Château Colombière
Commemorating & honouring the
326th Airborne Medical Company
The Groups
Here you'll find a brief history & information of each of the groups that come together every June to put on our reenactment of the 326th Airborne Medical Company's Collecting Station.
Display Groups/Organisational Groups
Airborne Medical Reenactment Group
The Airborne Medical Reenactment Group, or AMRG for short, is one of the working groups of the Living History Group Holland. The Living History Group Holland (LHGH) was founded on January 31, 2001, but previously existed unofficially as the British Airborne Group Holland. The goal of the LHGH is to keep military history alive by portraying units from that era. Several working groups are currently active within the LHGH, depicting the period 1940-1945.Officially, we've only been a working group of LHGH for a few years, but several of our members have been collaborating at events for over 15 years to create a collective representation of medical personnel. Many were already members of various reenactment/living history groups. However, we felt a more permanent structure was needed. AMRG was built on this vision.
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HBT'44 (Hospital Battalion Team'44)
HBT'44 (hospital battalion team) is an association (French law of 1901), created in June 2013 by a group of friends with a passion for re-enactment and the US Army Medical Corps. Following this shared passion, we decided to recreate a field hospital in the European theater in the 1940s. We also practice living history. In other words, we live on the camp as it was in the 40s, and carry out the activities associated with a field hospital (block surgery, evacuation, surveillance of the wounded, etc.). As a result, we offer an almost exact representation of a military hospital during the Second World War.
Partnership & Guest Groups
Hospitales de Campagña USA
The Hospitales de campaña USA group was born in 2021, due to the passion for the medical corps of the American army during World War II, of its two founders, Francisco Díaz Arriaza and Pelayo Álvarez -Valle García. During this time, with a lot of effort, dedication and hours of research, it has been possible to gather an important collection of original material for the deployment of a large operating room, in terms of instruments, medications and bandages. We also have a personal collection of other objects, always related to medical units, which allow us to continue safeguarding history. For the next few years, the idea is to continue growing both in quality of material and quantity. Our firm commitment to the history of the Second World War and the events that happened there lead us to continue being part of it, in the celebrations of Normandy and in the not too distant future, also in those of Bastogne.
The Replacements
“Replacements” are a group of living history enthusiasts from Holland, brought together by a common interest in Military life during World War 2.
All of us are ordinary men and women with ordinary jobs and other occupation, but during events we turn into a real “Band of Brothers”. Our group owns no vehicles; some members do but the most rely on their boots.
Our goal is to try recreate the conditions (at the front line) during WW2 at re-enactment events, by setting up displays with (mostly original) equipment and uniforms. We feel it's our duty to remember the generation that gave their all for the liberation of Europe.
Klondikes WW2 Reenactment & Living History
We are a US Airborne working group of the Living History Group Holland (LHGH). Our goal is the historically accurate portrayal of civilian and military periods in history.
The Klondikes portray American airborne troops as they liberated Europe in World War II. The main portrayal is the 101st Airborne Division and that is the 501st regiment, on occasion the 82nd Airborne Division can also be portrayed. For the Château Colombière event, our group provides the wounded soldiers that take part in the live casualty triage & surgical demonstrations.
Band of Brothers NL/BE
Band of Brothers focuses on the airborne troops of the US Army, specifically the 101st Airborne (Pathfinders and Recon platoon).
During World War II, airborne troops were a completely new concept. Never before have people jumped out of an airplane to attack the enemy. They had the toughest training the army could offer and were therefore considered the best soldiers. They were determined, brave and feared. Most had signed up voluntarily, which was also because they were paid more, but most just wanted the best of the best.
We focus on the Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. They fought from Normandy, the Netherlands (Market Garden) – Belgium (Battle of the Bulge) to the south of Germany where the center of Nazism was located and their battle ultimately ended in Austria. This company had the most casualties within the 101st Airborne. 49 soldiers died out of 140 during the war.
Army Nurse Corps Z. S.
The Army Nurse Corps z. s. is a historical association consisting of young women, who share an interest in the history and culture of the United States of the 1940s and World War II. Our main topic of interest are American Army nurses. Our task is to authentically represent the appearance, uniforms and equipment of nurses and the conditions prevailing in American medical installations during WWII. Through collecting, travelling and contact with veterans we try to recreate historical realities as faithfully as possible. We take care of details such as hair, makeup and personal items. We want to show that ladies like us, almost 80 years ago, had to deal with much worse conditions, while working with the awareness that the lives of hundreds of soldiers are in their hands. At present, we are the only organized and all-female reenacting group portraying the Army Nurse Corps in Central Europe. In our ranks we currently have 13 members and recruits from all over the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and France.