A group of hobby historians and collectors interested in the Operation Veritable Reichswald campaign February 1945, stage a memorial walk through the battle fields of 1945, this project has been running since 2005 and has become a yearly event every February since. We call this hobby "War Walks" and it is carried out wearing original uniforms and equipment, sometimes with WW2 Vehicle support.

   This year there were nine enthusiasts taking part, mostly dressed as British or Canadian WW2 soldiers. For the first time the Germans in the campaign were represented, my wife as a 1945 refugee and myself as Volkssturm. As per every year we obtained permission from the authorities to carry out the march, including permission to wear the authentic WW2 insignia on uniforms (Permission has to be obtained in Germany due to regulations on the wearing of forbidden symbols etc).

   We started at the commonwealth war graves where we laid flowers to remember the fallen there. We later laid flowers at the German war graves too. Our march took us through forest, farmland and villages, we met lots of local people who showed a keen interest in our project. To be a "War-walker" you have to be able to answer a multitude of questions, so a good background knowlege into the history is a requirement.

   Our march took us eight hours and covered 20 kilometers, during which time we stopped to lay flowers on war graves, had a break for a meal, carried out photo shoots and even did some singing whilst marching to one of the lads playing an harmonica. Our group is very international with members coming from the Netherlands, Germany and England.

   So without any further comments, here are some of the pictures taken on the Reichswald Memorial Walk 2009.......