Vimoutiers Auction.

I realise many of you chaps who regularly visit or live in France prefer to find your militaria under bushes, but this might interest you:

Auction of a French collectors bits and pieces on 10th, 11th & 12th November, amongst dozens of motorcycles there's a wide range of ww2 bits and pieces from Panzer Jacks to mine detectors and towed artillery. Amongst the vehicles going under the hammer are jeeps, a Kettenkraftrad, Opel Blitz, Kubel, Schwimmer, & Einheits Diesel.

Bikes from page one, Militaria from page 6(ish), bigger vehicles on last two pages:
Vente aux enchères : MILITARIA & DIVERS, COLLECTION A. ROUDEIX*-*VIMOUTIERS*-* 10/11/07

Cheers,
Adam.

 

Oh my what a pile of junk! luckily I saw the kubel, but no Schwimmer and there is a bunch of old iron that looks like my back yard. It looks dirt cheap though , I might go , it's less than three hours from home.

 

When you said 'towed artillery', I had a picture in my mind of several 10.5cm field howitzers, but that was shattered when I saw the pictures.

 

Schwimwagen looks very complete, I see it's estimated at roughly the same price as the Kettenkrad, which surprised me.

 

I want the Kettenkrad...no the Kubel...no the Schwimmwagen ??? Or maybe a bicycle with one wheel !

 

wow, the jeep looks great!!

 

Some really fascinating stuff there, but I'd rather find it myself....

I note that these items are from the Alain Roudeix collection ; he is legendary for finding Falaise relics and most of his collection forms the basis of the August '44 Museum at Falaise........

 

It's amazing that there are still so many things to find. I know where to dig out an entire german convoy near my home, it's on a private property and the owner does not want any excavations, so it's quite frustrating to have it so close... nearby one house has its fundations built on four R.R Lancacaster engines, another one is built on the wreckage of a Ju88.... The workers "just" cut the wing to lay the bricks.. That was in the 1960s.

 

And recovered the Vimoutiers Tiger.
Seems he has passed away and this is the fate of his collection.

 

I had brought this up several years ago with Martin and others fortunate enough to visit the Ardenne. The LW Nachtjagd lost more night fighters during December 1944 than any period in it's existance, and many of these losses are attributed to Allied AA fire. many Bf 110G-4's and Ju 88G's have been lost with no trace over the dense confireous woods with the crews MIA. Imagine having the time to really explore thoroughly. Some are being found but very very slowly. Everyone knows that there has to be huge pieces hanging up in the dense woods. Personally I'd like to be there right now ........ ~

 

Is Roudeix really dead? Sad to hear that, especially because his liftime collection gets dipersed.

 

I beleive he passed away earlier this year. I was sad to hear it, as - to any avid reader of After The Battle - he was literally 'a legend in his own lifetime'......

 

I know he was, he a passionate searcher and collector, but for some reason I missed the date of his death. Nothing surprising. I heard about the death of Clostermann form an English firends too. It seems like the news in France has other priorities, like football...

 

About this auction sale, you can look at a video prensenting this sale (with the expert) at interencheres.tv, l’actualité des enchères en vidéo :

 

Thank you!
My French is nonexistent but that was still fascinating.
What a pile of stuff...

Cheers,
Adam.

 

great link,

Adam, if you need a small translation just ask a,d I'll be glad to help. If it's a big one, just ask your computer translator.

 

Hello everybody!

Well, the auction must be over now. Is there anyone who can give us any info about it?

I'm very curious about what people paid for the wonderful things that were for sale, and I do not think that I am the only one!

Mats

 

a picture + article about the sale here. It mentions the Saturday session. I will try to find the Monday sale with the Scwhimmer (estimated at 40.000 euros)

ouest-france.fr - - La Seconde Guerre se vend aux enchères

 

Skipper,

Thanks a lot!!

Mats

 

You are welcome Matts, I tried to find an article about Monday, but nothing sofar. However on a French forum there is a tetimony of a man who was there. He said people went nuts and paid fortunes for eveything, even crap. 200-400 euros for a pile of boxes. 150 euros for a few German helmets covered with rust.... Most of the material was acquired by a few private collectors or Museums.
The Commonwealth material was sold for a much cheaped price and some made excellent bargains.