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Living history at Fort Miles

Delaware Goes to War takes place in Cape Henlopen State Park
Three-inch gun crew member Arthur Ellison takes aim as the rest of the crew loads and prepares to fire. Other crew members include Tim Kuntz, Jason Garver and Robert Riley. At Fort Miles, a 12-man crew was assigned to the guns. BY RON MACARTHUR
Ron MacArthur
April 28, 2014
Re-enactor John Zistel of Dover is part of the company's motor pool. BY RON MACARTHUR
German troop re-enactors as part of Grossdeutschlanders returned to take part in the Fort Miles event. First Sgt. Jim Lenon of Long Island, N.Y., takes on the role of clerk. BY RON MACARTHUR
A Naval shore patrol guard prepares to hand over his prisoners during a re-enactment of the surrender of German submarine U-858, which occurred on May 14, 1945, at Fort Miles. BY RON MACARTHUR
U-Boat crew members are patted down by Fort Miles soldiers during the re-enactment of the only German surrender on American soil during World War II. BY RON MACARTHUR
German and U.S. World War II re-enactors mingle prior to a gun-firing demonstration. BY RON MACARTHUR
Grossdeutschlander re-enactors prepare lunch as it was cooked on the battlefield. BY RON MACARTHUR
Boy Scouts from Troop 170 in Cherry Hill, N.J., get a close-up look at one of Fort Miles 3-inch guns. BY RON MACARTHUR
Henry White of Wilmington is reunited with a Browning automatic rifle, the weapon he carried throughout Europe as a member of the U.S. infantry during World War II. BY RON MACARTHUR
Oliver Ecke of Hagerstown, Md., has the best view of Fort Miles. The re-enactor was born in Frankfurt, Germany. BY RON MACARTHUR
Dressed in attire from the World War II era, Jen Keffer, left, and Kate Krause, visiting the area from Pennsylvania, fit right in during the Delaware Goes to War event April 26 at Fort Miles in Cape Henlopen State Park. BY RON MACARTHUR

Dozens of re-enactors – American and German – stepped back in time to the World War II years when Fort Miles hosted the annual Delaware Goes to War event.

During the war, Fort Miles in what is now Cape Henlopen State Park turned into a small city as troops stationed at the fort guarded the entrance to the Delaware Bay and Delaware River. Armed with a variety of guns, Fort Miles was among the most fortified coastal defense facilities in the country.

Under bright, blue skies April 19, thousands of visitors turned out to tour Battery 519, watch artillery and small arms demonstrations and listen to period music from WWTunes. The highlight of the event was a re-enactment of the surrender of the German crew of submarine U-Boat 858 at Fort Miles at the end of the war.

Among the numerous veterans in attendance was Horace Knowles of Lewes who was stationed at Fort Miles.

Another World War II veteran, Henry White of Wilmington, not only served in the European Theater as a member of the U.S. Army infantry, he served as a guard assigned to escort Japanese diplomats back to Japan after the war. White was wounded in the ankle in Germany, and after recuperating near London, he was reassigned to guard duty near Washington, D.C.

 

 

 

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