Our unit. Our group focuses around D Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (P.I.R.) in Normandy D-Day just after the battle for Carentan and all members should acquire a full impression to suit this. 

 

Why choose Miss Drop 44? We have no subscription to join the group, it's something we've been saying we will do for years... but ever get around to it. So you get to join a free group. The group funds all its own purchases, including over 2k worth of Normandy parachutes. Several members make things and have great connections to various dealers and manufacturers of the items we need. As well as contacts in other countries to get the items at good/great prices! You'll also be given items that are made by group members. Such as the FM 21-100 upon joining the group at your first event. Also plenty of items are available at cost price, like huck towels, OD hankies (which weirdly are impossible to find for sale elsewhere), coffee - sugar - milk cans, hexi heating block wrappers, maps of France, invasion currency and lots of other areas that 101st paratroopers would have carried... and other items too. It's a group that looks after its own, big time! The list of our items we make grows all the time!

However before I loose you in the details of the group, what to wear, how to wear it, ranks, weapons, food, drill, saluting.... lets start from the beginning and ask some important questions for those new to the hobby of re-enacting and might be looking at how you even start in this minefield of a hobby.

Why do people get involved in living history? I'm sure there many reasons why someone would want to take up the hobby and become a living historian. It's the only way to really immerse yourself into the periods of history that happened well before our time, you may have a passion for one particular unit and want to literally live the life as much as you could. It's not a cheap hobby, its not a very simple hobby... but, you make great friends, experience all sorts of different things and can find yourself in situations you'd have never expected! You'll learn all sorts of odd things that will honestly never help you in regular boring life... things like marching, rifle drill, how to pitch and strike pup tents and how to light a fire. Not everyone in life can start a fire!

 

Can anyone do this? This is such a controversial question in living history! You'll get living history groups that will accept literally anyone. From stick thin to obese, male and female, old and young. Now the problems start from there onwards, some units firmly stick to what was correct then, and therefore it will only be acceptable now. If re-enacting was a scale of 1 - 10, they would be the 10 if it's not perfect, then it's not acceptable. The living history hardcore if you like. So lets take the 502 PIR for example; it was a an all male fighting fit unit. So no female paratroopers (stop your booing lads), however for any females, please jump to the bottom of this section, just above the photos. For 'other genders' please refer to the 'other genders page'. There would have been nobody over weight and certainly nobody that could be considered old (I sniggered while I wrote that). Then you get the other end of the scale, the 1's. The 1's can be a mixed bunch, usually excepting of anyone, expect a mixture of kit and ranks and usually a lot of things that make no or little sense. As 'Karen' likes to say "a dressing up unit that sleeps under green canvas", which in fairness is fairly apt. However, don't let their lack of attention to re-enacting fool you, they still might have rules to stop certain people joining. There attention to detail could be lacking and in almost all re-enactment groups nobody followes the written down tables (TO&E) which show how units were made up of, resulting in a group that makes little or no sense, let alone when you look closely at what they are wearing/doing.

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Our group is NOT a re-enactment group. Lets leave the just dressing up and playing make believe to the re-enactment groups. Living History is a huge step past re-enactment, expect to be really putting in some time and dedication into your appearance. Forget making comments like "that'll do" or "that's close enough".... if it can be improved upon, then no.... "it won't do". A group will always be judged by its worst member, so there is no half measures, it's be near perfect... or not at all. 

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We expect people to fill their riggers with ammunition, your canteen bottle will be full of water, your musette will have a wash kit and all the essentials you'll need. Even your underwear should resemble that of a WW2 GI. All the enlisted troopers should be around the correct age for the impression that they are portraying. Fitness doesn't really come into it, but it sure helps if you can run for miles and miles and lift heavy weights, but trust me, I'm as unfit as they come, I just look healthy!

So to answer the question... yes anyone can get into the hobby, but just not with every group!

What do I need? This will sounds pathetic, but the best thing you can have in this hobby is a willingness to learn and put in time and attention into everything, most of all you appearance and impression. Anyone who can come into this hobby with the willingness to learn will always do well. You'll never stop learning or buying kit, there is always something else...

We also have spare kit for anyone who wants to simply try the hobby. We have spares of everything, to kit you our from head (helmet) to toe (boots). Including webbing sets for various roles and spare weapons. So if you are brand new to the hobby and don't own anything other than a sleeping bag, we got you covered. No charge at all, all you need to do to attend, is get yourself insured with someone like AFRA, give us the details and tell us which show you want to attend with us at. Easy right. The only catch is, we do need notice. Both to sort you kit out and have it reserved for you to make sure you get the correct size uniform and enough time to let the show organisers know you'll be attending as part of our group. Then you can experience the hobby with zero outlaying cost, because we're all fully aware how expensive getting all the kit initially is.

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Women! Yes, we are a group that accepts women. No you don't get to be a stinky dirty paratrooper, however the date and place we portray is just outsude Carentan. Which was the site of a HUGE field hospital which contained staff from the 3rd Auxilliary Surgical Group. We already have members for this and is open to expansion. The plus points over being a paratrooper is that you'll get a better sleeping accomadation! So small walls are permitted and so are PUP tents. I have the TO&E for this unit too, so it can also be done down to the letter if we get enough interest. Lets also not forget that the 3rd Aux was another male heavy unit; consisting of 132 male officers against the 70 female nurses. Let alone the 278 male enlisted soliders it contained. So if being a paratrooper isn't your thing and you still have interest in the group, then this could be an alternative option.

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