DDAY and Germany pics 56k DEATH

CanadianAR

CanadianAR

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I just got back from a trip to europe, and being jet lagged am sitting on the couch doing not much so I figured id share some pics.

Was a dream trip. France/Germany/Italy
Eiffel Tower
Arc d'Triomph
Catacombs
Louvre
Palace of Versaille
Berlin Wall
Checkpoint Charlie
Air Raid Shelter
Flak Tower park
Seelow Heights Museum and Area
Berlin Cathedral
FuhrerBunker
Vesuvius
Pompeii
Capri
Anyways here are the more milsurp appropriate pics.
I have lots more pics if anyone wants anything particular or any questions.

JUNO BEACH











Longues sur Mer German Coastal Defense Battery, the only German defenses with their hardware still intact, the local mayor at the time wanted a reminder of the German occupation.








EE ad. Found milsurp in the country. Bore has some pitting. P/U Only.






Hooks for camo netting.

After DDay the allies set up a bomber runway at this sight. They put AA guns on the roof of this battery. Ammunition inside exploded destroying the casement and gun. Not a naval hit.

Certain people have asked for lots of Tiger pics. This Tiger was with an SS Panzer division, broke out of the Falais pocket. suspected to have run out of fuel, was immobilized by the germans and left blocking the road. The canadians bulldozed it into a ditch on their way through. There it lay til the 70s, it was put up as a monument but the town of Vimoutiers.





Barrel code and maker anyone? LOL

Waffenamt on the mighty 88




engine visible through exhaust port.

GF waiting patiently while I have my fun at the tiger.


Managed to sneak my hand in and get an interior shot.


GERMANY
They don't display alot of WW2 stuff.
The museum in in former DDR and pro soviet.
For you K98K lovers, the K98k was an swp45, befitting of a 45 fought battle. But looks ridden hard and put away russian style, reblued and shellaced.


Volksturmgewher gusloff VG1-5





















Pockmarked walls litter East Berlin



Italy really offered no WW2 stuff in the area I was. So no pics. Unless someone wants something. I will say the crater of vesuvius was amazing.
 
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Those are great pictures! I really want to go over there and check out the D-Day stuff. Nice to see they left quite a few for people to look at. And they left the guns. Are those the original cannons? You could make up a little book for Canadians interested in all the places to check out. They must have used those for movies.

Great job on the pics and if you have more put them up.

What would it cost me for a plane ticket to get my fat a$$ over there.
 
Nelson,

I flew to Paris via Iceland air. It was a steal. $550 with a 45 min stop in iceland.......but I booked far in advance which I recommend, prices go up the closer to departure you book.
My flight home was from Rome and was about $1k on air transat, which I now know had the smallest seats of any airline ive ever travelled, and ive flown on at least 25 different aircraft, I found out after the fact that they are known for this.....so i would opt for another airline if i go again.

These are the only german batteries left with original guns. After the liberation of france, local mayors were given authority to scrap, sell or use anything the germans left behind. all others opted for scrap money, this mayor wanted an intact reminder of the occupation. It is a free site, and well worth the drive.

I picked Juno as it fit into my schedule, and was Canadian, far more pillboxes and stuff left at Omaha, the main US landing site I think. But still no guns.....

The tiger is one of 6 remaining worldwide. 1 each in a museum in France, England, and Russia. One in private US hands, and one more in russia. The russian one in is also outside, and maybe where it was destroyed, it is in far worse shape.

I can add more pics tonight after work if youd like.

The russian outside tiger. Not my pic.

tigra002-23.jpg
 
Wow, with some tlc, you could get those guns and that Tiger tank back in working shape again.

Beautiful pictures by the way.

Now I thought the Fuhrer's bunker was destroyed in the 1970s, are you able to share any pictures of this ?
 
The Tiger I in UK - #131 - was captured in Tunisia in 1943 and is now a prize exhibit at the Royal Armoured Corps Centre and Museum at Bovingdon, Dorset. It is probably the most photographed and video'd Tiger I in existence.

Why so special?

Gentlemen - it's a runner. See the hundreds of movies on Youtube, hear that baby roar, and be left in no doubt why it was a pants-filler for the allies facing it.

tac
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CbBP4DIlFw

Now if they would fire the gun, that would be a real treat :).

tacfoley said:
The Tiger I in UK - #131 - was captured in Tunisia in 1943 and is now a prize exhibit at the Royal Armoured Corps Centre and Museum at Bovingdon, Dorset. It is probably the most photographed and video'd Tiger I in existence.

Why so special?

Gentlemen - it's a runner. See the hundreds of movies on Youtube, hear that baby roar, and be left in no doubt why it was a pants-filler for the allies facing it.

tac
Click to expand...
 
No doubt the Bovington tiger is amazing. If in england, i will not miss it.

But i doubt they would let me climb on it. hahah.


The fuhrur bunker was destroyed, sort of. It was partially demolished by the soviets postwar, but the newer section prooved imensely tough, as a result it was kind of demoed and just buried. There are apartments, park and parking lot on top of it now. Just a plaque marks the spot, and a recent plaque, just put up in 07 i think.
 
Great photos Andrew!

It's crazy, I was just standing in a lot of same spots as you only a few months ago!

I will see if I have some photos of me standing in some of the same spots.

Do you have any photos from the flak tower park in Berlin? What did you think of it, and were you also confused about where it was while walking up that big forest covered "hill"?

I haven't seen an interior photo of the tiger at Vimoutiers before. Nice!!

The problem with these trips is that they're addictive!!

-Steve
 
Great pictures, I went to Normandy in '11.... did you go inside the Juno Beach museum? Did you go to St Mere Eglise and the Airborne museum??
For those who haven't gone yet... highly recommended!!
 
Monte Cassino is not too far from Pompeii (Naples). It is a fantastic site. I spent 3 days combing over the area talking to old locals who were there during the events.
If you jump the fence at the Polish cemetery at the top you can get to the area to the rear of the monastery where some have still found items of the war. Though the area is full of thorn bushes and still some UXO around so be careful. I tried to find and Cavendish's way in 2004 (the road engineers built to outflank the monastery using tanks). I am sure I found it for awhile but the overgrowth got too dense, ran out of water hours ago, had limited sunlight left - so hiked back down. Almost did not make it back!
There is a unbelievable monument to the Poles who took the monastery, built by the survivors right after the war, on another hilltop that looks down onto the monastery. But you have to jump the fence and hike a bit as its on private property and the guards won't let you on the dirt road to get to it. I found it and it must have been years since the last visitors as the bushes were growing close to it. Shame the Poles won't buy the land it sits on and open it to tourists. The town was crawling with Polish tourists when I was there.
 
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