Trenchworks #1

For reenacting and living history, the 2 Chevauleger's primary impression is 1917-18. By this time, the 2 Chevauleger and the 3rd Squadron in particular spent a good part of its time rotating through the front lines like their infantry brethren. To reflect this, the 2 Chevauleger is building a bunker and accompanying trenchworks along with its companion Central Powers units of the Great War Historical Society (GWHS) at the GWHS' battlesite- a piece of land that the organization is renting.

Right now, the plan is to focus on building a suitable bunker that can be used as a central position as well as a sleeping area for the unit and towards that end, we will be building a bunker. Construction finally got underway yesterday after a long delay and below are some pictures illustrating it. While it may not look like much, there was a lot of work that had to be done first before the walls could be built. In particular, we had to level the bottom of the pit and drill holes for the posts with a gas-powered auger. Unfortunately, the entire area is incredibly rocky and hard and we were not able to drill down much more than a foot. This in turn altered the construction approach and that presented challenges that had to be overcome.

We anticipate that by Spring 2015 we will have the walls completed and we will then be able to focus on installing a floor and a roof. It's a work in progress and while it may look raw now, it will get better in time- trust me! In the following months I'll be posting more progress updates along with pictures of some original trenchworks.

Horrido!

Corner View - Tarpaper had been added to repel moisture once the sides have been filled in.

After all the walls are installed, we will back-fill behind them and then pile of sandbags along the walls to camouflage things. It was not anticipated that the walls would be so high.