Unacceptable. I would have loved to see them dress up like that in the fifties or sixties in the US and get their behinds kicked by various and sundry veterans passing by.
Trouble is any war related show oft has the fat blokes in uniform all over the shop. Perhaps a note before hand stating the wearing of uniforms is not suitable for this occasion. Commonsense would normally prevail but some are not blessed in that direction. Every local show I go to seems to have the same bloke with one tooth in his head ,gaunt as hell, dressed up as as a 101st Airborne member
I can't raise my leg nearly that far. Cleese would have been a natural for the Führerbegleitkommando .
Ironically, our veterans fought specifically to protect the rights of these reenacters to make utter fools of themselves. Regardless of the uniform worn, it has always seemed pathetic to me to see some puffy, middle aged guy waddling around in a period costume. It is certainly not appropriate for all times, locations and particular events but I don't think many have that degree of self awareness or empathy. Distasteful to me and others so I will look away and give a thought to those who paid the price for that cherished freedom. As Rich noted, the question is 'why'?
The original thread was started over ten years ago. It is still an issue and a sore point. The ARmy Rumour SErvice's Arrsepedia commented that re-enacting became more questionable the more recent the conflict. Thus someone who owned medieval armour and knew howto use scary edged weapons was less weird than a civil war soldier and much less than a bank manager dressing up as a Falklands paratrooper or member of the SAS. There is also the questionable matter of dressing up as a m,ember of some elite unit, e,.g. the 101 Airborne when you are too fat old or unfit to render anything other than a comic homage. Surely the serious re-enactor should restrict themselves to age and fitness appropriate units.(I'd love to see a German re-enactment group entirely composed of Herman Goering lookalikes) Nazi re-enactment can be considered a political statement in a way that dressing up as a American or British soldier isn't. I reported a German re-enactor at the 2011 Living History show. He was dressed as a German paratroop captain and was espousing Nazi racial philosophy to the audience. A bit dodgy, but when he launched forth into holocaust denial, he was well over the line. It is a sore point internationally. At the big anniversaries of D Day in Normandy there were lots of re-enactors- none of them German. However,in recent years Bundeswehr soldiers have been present. However, the big anniversaries of the First World War in Belgium and France have included living history displays by local and German German WW1 re-enactors.
Goering attended the War and Peace Show at Beltring a number of years ago. Patton was also there. Not sure as to whether they were mates in real life. I and my friends found it quite sad.....sort of a Walt type of approach.
There's a German re-enactment group who've just started appearing at the Bridge over the Maas at Grave during the Market Garden anniversary. They've only just been allowed on the site after their proposed presence caused a local council meeting a couple of years ago to end in a bit of a fracas. However, the 'German' group have to stay in an enclosure about 200 yards away from everyone else in the furthest corner of the field.
For some,re-enactment reflects a psychological want.A similar psychological want that drew those in Germany to join and wear the black uniforms of the elite as they saw that the SS represented. Hitler saw these people as his ideological aryan warriors who would lead the racial battle against the untermenchen and have the strongest comradeship within the organisation.Yet some wish to dress up to represent the organisations...... the SS and Waffen SS,both proscribed as criminal organisations at Nuremburg. I would think that those,such as the citizens of Alsace who were forced into Wehrmacht service would wish to see others in Alsace, masquerading as Germans in any re-enactment.