And the Allies never had it during the war? Would the Axis have won. I hear it’s very important.
The ultimate Axis and Allies table….
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While visiting the Eisenhower museum in Abilene, KS yesterday I saw this table which Eisenhower and his Allies used to plan D-day on. Looks like it is about 7 foot by 4 foot. This would make one awesome AAA table, huh? :-D
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Very nice!
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I could just imagine a few users of this site, planning an operation to smash that glass and escape with the table, alarms blaring.
Then the inevitably Media Question - “Why would anyone want to steal this table?, this piece of History?!?!”
lol… and only we would know.
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Yes! I would definately play D-Day on this, the whole time uncontrollably giggling.
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Wouldn’t it be cooler to walk into the museum with 6 other A&A members with your Global boxes and announce to the staff there that you are here for the 1st International conference and could they please show you to the Eisenhower table? All dressed in WW2 uniforms of course.
Then ask where the bar is. -
Another good table story involves the one that was used at the surrender ceremony on the USS Missouri in September 1945. The table originally intended for use (a fancy wooden one) turned out to be too small for the instrument of surrender (which was a very large document), so at the last minute one of the ship’s officers grabbed a folding-leg dining table from the mess deck and set it up at the surrender ceremony spot, covered by a large (and somewhat coffee-stained) tablecloth. The ceremony proceeded smoothly, other than the fact that the Japanese foreign minister’s wooden leg hit the table and almost collapsed it into his lap. After the ceremony was over, somebody suggested to the ship’s senior officers that it would be nice for the surrender table to be sent to a Navy museum. The officer who’d obtained the table in the first place went down to the surrender location, where he found the tablecloth lying on the deck and the table gone. He scooped up the tablecloth and, on a hunch, went back to the mess deck. Sure enough, the table was there (the mess chief had reappropriated it) and it was being set for lunch as if nothing had happened. The officer hauled it away a second time – the poor mess chief lost his table twice in one morning – and duly arranged for it to be preserved with the cloth as a historical artifact. As I recall, the tablecloth and the table currently live in a museum as the US Naval Academy.
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Nice story.
Wooden leg? Didn’t know that, or that he signed.
Thought it would have been a naval officer for some reason. -
@wittmann:
Nice story. Wooden leg? Didn’t know that, or that he signed. Thought it would have been a naval officer for some reason.
I think his name was Shigamitsu. He’s the fellow in the morning coat and top hat seen in the newsreels. He represented both the Emperor and the civilian government. There was also an Army officer and a second officer (I can’t recall if he was Army or Navy) representing the Imperial General Staff and the Imperial armed forces. All three signed the surrender document, I think.
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Thanks again.
I think I have seen a picture of the surrender. The German one too.I have just not studied them in much detail or learnt things about them, because I am a poor loser and support the Axis!
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@rjpeters70:
I visited the Little White House in Key West, where President Truman (and a number of his National Security Council principals) would Winter, and he had an 8 sided poker table that the local Navy Carpenter’s built. Beautiful rich wood, beautiful felt, nice craftmanship, slots for poker chips and rocks glasses… and it also had a matching wooden cover to it, so that when Mrs. Truman would come in, they could cover the poker table, and use it as an 8 person conference table in his study. It is awesome.
And I can just imagine the Master Chief Petty Officer in charge of the Key West Naval Station carpenter’s office saying “Boys, we’re going to build the world’s greatest poker table…”
Can you imagine how cool it would be to play a game on THAT?
Very Cool!
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If only I could play Axis & Allies D-DAY on that table JUST ONCE……
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If only I could play Axis & Allies D-DAY on that table JUST ONCE……
Has anyone approached the museum? Maybe we -could- make something out the concept? an event even…
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If only I could play Axis & Allies D-DAY on that table JUST ONCE……
Has anyone approached the museum? Maybe we -could- make something out the concept? an event even…
Maybe it could be pitched as a fundraising event for the museum because most museums are strapped for cash.
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@CWO:
If only I could play Axis & Allies D-DAY on that table JUST ONCE……
Has anyone approached the museum?� Maybe we -could- make something out the concept?� an event even…
Maybe it could be pitched as a fundraising event for the museum because most museums are strapped for cash.Â
Agreed.
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They could also easily cover it with a vinyl tablecloth to prevent any “concerns”.
the Eisenhower museum in Abilene, KS
Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum
P.O. Box 339
Abilene, KS 67410
Phone: 785-263-6700
Toll Free: 1-877-746-4453
Fax: 785-263-6715
E-mail: eisenhower.library@nara.govWho’s going to do it?
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Real war is a pretty solemn thing - after all, D-day’s real decisions involved people dying - and I seriously doubt this museum would go for (nor would I truly be in favor of) some rowdy armchair generals rolling dice and chuckling over this table - nice fantasy though! (Plus we’d probably run out of air inside that case before round 2)
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@Der:
Real war is a pretty solemn thing - after all, D-day’s real decisions involved people dying - and I seriously doubt this museum would go for (nor would I truly be in favor of) some rowdy armchair generals rolling dice and chuckling over this table - nice fantasy though! (Plus we’d probably run out of air inside that case before round 2)
Keep in mind friend, that if it wasn’t for all us armchair generals, and comedians, rolling dice, and remembering who fought for what where and when, it might all be forgotten.
And also remember, that by making the sacrifice of those people a constant living memory in our minds - we honor them.
Axis and Allies was made as, and always will be, a tribute to those who served and a warning against what could have been.
In closing - consider what CWO said, about the museums often struggling for funding. What if an event like this became something that kept them afloat? or kept them inspired? What if Axis and Allies was what inspired you to go to that museum - as a student of history- in the first place?
Remember that if it isn’t regular people like us like us - finding ways to engage ourselves and others, in our own history, that knowledge, and sacrifices can be quickly lost…
I urge you to reconsider. :)
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I just realized some irony for you Kuenstler :-P More to the point I just made.
If it hadn’t been for axis and allies… and if it hadn’t been for you posting about playing D-Day on that table… and if it hadn’t have been for this community…
I never would have heard of the Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum in Kansas, or ever considered going there, or considered learning more about this.
Thank you for enlightening me with the opportunity. I hope you feel the same? :)
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Good points Garg - I didn’t think of it that way - I too often feel like I’m honoring the memory of those in the war - not just playing a game. (which might explain my total lack of interest in fantasy and sci-fi games)
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