Knee Deep Into History Battlefield Tours

07/25/2025

Set up at the WWII American Experience Museum's Military Weekend in Gettysburg, PA this weekend. If you're in the area, stop by and say hello. I'm in the indoor vendor area.

07/21/2025

Join Knee Deep Into History on its Rise and Fall of the Third Reich WW2 Tour in October 2025 as we visit key early and late-war N**i sites.

07/15/2025

Merlin, thank you so much for having me on your Merlin's Barn Podcast and allowing me to tell the story of Knee Deep Into History. Listening to the podcast again, I am amazed how many things stuck with you from the 2005 tour, 20 years ago and one of my first guiding experiences.

Available now!!!! Episode 20, Walking WW1 Battlefields. A conversation with Randy Gaulke of Knee Deep in History.

https://merlinsbarn.substack.com/p/walking-ww1-battlefields

07/11/2025

Bridging Cultures: French Patrimony, Rusty Bits and Recent Actions Taken in the Meuse-Argonne:

Social media has been hit with negative headlines in the last week. Maarten and Didi Otte, owners of the 14-18 Meuse-Argonne, just reported via Facebook: “This morning we too were honored by a visit from the gendarmerie and the bomb squad. All the empty and restored ordnance has been impounded and will be destroyed… Painful, but it is the law and they want to set an example…” Earlier this month Jean-Paul de Vries, owner of War for Peace, Romagne 14-18, reported largely the same: “… On Thursday, July 3rd, a large-scale inspection took place in the museum, and I am being accused of possessing, exhibiting and selling unlawfully acquired cultural heritage. Almost the entire collection has been seized. I am deeply aware of the value of cultural heritage and have dedicated my life to restoring and preserving it in order to share my message of peace with the world…”

To the French, and perhaps other Europeans, this is simply protecting the nation’s cultural heritage (patrimony). To Americans, and many other international visitors to these museums, this is yet another example of overreaching French bureaucracy by authorities who don’t understand that these independent (read not state-funded or state-owned) museums increase interest in the Great War and boost tourism to extremely rural portions of France. Furthermore, these museums were allowed to exist for decades before this clampdown. What has changed?

Being an American, I turned to my German business partner, Markus Klauer, for his take on these activities. Markus is one of the few German historians that has actively worked with French historical authorities around Verdun. In fact, in November 2019 he was one of three German citizens to receive a Bronze Medal from the Mayor of Verdun recognizing his assistance and expertise. Thus, I value his insight. Here is a summary of his comments to me, largely in his own words, with a focus specifically on Verdun:

The following actions are forbidden on the battlefields of Verdun:

1) Taking souvenirs whatsoever
2) Digging
3) Using a metal detector
4) Entering underground installations

All this is linked to the fact that, if you take something away, whatever it might be, you’re essentially plundering cultural heritage. This might be interesting to researchers in some dozen or hundred years. If you enter the ground by digging, etc., you might destroy an important archeological site. Once it is destroyed, it is gone forever. If you take away something, such as a dog tag, you are destroying the identity of a known soldier. Also, Verdun is such an important site for the French and Germans that the entire area is still sacred ground and a huge cemetery.

With this French mindset, the only legitimate caretakers of patrimony appear to be state-funded and state-owned institutions, such as museums, universities, etc. There is little room for entrepreneurial activities. (Battlefield tour operators?) That is a very different world view from the United States, where there are scores of private collections and museums that collect and display military history and battlefield relics.

One could also criticize the French institutions on several levels. In contrast to the Memorial in Verdun, which was renovated before the Centennial, few French museums have good exhibits in multiple languages. Do the institutions offer easy access to their collections, exhibits and research, or are they available only to well-recognized scholars? The National Archives in the United States, for example, is much more accessible than many European archives.

One could also argue that there is more than enough patrimony left along the Western Front for archaeologists and collectors alike. One commonly quoted fact is that the demineurs (bomb disposal squads) will be removing WW1 shells and ammunition for the next 100+ years.

If this cultural heritage is so valuable, what will happen to these items? Will they end up in a museum, where they can be utilized by researchers or will they just be destroyed because they were collected illegally? If it turns out to be the latter, what an irony!

A similar argument could be that cultural institutions have already had 100+ years to research the country’s heritage.

But all these arguments are likely to fall on deaf ears. Through these recent actions the French authorities appear to be setting an example, starting with a few of the established private museums. The puzzling question is why now? The French have “tolerated” these two private museums and similar collects for decades. I do not understand exactly what has changed. Perhaps it is the growing knowledge and popularity of these museums combined with greater interest in “digging and collecting” brought about by social media.

Having moved between the United States and Europe since my first experience as an exchange student in Dortmund, Germany in 1980, sometimes one just has to understand that things are “different” in other cultures. Bridging cultures is not always easy.

I need to add one more fact: Jean-Paul has asked that anyone who wants to write something in support of his museum, please go to the homepage at www.romagne14-18.com and write it in the [email protected] section.

Note: The photos were taken from recent posts by Maarten and Jean-Paul.

07/01/2025

Today is 1 July 2025, 109 years ago the First Battle of the Somme kicked off. Every year the battle's commencement is remembered in a series of poignant ceremonies held across the battlefield, with the first ceremony being held at 7:28am at the Lochnagar Crater. That was the time when the crater was blown and the infantry were ordered to advance across no man's land.

In 1978 an Englishman, Richard Dunning, MBE, purchased the crater and surrounding land. He and friends began to preserve it and add information panels, emphasizing peace and reconciliation after the bloodshed in the two world wars. In 1989 he formed The Friends of Lochnagar, a non-profit organization, to ensure its continued maintenance and witness to 1 July 1916. If you haven't visited the crater on a tour of the Somme battlefield, I highly recommend it. Take some time to read the many information panels full of stories covering both sides of the battle.

Thanks to Markus and Jutta Paulick for sending me a few photos from this morning's ceremony. I am not currently in France, but am there in spirit.

06/25/2025

Apparently this was posted on NARA's website recently but taken down after being posted an hour or so. Looks like changes are coming... and they might not be for the better!

My fears have been set aside--at least for now. Thanks to Paul R. Rosewitz for providing the second jpeg that explains the poorly-communicated first jpeg.

06/08/2025

Yesterday was the last day of the 65th Infantry Division Association's Right to be Proud Tour. Leaving Linz, Austria, we visited the Kehlsteinhaus, aka the Eagle's Nest Tea Room in Berchtesgaden before continuing on to dinner and the Munich Airport. The views were stunning, as was learning more about the history of the tea house.

However, it was not quite a Knee Deep Into History Tour, as our guide (hired by the tour company) did not show us any remains of party leader's houses. For that, I suggest watching a few of Mark Felton's YouTube videos.

06/07/2025

65th Inf. Div. Assoc. Right to be Proud Tour: The village of Erlauf, Austria has a special place in the hearts of 65th Inf. Div. soldiers. In Erlauf's city hall Maj. Gen. Stanley Reinhart shook hands with Maj. Gen. D.A. Drichkin, CO of the 7th Guard Parachute Division just after midnight on 9 May 1945. In the Signal Corps photo shown in this post, they are checking their watches to be sure the time is official. (There is a good Mark Felton video regarding the multiple surrenders around V-E Day.)

Today, the local museum, Erlauf Erinnert, tells Austria's unique story, from Annexation by Hi**er (which most Austrians supported) through to the post-war occupation and finally to Austrian independence in exchange for strict neutrality. It's a fascinating, but complex and multi-layered history. If you're near Enns or Vienna, a sidetrip to the Erlauf Erinnert Museum is worth it; but double check their open times.

06/06/2025

06/06/2025

65th Inf. Div. Right to be Proud Tour: A very special thanks to BG Klingenschmid, CSM Falzer and CWO Halla, who made our visit to the Austrian NCO Academy in Enns, Austria so wonderful. WW2 ended in Enns, Austria for the 65th, and the 261st Inf. Regt. established its headquarters at the academy for the next several weeks. The Academy treated us to lunch, then and now displays, and a briefing on the academy's role in the world today, before sending us to a nearby museum with a jeep es**rt! It truly was an unforgettable day for tour members!

06/05/2025

65th Inf. Div. Assoc. Right to be Proud Tour. Where are we now?