Panzer-Weekend 2023

In what I feel is no understatement to describe as the highlight of our reenacting careers, six members of Cp Fus Mont III/15 LHG made the trip across Europe to participate in Verein Militär- und Festungsmuseum Full-Reuenthal’s Panzer-Weekend show on the 2nd and 3rd of September. With one member portraying Swiss troops posted to the German border during the threat of invasion in 1939 and one as a military chef, the remaining four of us took on the role of the crew of an Oerlikon Fliegerabwehrkanone [anti-aircraft gun] 54, which was kindly loaned to us by our friends from Verein Schweizer Armeefreunde. The show and the museum were both absolutely fantastic, and there was far from enough time to see everything! We’re incredibly grateful for the generosity and warmth with which we were welcomed to Switzerland, and made a number of new friends.

After the show closed, we travelled around Switzerland, meeting another friend in Lausanne and visiting Château de Morges et ses Musées before stopping off at Privatir Sarl, where we tried out a number of Swiss service weapons - the Kar 11, Stgw 57, Stgw 90, Parabellum-Pistole 06/24 and Pist 49, as well as a Mauser 98. We are all familiar with these firearms in their deactivated forms in the UK, so it was good to get a feel for them ‘mit scharfer Munition’! From there, we headed to Zürich and stopped by the historic retailer of military wares, Bambus. The proprietress, an elderly lady, told us stories of growing up during the Aktivdienst period (when the Swiss Army was mobilised against a potential Nazi invasion) as well as days gone by when the shop was manufacturing uniform items such as shirts for Army contracts. Finally, we rounded off the trip with a visit to Compagnie 1861 to see the museum they’re working on building and to get hands-on with a number of rare and important artefacts in their collection.

All in all, it was an incredible trip, and we only wish we could have stayed longer to see and do even more! Thank you to all of our friends in Switzerland who allowed the trip to happen - most of all those in CHAF -, and our apologies to those we didn’t manage to visit. Hopefully we’ll be seeing you all soon!