Our unit is the 3rd Kompagnie, Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 63 (IR63) and we are a charter unit, and the oldest unit, in the Great War Association (or the GWA). The GWA strives to honor the original participants of the First World War through battle reenactments and educational activities.
Infanterie-Regiment 63 may be seen by the public at special events around the country. But membership in the organization is best appreciated at the privately owned Great War Association battlefield located near Newville, Pennsylvania.
Our battle reenactments take place within systems of opposing trenches complete with a crater pocked No-Man's Land. There are also belts of barbed wire, which are used to protect the sandbagged front line trenches, and are punctuated by bunkers with functioning machine-guns. Behind the main lines are many supporting and communication trenches, which are connected to underground dugouts, where the officers plan attacks and counterattacks and where the common soldiers eat, rest and ponder their survival.
Our goal is to learn history by experiencing as much of it as we can. We accomplish this by not only by accurately recreating the appearance of the typical infantryman, but also through researching and demonstrating his daily life, duties, and occasional pastimes as he experienced them at and near the Front.
As members of the IR63 we feel a source of pride in belonging to the oldest and one of the most authentic Central Powers units in the GWA. Our members have a special spirit of fellowship that binds each member to his Brothers-in-Arms and allows him to fully understand the true meaning of the German term "Kameradschaft!"
We are currently accepting applications for new members! If you have an interest in joining the original WWI reenacting unit, please visit our Recruiting Page.
Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 63 Fall 2009.
