nice repro tropical breadbags from ATF help.
DONT buy webbing shovel covers!!
There is a strong unit of 16th SS, again not DAK but they wear the beige cotton uniforms. Seems to do them OK in our climate, the olive of DAK cant be worse?
There are some wet and muddy photos from the later campaigns. You have a 1 in 3 chance of rain in Algeria between October and April and the higher levels in Tunisia get some rain.
Plus it's cold at night in most deserts, you can keep the greatcoat handy.

[Peiper]

Good point Mario
Personally i would like to portray DAK as this campaign has always been an intrest of mine but
as said earlier, there are not many groups that do it also the English terrain/weather etc does
not provide a good backdrop for portrayals, although you could probably get away with doing
an Italian scenario in the summer months lol

[supermario]

Ok, Apart from our comrades in the States, most cite the British countryside as a put off. Algeria and tunisia aren't deserts, and most of the battles were confined to the mediterranean coastline, which has grasslands and so on. Vast tracks of desert as a back drop isn't really needed. There are plenty of people doing Tropical Fallschirmjager, some people even doing Ramcke Brigade, a North African unit. What makes this more do-able than DAK. Certainly the British terrain hasn't put those guys off. And if its down to back drop, bring your own. Ok, a plywood lean too with sawdust on the floor might not be totally cannon, but it works for us.

[Schäfer]

I'm totally with you on this one, Neil.

My first love was always DAK, and like many of you I collected all the DAK Airfix kits and soldiers when I was a young lad. I suppose I was always mesmerised listening to my Dad and Uncles, the vast majority of whom served with the 8th Army in the desert during WW2.

Personally, and again, listening to many re-enactment colleagues over the years, the British weather, grassy, muddy locations and various other reasons puts off potential 'desert' recruits, but another reason, as Neil has mentioned, is the fact that most re-enactors of all persuasions, like to have a good old battle and blat away with their guns. Nothing wrong with that, it's what draws most of us to the hobby. Obviously, unfortunately, there isn't much scope for holding a tropical style battle in the middle of the English countryside.

Personally, I'm all for DAK and 8th Army and I hope it slowly and surely takes off in re-enactment circles. I'm looking to do a lot more DAK or KM tropical myself in the future. Richard Underwood tells me he is selling more DAK items than ever before, so there must be a reason behind that. Or perhaps they are only adorned in various beer tents up and down the country, who knows?

[gewehrmonkey]

Just to rub it in a bit...

[Schäfer]

Just to rub it in a bit...

.... Canvey Island always looks nice at this time of year!

But seriously, very nice!

[gebirgs soldat]

Even though my reenacting club (CHG) likes the desert for their DAK events, We have another area called OZENA VALLEY that is 4,000 feet, mountainous/hilly, with scrub oak that looks identical to film footage I have seen of Algeria/Tunisia/KASSERINE PASS/TEBESSA.. but the management refuses to use the site for any events other than Italy, Russian Front, France 1940 (WTF?)... but no Afrika battles there.. YES we are fortunate we do have some deserts similar to the Sahara.. (was in Eqypt in 1982 with the USAF) at an old WWII RAF base, the dunes were definitely interesting! I say do DAK near some coastal dunes in the UK!
P.S. the tropical uniforms are great for Balkans, Italy, scenarios, etc..

[Schäfer]

I say do DAK near some coastal dunes in the UK!

In my opinion, the best place for that in the UK is at the Muckleburgh Collection Museum in Norfolk. In fact Neil, the author of this thread, had a small Nord Afrikan scenario going on there last June with some members of his group.

[supermario]

So far all the answers have been interesting, but the one recurrent theme still emerges, that being the climate/landscape. Now i can see that the lush english countryside can be a deterrent to do battles in, but is it a detterent to reenact in? As Kevin (Schafer) put it, is this down to people wanting to blat more than reenact? The distinct lack of Mountains does'nt stop people like Les and other Gebirgsjager reenactors putting on excellent displays of Mountain equipment and the Gebirgsjagers uniquie uniform. It certainly doesn't stop them putting on winter whites and ski's. When you look at shows around the country, places like Detling are lush and green, so public battles would look rather odd, but not all together that bad. People reenact Stalingrad without a hint of snow on the ground, and there doesn't seem to be a criteria for shows to supply vast treeless steppes when people do Russian front. When you consider Normandy to be battles of hedgerow to hedgerow, and lots of armour and Allied air power then is a field of SS and US para's having at each other like some Napoleonic mulit bash just as representative? Beltrings arena actually lends itself quite well for Tunisia. Sandy soil and dry long grass. Ok, the back drop of deciduous trees isn't a common feature of North Africa, but they do have some. Now on the whole of it, there is a derft of Vehicles, Axis at least, that display North African colouration and insignia, except the odd Combo, so is that another reason? I just think that DAK is ill represented for the 2 years it fought, and bravely and honourably at that too. As i've said, we do North African as Italian, and it hasn't stop us. There again, we aren't bothered about doing Public battles. If the opportunity arises, then we probably would, but no one has ever done it. Maybe its time for a change?

Neil

[Schäfer]

Perhaps the time has come, Neil, for those of us who are interested in this subject, to get our heads together and organise one or two scenarios for the coming years. I mentioned Muckleburgh, perhaps that may be too remote for for some groups, individuals or public, but there must be other alternatives available? Perhaps there are also some very good Brit groups out there who would like to don their KD's for the odd event or two?

I am also aware that there is an 8th Army memorial day at Thetford Forest every June and that DAK re-enactors have been invited along to display their kit on occasion.

[Heinz O. Kaufmann]

'why doesn't DAK attract a bigger following?'

Cause there where no Waffen SS in Africa?