hi everyone -

I recently got back into building dios and was hoping to get input on everyone I can: I want to do a diorama displaying some sort of the "Malmedy massacre"

2 obvious ideas: 1) the actual event occurring
2) the aftermath when US soldiers discover the site

opinions on those two ideas are wanted, but would love to hear any other ideas you all may have!

Thanks!

~Mike

Knowing the difficulties a lot of people have with displaying death figures in scale modeling i would opt for the first solution. (Moments before the event)
Obviously you need to model a lot of soldiers from both sides and need to be able to make a snowy ground.

Claude

Back when I was playing FoW ( flames of war ww2 tabltop game ) this type of topic came up quite often ( people wanting to do dio's/ objective markers ). With this topic there was alot of arguments and whatnot on the forums as it opens alot of bad memories for ppl and the family's of those soldires that were involved. Although this may seem like a good idea to do, staying away from this part of the war is probably the best thing to do.

this is not something that will be displayed for the open public so i don't have much to worry about "opening a can of bad worms" so to say. however, in the event that it is seen, I was not planning on showing the the massacre happening. I got the idea from a random research link i stumbled upon and with all the spare parts of figures, the aftermath would be easy to assemble. My specialty with building is Battle of the Bulge/WWII/101st Airborne so the snow is not a problem. nothing is set in stone as this is just an idea so thanks for the replies and keep 'em coming everyone!

thanks again

I don´t buy this whole "what can be modelled and what cannot be modelled" larc. Every modeller is free to model what he or she wants. Who are we to decide what somebody else can do with their models?

Why not model Malmedy? Its as important as any other scene from WW2, and if it was something I wanted to do, and/or feel I could do properly, nobody would stop me.

Unfortunatly, scenes like this, if shown on a public site, tend to draw more critic than the normal scene. Fair enough, it was not a nice event, and Im sure everybody feels for those involved, but these events wont go away by burying your head in the sand either. If you can carry it off ...the actual event or the aftermath .. go for it. It deserves to be modelled as much as any other scene, and even more so as it is something that stirs emotion and not often modelled.

There's a third option as well. Just depict the POWs a few days prior to the massacre going about their typical activities. That would add a different twist to the incident, as well as giving them an identity beyond snow covered masses sprawled on the ground. Maybe add a name tag of the 285th on a date prior to the massacre. Those knowledgeable of the incident should recognize the unit name and/or date. Those that do not can receive a history lesson. Anyway, it's another option.

+1. Just try to put in it enough INSIGHT so that it REALLY manages to stir emotions, otherwise it will look like some plastic bits in a pool of red paint in the snow

Hi

Another idea. As I understand it they dismounted from lorries into the field before the terrible event. Why not portray that, the GI's disembarking from the lorries with German Guards around them, and maybe call it

"Moments before Madness. Malmedy 1944"

That sense of knowing what came next would be more thought provoking than the two options you suggested, in my opinion that is. Others may disagree.

Alan

I think this is a really good idea, and like it more than the two ideas you have mike.

To Plastic battle, im not saying that it shouldnt be done. what I was trying to say is that if you are going to do something like this you really need to think about the way you are going to portray it. You need to portray it with some degree of respect and class. Alanmac's idea does this as it still carries the message mike wants to portray, but also lets the viewer really think about what is happening.
If ppl have to think about what is going to happen it offers a deeper connection that if you just show them.

Alan, great idea! I appreciate it and the title. I'll most definitely put it on the drawing board and start with that since it sparked several layout ideas immediately.

As I've said, nothing is finalized because I'm still working on other projects. To give a time frame, this is something I want to do towards the end of the year.

Howard Brodie did a drawing of Malmedy at the moment the soldiers realize the Germans are going to open fire. It shows the GIs bunched up in a group with a medic in the front. I think that image would convey what you are trying to show as well as anything. I believe the image is heavily copyrighted so I didn't post it. You can find it by searching his name on Google.

My take is that if it could be portrayed in another media like movies and books its ok in miniature. The same level of violence and sex could be depicted as well as other things.

I dont mean pornmovies, underground movies and books.

Malmedy however is also even today debated what took place. Even if a certain anchor man have gotten it totally wrong and there is no doubt that it was a warcrime, still how it actually happend is very unclear.

I think the movie Saints and Soldiers where close to what happened?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXVOtfKinaM

Cheers

Mike,
As Janne said the movie Saints and Soldiers opens with this scene and it seems like it might be able to provide some insight for a dio. After the shooting starts several guys run off into the woods and are chased by Germans. If you watch the movie you might get some more ideas to add to your creativity.

Funny how you both mentioned Saints and Soldiers. I saw the movie when it was released and that's actually where the initial idea came from. I just never got around to acting on it, until now, when I recently watched the movie again. I've been planning a few dioramas, all set in '44-'45; one just happens to be set with the Malmedy scene. At the moment I am playing with a few ideas with the layout, but the strongest I must say comes from Alan with the POWs being unloaded (Thanks again). As I get further into the process I'll posts pics/updates but in the meantime, please keep sending ideas and suggestions!

I am something of an expert on the Battle of Gettysburg, and as such am often asked for advice on touring the field. I tell people to start and end in the Cemetery. It reminds us that this wasn't a game, that for many men it was the end. I think that the sacrifice of these men is certainly worth remembering.

To many Americans today, the word Malmedy means nothing. Some people think that it was where American Soldiers massacred German soldiers. So I think that its a good idea, just remember that whatever you wind up doing, do it in good taste. Perhaps my vote would go to the Americans, standing, waiting, while out of their sight, the Germans are preparing thei machine guns.

John

Also true what John says. Even if its ok to show violence and the result of war, one should never frown upon it. It just becomes tacky and brings the effect down. Just like a bad splatter movie.

Cheers

Reality of war, people die, soldiers and civilians. The reality of modeling war if done with taste,truth in a small scale. I don't belive it disrespectful to model the truth. Your choice as always. Just be tacitful about it. If you desire to portray this action, maybe add a U.S. service man standing there in shock or crying. Grown men do cry when affected as so. Case being as when the allies liberated some concentration camps, you can find pictures of the ugliness that confronted them as they stood shocked or crying in desbelive. Also a fact that we do model hand to hand combat and most don't look at it as insulting, just a fact of war.

I would try something more dynamic probably. There were survivors, right? I would go for something like POW(s) dashing thru the snow drifts with firing only indirectly indicated... Just a 2 cents idea.

-A-

How about just showing the aftermath, so far I know the dead where left in the field, you could just indicate bodies heavily covered with snow
having Germans pass by, setting the scene to some days later
Not having to reveal any "drastic" details and being historically correct shouldn‘t cause any uproar.

Christopher

read the books "massacre at Malmedy" and "Cut off" these have much to say on the subject and narratives of the participants and survivors--that will give you sense of what and how to depict this event--I would model the shot up vehicles on the roadway next to a snowy field with lumps in the snow--untouched--before the dig--the bodies were buried in subsequent snow fall. the field was clear on the day of the massacre.--just my 2 cents---Pat Jones

That's a great picture.



Courtesy of http://www.tours-international.co.uk/Tours/Military+Tours/Malmedy+Remembrance+Tours/History+of+the+Malmedy+Massacre

IMO the recreation of this picture alone, even if just a couple of ranks of the GI's, sans Germans would be a very effective and provocing vignette.

R~

My dad was attached to the 101st airborne in the 50th Field Hospital when it happened. Before then the medics went unarmed but were given 45 autos since some of the Germans apparently were no longer honoring the lives of prisoners, including medics. This depiction of Malmedy is history. I can take dead soldiers of any side in a dio, and can even take one of murdered ones as you would display in Malmedy. We know that soldiers of all sides were shot after throwing down their guns and even murdered after capture.Malmedy being one of the most blatant.For me , and maybe to a Vietnamese modeler you could change the name to Mei Lai. I would be quietly upset to see it, but I remember the impassioned hand wringing and whining that some folks came out with over the two dead protester figures that Firestorm produced.You have a right to model and display whatever you want so long as it isn't lewd and immoral.And yes murder is immoral.Try to do this one in as good a taste as possible and maybe keep the blood and guts down to a minimum as not to be comparative to a B rated horror film.......my two cents worth......Al

The reality of war is people die, the reality of military modeling is war in small scale. Done with taste there should be no bad results. Option to add could be a soilder standing there in shock or crying as he faces the truth of what happened to those soilders. I would not add lots of gore but the snow covered bodies frozen there. Just enough to give the impression of the horror that happened there.

Thanks guys! i'm really appreciating EVERYONE'S two cents. It's all being considered as I make a few rough sketches. As soon as I get a layout I'm pleased with I'll post it for more feedback.

Thanks again,
Mike

Hello there,

Hopefully, if this works, here are a couple of pictures, not great, of the location taken in December 2006, one of the field itself, one of the road. If I remember correctly, the German column was coming toward the camera in the latter, the field being that immediately to the right.

As stated by Pat Jones, at the time of the massacre, I don't think the field was snow-covered.

Cheers,

Sean