THE GREAT WAR
WWI AT MIDWAY VILLAGE MUSEUM
April 2-6, 2020
Saturday: 10:00 am until 5:00 pm
Sunday: 10:00 am until 4:00 pm
NEWS
For regular updates, discussions and photos, join the event Facebook page "Rockford WWI Days Re-enactment" at https://www.facebook.com/groups/618282191528717/
WWI Airplane and Tanks at Rockford 2019
The event will also unveil our newest en devour. A WW1 french Schneider tank. Our build time has worked tirelessly to bring history back to life.
We will have our first reproduction WWI airplane at the event in April. Our volunteers have constructed a German Eindecker airplane, which was the first successful fighter plane to be developed and deployed for the specific role of shooting down enemy aircraft. It was the cause of the “Fokker Scourge” in 1915 when the plane was first deployed, which swept Allied planes from the skies over the Western Front and gave the Germans air supremacy until the Allies developed new aircraft to counter the Eindecker in 1916.
The museum will also have a full-scale replica FT-17 French Renault tank, which was the first successful modern tank design. This was the same tank that the U.S. Tank Corps used when it started in 1917-18, and the US. copy of this tank was in service with the U.S. army until the early 1930s. It continued in French service until WWII and was then used by the Germans until the end of that war.
We also have the parts and tractor base for building a fully operational WWI French Schneider Tank. Construction is set to being in February with the hope of having at the April 2017 event.
Partnering with the U.S. Centennial Commission
Midway Village Museum's WWI event was accepted in February as an official partner event for the U.S. WWI Centennial Commission. The commission was created by Congress to be the national point organization for the American anniversary of involvement in the Great War. The Rockford event is the first re-enactment to be recognized as a partner venue. Additionally, two of the re-enactor coordinators for the event, Dave Fornell and George Reinke, have been appointed to the Illinois WWI Centennial Commission, which is the state branch of the U.S. Commission.
