“A Jump Into History - 1944-2006” - 2nd edition

Giogo Pass (Florence, Italy) 16-17 September 2006
A WWII open-air museum of the Gothic Line battles of September 1944 – vehicles, tanks, equipment, and reenactors

organization by

The Municipality of Scarperia
and The Mugello Mountain Community

With the GoticaToscana Association - onlus

With the Patronage of the County of Florence

Sponsored by

The Municipality of Scarperia, The Mugello Mountain Community, IMVCC,
“Il Giogo” Hotel-Restaurant, Mugello Lavori, Lascialfari Carlo Giovanni & C and ROSS

Albergo Ristorante  “Il Giogo”

REPORT OF THE EVENT

By some unlucky atmospheric conjunction, for the second consecutive year bad weather hampered the outcome of our re-enacting event. After several uninterrupted weeks of extremely good weather, persistent and abundant rain started at lunchtime on Saturday and kept falling for the whole weekend, leaving only a brief respite on Saturday afternoon. This however did not prevent a large audience to brave the rain and come to appreciate the show in its reduced form!

Two British 25-lbs guns, emplaced in battery pointing to the North and the “German lines”, welcomed visitors coming from the Giogo pass highway. A M3 Scout Car and M3 Half Track occupied center stage in the reenactment area, looking somewhat more menacing under the grey sky. A German Kübelwagen and a few US and British ¼-ton trucks were around, while a GMC 2 ½-ton truck stationed near the “Ordnance” field shop, where jeep expert Claudio Milani had the opportunity to display his skills performing (for free!) some necessary repairs on a fellow-collector’s Jeep.
The re-enacting part of the event suffered most. The many foxholes, slit trenches, and German dugouts dutifully prepared by the Eighty-plus participants were soon filled up with water. This prevented us from putting up a complete show as planned, since most heavy equipment, as well as machine guns and mortars, could not be properly exhibited in the area, since it was all but impossible for visitors to walk on the muddy, slippery fields. That does not mean that most of us enjoyed the occasion nonetheless (in the name of “realism”, you know…). Thus, many re-enactors, oblivious to the weather, staid on location - though at times a suspicious gathering of people in Allied and German uniforms could be seen at the Giogo Pass restaurant-bar fraternizing against regulations with the help of hot beverages of some kind.

Because of the success of last year’s event and our thorough PR efforts, visitors had great expectations. People kept phoning and e-mailing the organizers, as well as the Municipality of Scarperia and the Giogo Pass Restaurant staff, looking for info on the local weather conditions and the development of the event. Notwithstanding the bad weather, an ongoing procession of cars, off-road bikers, and umbrella-adorned pedestrians kept coming to the area for the whole weekend. Therefore, we are particularly sorry that the weather prevented us from fulfilling our complete program as planned.

We must express our thanks to all re-enactors and MV collectors that came to the Giogo Pass from all over Italy, weather forecasts notwithstanding, making it possible to stage the 2nd edition of the event. The intimacy created by congregating together under a safe roof at night or for our meals, to escape the drenching rain outside, gave us the opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions, as well as to talk with old or new friends. We are also particularly happy that the Giogo event saw the birth of a promising new re-enacting group, cemented, right at its inception, by the necessity to overcome together the problems caused by the weather.

The logistics imposed by the weather was made easier by the service performed by the GS Scarperia, which served tasty meals to our hungry bunch, as well as by the convenient housing provided by the Mountain Community of the Mugello, which granted us the use of the “Casa al Giogo” buildings at walking distance from the Giogo Pass. The beautifully restored farm acted as sleeping place, equipment storage area, and allowed participants to take much-needed hot showers after a drenching day in the field. For that, we sincerely thank the President of the Mountain Community, Mr. Tagliaferri, and Counselor Marchi.

While other Italian WWII-related locations nowadays host MV’s rallies, the Giogo Pass area, at present, offers re-enactors the most evoking, history-laden stage, among the Italian panorama of living history events proper. Its location in the Apennines range, far from modern-built areas, the still visible traces of the German Gothic Line fortifications as well as of the American more transient dugouts, the beautiful untouched landscape and its very same accessibility in central Italy are its winning tracts. We will keep up our efforts to valorize them with the aim of preserving its historical significance in recent Italian history.

In that respect, next year’s event will be flexibly scheduled to take into account the knacks of the Italian September weather!

Meanwhile, we are planning on a “Winter Line” living-history event, which will take place when snow will be at its highest in the area (most probably during February or March 2007)! The theme will be recreating and living the conditions under which the German and Allied troops fought throughout the bitter months of the 1944-45 winter stalemate on the Central Apennines. When all but those that were there, soldiers and civilians alike, were forgetting the Italian “secondary front”.

Keep browsing this site for info about our future activities.

Thanks to all from GoticaToscana Onlus!

Photo Gallery

Picture by Marco Lodovichi, Paolo Scini e Filippo Spadi

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