CTWG:Resurrecting WW2's Burma theater

Cheshire man resurrects WW2's Burma theater
By: Jesse Buchanan, Record-Journal staff 07/01/2009

CHESHIRE - The major battles of World War II involving Americans are well known - D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Midway for example.

Movies haven't been made about some of the other areas where Americans battled the Axis though, and many aren't even aware American soldiers fought in India.

Richard Abbate, a town resident, has been trying to change that for the last decade. He began and led a reenactment group representing the First Air Commando Group, an air unit that was based in India. The unit supported the British soldiers behind Japanese lines in Burma by bringing in supplies and evacuating the wounded.

"I wanted to do something different, one of the forgotten theaters of the war," Abbate said.

The unit took part in an air show earlier this month in Reading, Pa., where many World War II re-enactors gather. About 15 men and five women belong to the group, according to Abbate, which represents the ground elements of the unit.

In 1991, Abbate went to an air show and met some World War II re-enactors.

"It was one of the neatest things I've ever seen," he said.
Since then, Abbate and the group have collected uniforms, blank-firing weapons, communications equipment, supply boxes and a 1944 Jeep complete with a resin replica of a machine gun. Abbate has also built a Burmese bamboo hut which he brings to events.

"Most of the stuff I've picked up on eBay," Abbate said of his smaller items.

All the props and equipment, some of which are original, illustrate the history, tactics and daily life of the mostly 18- to 20-year-old commandos in Asia during the war. Veterans of the original unit have pointed out that the bamboo hut is missing the vermin that would live in the thatch roof and occasionally drop on the sleeping soldiers at night.

"It's incredible what they dealt with," Abbate said.

A former endurance race car driver, Abbate sometimes works on the Jeep himself. He also flies planes for the Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary, although he was never a full-time military member.

He has a connection to World War II, however. Abbate was born in 1945 while his father was in Brazil at a Navy base.

"Growing up as a kid in the 1950s, World War II was part of my life," he said.

The reaction from veterans and civilians has been overwhelmingly positive, Abbate said, although he's had several people question why he and his unit reenact while there are still living veterans.

"Once somebody comes to the event and sees what happens, that's all they need," he said. "When they see the education that happens - it makes a difference."

Abbate's group was invited by the original veterans of the First Air Commandos to attend their reunion several years ago in Tampa, Florida.

"We were a little concerned at the time about how'd they react to us in uniform," he said. "They ate it up, they were the sweetest bunch of people."

Van Van De Weghe, a fighter pilot with the First Air Commando Group during 1944 and 1945, was impressed with Abbate and his unit at the reunion.

"He did quite well ... he's very accurate. He's done a lot of work," Van De Weghe said of Abbate. "He had Stan Robinson (a Connecticut veteran) and myself to tell him how it was."

The commandos had to make do with inadequate supplies and worn-out planes for much of the war, Van De Weghe said. The reenactment group includes pieces of foreign uniforms and slightly tattered clothes to represent that, Abbate said.

Van De Weghe said he appreciates the re-enactors and the education they provide.

"China-Burma-India was a forgotten theater," Van De Weghe said. Much more attention is paid to the 8th Air Force in England and the air forces in the Pacific theater, according to Van De Weghe, and knowledge of the war in general is wanting.

"The schools today don't teach World War II," he said.
There's a theatrical side to reenacting as well. Abbate and his unit participated in a mock skirmish in one of the Reading events with reenactment groups of U.S. Marines and Japanese soldiers.

Abbate's unit is ambushed by the Japanese at a base before the Marines arrive.

"We fight valiantly, but we all end up wounded or dead," he said.

Cameron Casey, of Wallingford, enjoys the acting aspect but said the main purpose is teaching history. He joined the group about five years ago and heard about the group from Abbate's son, Scott.

"We've succeeded if we've told enough people about the China-India-Burma theater," he said.

His wife, Cassandra, is also a part of the unit and has uniforms for several women's auxiliary units which served in the theater.

Abbate and Casey sometimes stay in character while at a show and discuss the war and their unit using the present tense. They'll post a sign at the entrance to their area notifying visitors that they are now entering India during World War II.

Other times they resume their modern identity and are able to relate popular movies to history, such as "Bridge on the River Kwai."

Abbate sometimes wears jackets with the China-India-Burma patch and is sometimes stopped by veterans.

"They say, usually with a tear in their eye, 'Gosh, I didn't think anyone remembers us,' " Abbate said. "And that's why we do it, to keep their memory alive."