About me
As the main person responsible for this project, this site and the other digital presences, I would like to briefly introduce myself and my background.
Who I am and my path
My name is Thomas and I come from and live in Westphalia, more precisely the Westphalian part of the Ruhr area. I’m also a qualified chemist and historian, so I’m a bit of a specialist. The idea for this project came about during the corona pandemic. I was already active in the field of “living history” before that, and a long time ago I was particularly active in the High Middle Ages, more precisely the first half of the 13th century and the 11th century, before I ended up in the Wilhelmine era with a focus on the First World War. This period took up so much of my time that there was no time left for the other eras and I unfortunately had to end my activities in these. I first spent some time travelling as an infantryman, in memory of (noch zu der engl. Seite verlinken) to one of my great-grandfathers, who took part in the war as an infantryman and survived it. Nevertheless, I kept looking at the other branches of the armed forces. So I started researching in these directions, and the cavalry never let go of me. I realised that one of my great-granduncles had also taken part in the First World War as a cavalryman, more precisely as a hussar in Hussar Regiment No. 8, from 1914 to 1918, i.e. the entire war. Initially still in the reserve formation of Hussar No. 8, i.e. Reserve Hussar Regiment No. 5, but this reserve formation was disbanded in the course of the war, whereupon he was transferred to the active regiment No. 8. He lived to be almost 100 years old and died only about two years before I was born.
More background information
Other pictures, such as this one, show a considerable part of the family as cavalrymen, especially as hussars, thus also belonging to Regiment No. 8. Other ancestors were also to be found in the most infantry Westphalian regiments (IR 15, IR 55), so that the Westphalian Army Corps VII suggested itself. As the cavalry, together with other branches of the armed forces such as the artillery, hardly features in the culture of remembrance, especially in comparison with the cavalry, it was time to give them a face again. It is helpful for this project that I am not only a keen rider, but also a passionate sportsman, especially martial arts and fencing.
Commemoration
And here we are. This project continues to grow, but it demands a lot, as many of the materials are so specialised that they are extremely difficult to obtain. It also requires not only a great deal of research and perseverance, but also training to get the rider’s skills to a halfway acceptable level, especially in lance fencing. But we are working on it, bit by bit, to commemorate all the victims of this terrible war and to honour their memory.
In this spirit:
Lest we forget!