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Remembering D-DAY


TimHortman

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Greetings All,

 

I wanted to share with everyone this wonderful collection of photos. I was fortunate enough to purchase an album several years ago which featured approximately 75 photos taken mostly in France. These are all labeled Le Havre and Cherbourg - the two major coastal towns which surrounded the beaches where landings took place.

 

While some may find they are not of interest because there is not an over flow of action, I feel that they show a side of D-Day that is mostly forgotten - what was left behind. If you study them closely you will see some US and German vehicles, bunkers & pillboxes, and many images of the landscape and the towns mentioned. The name on a few other loose papers with the album was WILLIAM J OWENS. I do not know if he is pictured in any of the images, or if he is indeed the one to whom these belonged. Obviously these were taken sometime after June 6, but exactly when I do not know.

 

Please feel free to comment, and if you can add details to any of the images, please do so for all of us.

 

I've posted the entire album here for you to enjoy. PLEASE feel free to send a link to your friends and family and have them come to view. Also feel free to post links to other sites directing people here. I added the markings so that people would know that these were posted on the IPMS site. I wanted to give a little back to an organization which has given much to me over the years. Rather than sit back and wonder what IPMS can do for me, I strongly felt that I would post these here and here alone. Yes the thread will be long, and yes the photos are large. I decided not to shrink them down, so that you could get the full effect. And, Yes they are in the open area where the world can see them which was also my goal. Never forget the sacrifices made a generation ago. Let's never forget D-Day and what it meant for ALL of mankind.

 

Respectfully,

 

Tim

 

 

 

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Hi, Tim,

 

I found these old photos very interesting. They show quite clearly the devastation to private and commercial properties in the two towns caused by combatants who had no thought or care for what they destroyed, just as long as they engaged an enemy force. The owners of these properties had never expected their destruction like this when they first built them. I wonder how many of them were injured or killed in their homes and businesses when the crossfire caught them in the middle.

 

Wars are fought by young people on behalf of old people who cannot get along. No price is too high for other people to pay to keep these old leaders in power.

 

It would be an even greater find if the original negatives for these prints could be found. I thought I saw the same person in more than one photo, so perhaps that was the photographer or a close friend or co-worker. Thanks for posting the pictures.

 

Ed

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Thanks Tim! Very interesting collection of images. Can anyone translate the sign?

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Thank you Ed, Dick,

 

Dick - I was hoping the same thing!

There are also a few vechicles I was hoping that folks could id - especially the tank (I'm pretty sure it's German)

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Its the same warning in Greman and French - looks like it is a warning prohibiting the dumping of water in a particular area... or maybe it says no spitting... something like that

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Thank you Ed, Dick,

 

Dick - I was hoping the same thing!

There are also a few vechicles I was hoping that folks could id - especially the tank (I'm pretty sure it's German)

 

 

If I'm not mistaken, the tank without the turret is a Renault R-35.

Mark

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No Problem guys.

If I get time over the next few days/weeks I may post a few images in the other areas to get some id help...

Too many other things going on right now...

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Tim,

 

Great photos! This is a side of the war that is not published that often or very limited. The distruction of towns, cities, building, etc. is one of the very nasty side affects of war.

 

I have planning a coatal bunker diarama for sometime now. This will help a great deal. Thanks again for posting these photos here.

 

Oh the sign is a warning in German about the broken water system. In Fench I have no clue.

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The sign would mean more if we knew the context. As it is, a literal translation (of German) is "The dumping of shoes and pouring of water is forbidden." Might be trying to protect a potable water source, but the idioms are beyond me ....

 

Thanks for posting these, Tim ....

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Chris - No problem: That is one of the reasons I wanted to get them "out there"

 

John - Thanks for the literal translation. I am sure it had some meaning, but at least we know what it says now.

 

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