11th Swiss Rifles - 1914-1918

Another excellent weekend for the Swiss and friends at The Hex!

Thanks a million to our gracious host Doug Clark

Over the past weekend our group had the great pleasure in taking part in the Newville WWI reenactment. Newville is an amazing experience of being on a private site with hundreds of other reenactors and history enthusiasts portraying combat and support roles of the First World War. We participate as neutral observers, processing POWs, and facilitating meetings/communications between the two sides. It's not easy, as the event has extremely high standards but is incredibly rewarding. We would ask you to come and watch but it's a private event so the only way to come is to be a participant!

Happy Swiss National Day!

..the BEST named national holiday!

On 1 August, Switzerland commemorates the signing of the Federal Charter of 1291.

Over the weekend the group took park in the Camp Niagara event at Fort George!

We were able to warm up the machine gun a few times, interact with the public and spend some quality time with the other WW1 era reenacting groups!

Thanks everyone for attending.

Take a close look at image #5; the bayonet stuck in the ground is, well, the ground for the field phone!

You can tell that's during the early days of WW1, as the grey shako covers have been issued to troops still wearing the dark blue of Ord. 1898.

Der Armeefilmdienst hat seine Arbeit 1939 aufgenommen, der Armeefotodienst 1965. Trotzdem finden sich im DMA-Archiv auch einige ältere Aufnahmen. Dieses Mal legen wir den Fokus auf den Ersten Weltkrieg (1914-1918). Die historischen Aufnahmen zeigen zum Beispiel Flugzeugbesatzungen, Genietruppen, Artilleristen oder eine Feldküche der Schweizer Armee im Einsatz. # Le Service cinématographique de l’armée a commencé ses activités en 1939 et le Service photographique de l’armée en 1965. Néanmoins, les archives du MNA contiennent également quelques photos et vidéos plus anciennes. Cette fois, nous mettons l’accent sur la Première Guerre mondiale (1914-1918). Les photos de cette époque montrent notamment des équipages d’aéronefs, des troupes du génie, des artilleurs ou encore une cuisine de campagne de l’Armée suisse lors d’un engagement. # Il Servizio cinematografico dell’esercito e il Servizio fotografico dell’esercito hanno iniziato le loro attività rispettivamente nel 1939 e nel 1965. Tuttavia, nell’archivio del MDE sono presenti anche reperti più datati. In questa sede ci concentriamo sulla Prima guerra mondiale (1914-1918). Le fotografie storiche mostrano, ad esempio, equipaggi di aerei, truppe del genio, artiglieri e l’impiego di una cucina da campo dell’Esercito svizzero. #schweizerarmee #armeesuisse #esercitosvizzero #ersterweltkrieg #premiereguerremondiale #primaguerramondiale

Here's a collection of photos and video captured by unit member's at the November event in Newville!

During some casual reading this particular page came up, in English, showing in great detail the area of Switzerland where Kilometer 0 was for most of WW1.

It has detailed photos, maps, and descriptions of features you might not typically encounter as history enthusiasts.. so please enjoy!

https://thebignote.com/2022/08/05/kilometre-zero-where-the-western-front-began/

Greetings friends!

Unit photographer & chef James McFarlane has photos available from this past spring's Newville event available now! Here's his original post;

"I have completed the work on the "POW photos" that I took at the Spring Tactical earlier this year. Thank you for your patience!
You can view the files on flickr here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAMaz8

Please feel free to comment with any additional information for the entertainment and education of all.
The files are available for download from Google Drive here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Wxl0cefFkILcLplQ9F0EN6gpw4iklpKQ?fbclid=IwAR1HqR4pUHaI3MFd6h0VkurIqi0AjCONLIUbK3m-_CjWmSypYnVJsddVLmY

Please feel free to share the photos and links far and wide! I have provided them in a historic state without watermarks for personal use, if you would like to post them online please attribute them to James McFarlane or McFarlaneImaging.
For those who would like traditional darkroom prints of these images please email me the photo #'s at [email protected] for further details. Print sales in the next 2 months will defray the cost of more film for the November Tactical.
Enjoy!
"

Newville Spring Tactical 2023 Here’s my latest project, photographing WW1 Re-enactors at the Newville tactical in Pennsylvania. I portrayed a photographic clerk in a Swiss army medical internment unit, processing POWs and taking glamour shots for whoever wanted them. The intent was to make them look “rough & tumble” in...

Some photos from the timeline event at Backus-Page House Museum this past weekend! Thank you Steve Zronik