3 Kompanie 17th SS Gotz von Berlichingen Reenactment/Living History

The Pioniere Spähtrupp identifies a potential location that the enemy could use to flank the HG positions. The area will be mined with a mix of anti personnel and anti tank mines shortly to deny the enemy freedom of movement.

Some photos of our encampment at History alive this year as the Hermann Goring division.

With how the world currently is going and the new laws in Australia the group unfortunately wont be portraying the 17th SS anywhere near as much as we did. With that in mind make sure to go over to our Hermann Goring division impression page and follow that to see what we are up to the majority of the year.

Some photos from a recent interstate tactical some of our members attended.
Our medic assists our Heer comrades in Reenact SA

The men enjoy a quick coffee and cigarette during a break.

Coffee time. Otto boils up some water for coffee during a quick break from digging.

The digging continues, foliage is added to conceal the positions. This way American patrols can be ambushed and will struggle to call in accurate artillery fire.

The men of GvB start digging in. On the 13th of June 1944 the 17th SS alongside the 6th Fallschirmjager Regiment launched a counter attack to retake Carentan. Elements of the US 101st Airborne were routed but American reinforcements in the form of armour stopped the 17th SS from retaking the town. From here Gotz would be heavily outnumbered and on the defensive. Constantly defending and giving ground. Here some men of 3 Kompanie start digging in along a small road in order to slow down the allied advance.

Time for some historical/reenacting myth busting. The first reenactorism myth that needs to go away is the belief that even in 1944 SS men were all young (teenagers to early 20s) and volunteers. Over ten years of re-enacting I have heard this nonsense spouted far to many times from people all over the globe. It is simply not true in the slightest.

Seeing this group reenacts the 17th SS let us look at actual evidence from that unit, a "late war" unit formed in 1943 and first seeing action in Normandy, 1944. To do so presented here is passages from the units own records and photos showing that not all men were volunteers, in fact most were conscripts from all over Reich controlled or friendly lands. And that a solid number of them were older men. If your being conscripted your clearly not a indoctrinated volunteer.

The reports from GvB mention that by 1943 conscription was implemented to create new Waffen SS units and that large numbers of them were Volksdeutsche from outside the borders of Germany. Ranging from areas such as Alsace-Lorraine, Hungary, Italy plus many more. Some coming as far away as Romania. Some couldn't even speak beyond very basic/broken German.

Here we also see that the division reports that 13.5% of its men were older then 34. Many people may try and claim that this would be officers. This is blatantly wrong when you factor in that GvB had a critical shortage of officers and ncos. Then when you look at photos you see older men in the rank and file. III Kompanie of the 37th SS Panzergrenadier regiment (which we mostly portray) even mentions 53.2% of its men were youth under 23. It is therefore safe to say that even in the panzergrenadier ranks there were men in their 30's and when you go to more rearline units such as artillery, signals, flak etc there would be even more men in their 30-40's as stated by GvB themselves.

As the war goes on more and more older men would find themselves in the frontline ranks of the SS as evidenced by looking at surviving soldbuchs. Clearly this myth of only young indoctrinated men in the SS even in 1944 is utter nonsense.

3 Kompanie has the honour of re-enacting alongside this new group that is forming in Queensland focusing on 41 Royal Marine Commando. Be sure to go give them a like/follow. If you live in or near Queensland and have ever thought of re-enacting the British side of things be sure to reach out to them.

Today marks the 80th anniversary of Dday. For the men of Gotz von Berlichingen it would be a frantic day of readying for combat. Some lead elements of the division (recon battalion) would drive all the way to the area near the beaches and feel anger as they could do nothing to stop the allied landings. For the bulk of the division though it would still be days before they saw the enemy as they drove, rode and mostly marched their way to the front.

A quick break from digging detail. Sound of battle is heard in the distance as they smoke. The young men full of vigor think eagerly of pushing the allies back into the sea. Meanwhile the older nco's think back on the fading victories of the early years and comrades lost.

The men at work. Digging and adding logs to the gun pits was the order of the day.

We are recruiting!
If you have an interest in the German military of WW2, live within Australia and want to give reenacting a go then reach out to us!

3 Kompanie is a authentic reenacting group based in Queensland Australia. We aim for high levels of immersion and authenticity with monthly training weekends and tactical events held with other Australian based groups all over the nation. We also engage in a number of public events every year with History Alive being one such event. The 17th SS Panzergrenadier division and the Luftwaffe's Hermann Goring Fallschirmpanzer division being our main areas of focus, with other impressions being utilised for certain events and assisting with film projects.

So if you are interested be sure to reach out to us about this interesting and rewarding hobby.

With the weather cooling down the men get stuck into working on the trenches. On this particular occasion the men didn't adhere to a GvB impression but wore uniform items more in line with the 12th SS in prep for a tactical event later this month.

An army marches on its stomach the old adage goes. And to help in that regard a fantastic edible repro ration set from Steiner Werke arrived at Kompanie HQ.
Iron ration containing Knackerbrot, 2x200g tins of pork and coffee.
Plus the frontline supplementary ration for frontline personal containing Knackerbrot, chocolate, hard lollies/candy, fruit roll, matches and cigarette box.

The men of 3 Kompanie wish you all a Merry Christmas 🎄

Some photos from the Military jeep club of Queensland show earlier this year. Credit to the photographer.
First up Sturmann Johann Hertz making use of the truppenfahrrad and the unit mascot Freyja, because everyone loves puppies.

With summer about to arrive and temperatures at our training ground already hitting 38 degrees celsius the group hangs up our GvB attire for a few months and dons something much more suitable for the climates.
For the next 6 months we will be portraying the men of the Hermann Goring panzer division in Sicily/Italy 1943-1944.
Once the cooler months return then so shall our GvB impressions.

Until then be sure to follow our HG page at : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100081068060973

And fear not there will be GvB content still being posted during summer.

3 Kompanie,Panzer Pioneer Battalion HG. Living history/Reenactment A reenactment/living history group based out of Queensland Australia focusing on the military histor

This Saturday and Sunday come to Laidley showgrounds just out of Brisbane and check out whats happening at the Military Jeep club of Queensland's annual show and swap meet. 3 Kompanie will be there portraying men of Gotz von Berlichingen resting and refitting in the field after fighting around Carentan.
If you make it out be sure to drop by and say hi.

3 Kompanie will be attending this event again this year. With a range of WW2-modern military vehicles and some other great reenactment groups in attendance it's worth heading out to. We hope to see you all there.

Some more shots of the men portraying Luftwaffe Field division in support of a upcoming short film.

Some of the group spent the weekend assisting with a short film. They portrayed men of a Luftwaffe field division in this instance.

Having gotten close to US lines undetected, Johan notes down enemy positions and defenses. Once that is done the recon team will withdraw and provide this critical information to Kompanie HQ.