Parthemores in Poland

There is a Polish Army training center in Poznań, and we went to their open house yesterday, which proved to be quite interesting.  In many ways, it was very similar to Family Days that the US Army sometimes holds. 

They presented a fully-restored StuG IV (a German assault gun from WWII).  This was a pretty big deal, since there are only two surviving vehicles left.  This one was pulled from the bottom of a river after 60 years underwater.  It is the only one that actually runs.  Except when they were driving it out, it broke down.  Whoops.  Still pretty neat, though.

They had a formation of troops where the master of ceremonies thanked everyone and their brother for attending. 

And then there was a parade, complete with the band.

They even drove some vehicles across the parade field.

And then, it got really interesting.  Half way down the field, the vehicles U-turned after they were “attacked” by a mock ambush.  They pulled out all the stops for this little demo, using healthy amounts of artillery simulators, smoke grenades, heavy machine gun blanks, and even the tank round simulators.  It was the kind of demo you want to put on in the US, but you can’t for half a dozen different liability reasons.

After the battle, there was another parade of historical vehicles that have been restored by private collectors…mostly Jeeps and motorcycles.  Everything got parked on display and people walked around to look at them up close.  And climb all over them with minimal supervision.  We heard some kid say “Dad, buy me a tank like this!”

Who wants to play with the anti-aircraft gun?

How about the grenade launcher?

Some of the motorcycle riders were giving kids rides in their sidecars.  They began by buzzing recklessly through a crowd of people.  Once there was some open space, they would lean the bike so the sidecar would come off the ground.  How someone didn’t die is beyond me. 

Another funny story:  Eric saw three Soldiers dressed in US Army ACUs.  He walked over to them and asked (in English) if they were stationed in Poznań or just here temporarily.  They all stared at him, slack-jawed, until one said in Polish “we don’t speak English very well.”  The next guy explained in heavily accented English “we are re-enactors.”  They looked even more confused when Eric apologized in Polish and explained that he thought they were really in the US Army.   

The whole day seem to illustrate the Polish mentality of “it’s your own damn fault.”  If you climb on a tank, fall off, and crack your skull, guess what?  It’s your own damn fault.