Uber Living History - Great War Project

[John-M]

I had the privelage of being a reenactor for the CBC Great War Project. For two weeks, over 150 decendants of WWI vets lived in period conditions for filming of a docudrama on Canada's role in the Great War. Being on the German side, I though forum members might enjoy some of these images.

[John-M]

Canadians

A shot with Canadians. German mausers were produced in 1909 for the Argentine Army. The attention to detail in the uniforms was great. We had to live in them for two weeks in temperature in the high 30's C (90's F).

[John-M]

Gas Attack

Simulated Gas attack from 1916. While the German Gas mask was more like a bag, these were a close approximation.

[John-M]

Spandau

German Machine gun nest for one of the shots. Three were used and fired concurrently for this scene.

[John-M]

MG Position

Another view. All guns were fully functional, firing blanks during film shoots.

[John-M]

Vimy Ridge

Battle field shot. This battle was filmed during a thunderstorm - so everything turned to mud... which was GREAT!

[John-M]

Everything was covered in mud

During the shoot, everything was covered in mud.

[John-M]

More Mud

German trenches were full of water and mud about a foot deep. A shot taken just before the Canadian assault. Here I am hoping not to fall in...

[John-M]

Another shot

Trenches were about 6 feet deep...

[John-M]

Sniper in No Mans Land

Set up for a sniper shot. There was a lot of waiting (hours in many cases) for a shot that would last only a few seconds...

[John-M]

German Unit

Getting ready for the day's shoot.

[John-M]

Early War Trench System

Checking out the Canadian trenches during down time.

[John-M]

German Trench

Germans often had concrete trench systems holding the high ground.

[John-M]

Passchendale

Shot of Canadians about to go over the trench. Photo taken from a German Pill Box. It was eerie to shoot this sequence - watching the decendants drop as the weapon was firing. A haunting experience...

[John-M]

Vintage Shot

Image of German decendants and reenactors. This whole event was one of the most exciting things I have done in quite a while!!! Hope everyone enjoys the images.