Vehicles of the Wehrmacht

[XRCD011]

I was in Normandy for the 75th and participated in the Colonne Notek meeting/convoy/swim of cars in the Douve River outside Carentan. Colonne Notek was the largest gathering of German wartime vehicles in France since the end of the Second World War and a refreshing break from the endless streams of Jeeps/Dodges/Jimmies and assorted other allied vehicles that descend on Normandy on this special week in time. Here are a few pics of the event.

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Axeles war bug, a great guy from Germany

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^ pre-swim checks and getting ready, during the pre-invasion days the Germans simply blocked off the river(s) that in turn, flooded the flat farm lands and prevent them from being landed on by gliders or paratroops.

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^ A very nice little Opel Kadett

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^ My "captured jeep" (Beute Jeep), having a jeep to drive around in the UK and France has pretty much ruined me for driving in boring Canada. As a invite only event for German vehicles I had to play it up a bit, then mounting up in a VW166 for the convoy and passing off the GPW to my 2IC

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^ Super nice Horch 901 Radio van

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^ Tatra 57K..............my dream car, or "the other Kübel" .

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^ In the heart of the Bocage, sunken roads, thick, impassible, hedgerows and numerous farm complexes built like small castles made for rough going back in the day.

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For some reason I see some humour in this pic.

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Nice early Kübel with the late war paint

 

[highlander]

Any truth to the rumor that a number of French towns surrendered when these German vehicles came through?

 

[Armourall]

Any truth to the rumor that a number of French towns surrendered when these German vehicles came through?

Ouch..

 

[CGS]

Any truth to the rumor that a number of French towns surrendered when these German vehicles came through?

LOL.

Beautiful machines though; would have loved to see them.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

I see a lot of spray painted camo. Somehow I doubt that's authentic.

Grizz

 

[Falconflyer]

Great set of pics! My brother in law was there for the 75th and said it was pretty impressive.

 

[Grouse Man]

Those Schwimmwagens are worth a fortune!

 

[.22LRGUY]

What a remarkable collection of vehicles. And to think...it's only money keeping me from owning one...

 

[Coyote Ugly]

Thanks for posting!

 

[geologist]

They used horses a lot as well.

 

[Kevt28]

Very cool, thanks for posting. I was in Normandy 4 years ago and I can’t wait to go back.

 

[XRCD011]

Thanks guys, here are some more vehicle pics.

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^ French Peugeot 302 pressed into service.

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^ Steyer 1500A troop carrier, air cooled 85 HP gas engine and surprisingly large.

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^ note battle damage to the front fender

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^ Hey !!............... who invited these guys to the party ?

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In B&W to give it the back in 1944 look/vibe, and any Normandy date that ends in a 0 or 5 you will see lots like this.

 

[chofo]

Excellent effort my man!! One of these days...

 

[jbmauser]

Great pics and vehicles! Thanks for posting these!

 

[Light Infantry]

They used horses a lot as well.

I think most of those have died since the war, hence you don't see them in any of the pictures.

 

[M1-Garand]

Very cool.
I wonder why the little Peugeot is marked "abstand 100m",(distance 100m)

 

[bogusiii]

And to think...it's only money keeping me from owning one...

Well, that, and...

….space, ability, mechanical smarts, patience, a sense of humour and, most importantly, an accommodating wife. Oddly enough, even money sometimes won't get you that have to have part. More often it's connections and luck.

 

[Grock-co]

Who celebrates the German involvement in the war, anybody else find it kind of gross to be gloryfiying the Nazi’s, the there war machine. I guess the evil of that whole regimen is wearing off with time, which is another short coming of the education system.

 

[7ECA]

They're vehicles - inanimate objects, which were associated with a heinous regime. Driving those vehicles and commemorating the 75th Anniversary of D-Day is one thing, but to say that one is celebrating Nazism by the same action is ludicrous.

As for the idea that the "education system" has some role to play, again that's ludicrous. Look first at Germany, her citizens are almost constantly reminded of the horrors of the war and her students learn in graphic detail the atrocities committed in the name of Nazism. For what it's worth, the argument that Canadians do not learn enough about the war is only partially true - being that the First and Second World Wars are given a decent amount of study in high school history classes, but the idea is to give students a broad overview of one of the most complicated centuries in history and hopefully giving them the drive and the interest to study history on their own or go into higher learning with a passion for history.

Quite a neat collection of vehicles, nice to see people whom are passionate about keeping items of historical significance running - and thus by extension helping keep history alive and more tangible for future generations.

 

[srdiver]

They used horses a lot as well.

yes but to find a horse that survived even to the end of the conflict would be impossible, maybe a sixth or seventh generation but not one that served during the time period