D-Day 65th anniversary

great pictures jagdpanther !, i was there in april.....great bunkers can still be found with some of their originial bits and peices intact. great to see !

 

Jagpanther! I love you're now and then photographs! There's nothing better than those types of pics.
Amazing pictures.

 

Hi John, great then and nows. Also, im surprised that some of those bunkers are still in such nice condition. Also, as for the views from bunkers-it's no wonder a hard time had been had-for our guys. Geezus-those views looked right down our throats.

 

That is way cool!

 

Hi Carl, some of the bunkers are indeed in very good condition and will no doubt last another 65 years.

These photos were taken at the british cemetery at Ranville during the 5th June ceremony.






And the scene was also the same later in the day at Bayeux british cemetery

 

Hi John, you certainly were in the company of greatness. I'd love to go to one of these celebrations someday-while Vets still feel like attending them.

 

Carl, it was an honour to be among so many brave men.

While we were in Normandy, I went to the Falaise Gap area with Pegasus for a days walking along some of the routes that the germans took when retreating.


The area is full of pieces of shrapnel and bits of twisted metal. Ocassionally you also come across live ammunition!

These german rounds were on one of the tracks alongside a farmers field...both rounds were left where they were found !

7.92 round


9mm round

 

This is a panoramic photo looking in to the Falaise Gap from Mont Ormel. The hill was fiercely defended by Polish troops during the german retreat.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_262

 

I agree-to be amidst those vets is a great feeling. A few of those Gents I noticed had at least 3-4 campaign Stars. I certainly all of them. They all saw hell for sure, and gladly they came back from it.

As for the live ammo-was that an 88 round lying next to that field? It still looked in fairly nice condition.

 

Hi Carl, Apart from the 1939-45 Star and France-Germany Star, I noticed some also had the Italy Star and/or Africa Star. A few also had the Atlantic Star.

The photograph is actually of a 7.92 round...I'd give an old rusty 88mm shell a wide berth !

 

looks like a lot to take in john,I'll look forward to it when I go in oct,great pics to help get in the mood too,ray..

 

Hi John, embarassingly-I just before reading your reply-noticed the cartridge and the size of the "Lettuce" it sits around--dang my eyes and staying up too late

 

John,

A little late but I am finally getting a chance to see this thread and your great photos. Thanks for posting...they are great. Wish I could have been there.

 

Lou, cd13, thanks for the kind words.

Carl, it's an easy mistake to make when there is no immediate objects to use as a scale comparrison.


Here are some more photos....

A 'captured' Kubelwagen which was at La Fiere bridge


St-Mere-Eglise



This was the scene at Pegasus Bridge prior to the veterans of Major Howard's company (who took the bridge in the early hours of 6th June 1944) making their way over it.

 

This is great stuff, thank you for sharing.

 

I would like to thank you so very much for these pictures, brings me back to last summer.

 

Here's another then and now shot. This one was taken in the village of St Lambert-sur-Dives in the Falaise Gap.

The Panthers, in the 1944 photo, had presumably crossed over the bridge which spans the river Dives at St Lambert, on their escape route from the area. It's hard to say what brought the tanks to a halt, maybe they were taken out by allied fire or even disabled by their crews after mechanical problems or even running out of fuel.
The lack of a supply of fuel was a major problem for the germans during their retreat from Normandy.

 

Other alot of Amazing photo you have here,it captures ww2 era!