D-Day Ohio

For those of you who haven't heard, the German army has captured a small section of northeast Ohio. The Allied armies have gathered and will soon surprise the enemy by making a beach landing from Lake Erie.

It's called D-Day Ohio and it runs for three days every August. I had heard about it from @mSummers and finally went for one day in 2023. Now in 2024 I'm joining the event photography staff. I'll try to post photos as I have time. Meanwhile, you can see photos by Michael, me and several other fine photographers at the D-Day Ohio SmugMug site.

For information about the event, go to DDayOhio.us.

 

D-Day Ohio is one of the largest gatherings of World War 2 reenactors. They set up camp in Conneaut Township Park in Conneaut, Ohio for three days, putting on demonstrations and fighting mock battles. The big battle of the day is the reenactment of the D-Day invasion of the beaches at Normandy. This photos shows some of the American soldiers on the parade ground waiting to be called down to the shore of Lake Erie to board their landing craft.


Invasion Force

 

It's not all about fighting big battles. There are some small battles as well. This was part of a show called French Resistance Intelligence Gathering. In this scene, some German soldiers on patrol in Normandy stumble across a French farm. They are apparently lost because they get out a map and ask the farmer where they are. Meanwhile, the rest of the family serves food to the soldiers. However, the family has a secret: the Free French have stored some weapons on the farm. Will the Germans find the weapons? Will the Allies arrive and defeat the Germans? The tension mounts...


Staying Alive

 

Here's another of the many battles performed at D-Day Ohio. A group of British airborne troops capture the Pegasus Bridge in a battle that was critical to the success of the Normandy invasion.


Ox and Bucks