General Apathy Posted March 11, 2014 Share #7076 Posted March 11, 2014 Ken...You know how the bunker at the Roosevelt Cafe is painted up? Well, there are quite a few "vacant" bunkers not too far from you...right? So, if you picked one out...a lick o' paint, some coloured LEDs, a few folding chairs etc., and bingo! Ken's new theme bar..."Bunkers"! (that's me leaning against the wall BTW!) Hi Ian, well I think you could write a very small book ' Bunkers of Europe I have not yet seen ' ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March11 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 11, 2014 Share #7077 Posted March 11, 2014 Utah beach bunkers ................... Cont. This large bunker was positioned to fire along the sand, note that several feet of sand have disappeared from the base of it, the sand should be well over the top of that boulder seen at the front. Note also the machine-gun position attached to the right of the bunker. kenNorman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 8 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 11, 2014 Share #7078 Posted March 11, 2014 Utah beach bunkers ................... Cont. well this is the last photo in this particular group of bunkers on Utah beach kenNorman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 8 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David D Posted March 11, 2014 Share #7079 Posted March 11, 2014 Geez on match dot com she said she was Heide Littler ...........guess ya cant trust nothing.Thanks for the warning. -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 11, 2014 Share #7080 Posted March 11, 2014 Ken You have been a very busy boy.Thanks for the great tour of the Bunkers and towers.Time doesnot stand still. I wonder how many will remain in another 50 years. Ron Hi Ron, well picking up on your comment about wondering how many will remain in fifty years, here are two photo's of the same bunker a year apart both in the same month January 2011 and January 2012. I think this is damage more from the drifting sands than from shelling, it's interesting to note, I've read a book about the French workers that were ' employed ' to build bunkers along the coast line and their attempts at building or using inferior materials in the hope that they would not be strong construction. Looking at the materials used within this exact bunker there is block-work to be seen in the walls of a very lightweight honeycomb material that would not have survived a direct hit, however untouched it has still survived seventy years kenNorman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 8 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted March 12, 2014 Share #7081 Posted March 12, 2014 Bonkers !! I'd hang out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 12, 2014 Share #7082 Posted March 12, 2014 Bonkers !! I'd hang out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 12, 2014 Share #7083 Posted March 12, 2014 Ken...You know how the bunker at the Roosevelt Cafe is painted up? Well, there are quite a few "vacant" bunkers not too far from you...right? So, if you picked one out...a lick o' paint, some coloured LEDs, a few folding chairs etc., and bingo! Ken's new theme bar..."Bunkers"! Ian, there is already a club with many bunkers on Utah beach http://www.1golf.eu/en/club/golf-de-fontenay-en-cotentin/ ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 8 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 12, 2014 Share #7084 Posted March 12, 2014 Touche mon ami! Sharp as a needle with your ripostes, as always! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtRGFRANK Posted March 12, 2014 Share #7085 Posted March 12, 2014 It's amazing how much steel and concrete and stone has been used in the last hundreds of years to build forts etc to defend yourself. But man has built weapons to defeat then. Sadam tried in the gulf wars and we destroyed everything. But what has always worked? plain old soil-dirt. Pile enough up and it stops everything. Including nukes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgawne Posted March 12, 2014 Share #7086 Posted March 12, 2014 Ian- two ways to retire: 1. do this as a blog with ads on it. 2. get a concrete saw and lop off a part of a crumbling bunker. Go home and make up little squares of concrete on a lapindary saw and glue them to wooden plaques and sell a gen-U-ine piece of Hitler's Atlantic wall. (make up nameplates for a piece of the Berlin Wall, Hitler's eagle's nest and the Fuherbunker as well). I tried start a group to preserve WW1/WW2 sites much like the civil war preservation society we have here, but no one really cared much. Maybe we should just declare a WW1/WW2 Site Preservation Association, and start adding places to "our list." If you pretend you are official, you become official. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 12, 2014 Share #7087 Posted March 12, 2014 I'm always slightly saddened by the fact that the French authorities don't do more to preserve these historic sites which are gradually crumbling away, year on year. I suppose it all boils down to funding and priorities in these tough economic times? Also, perhaps to the French...understandably...they are symbols of occupation and oppression, so they see it differently to us. Last time I was over there, about 18 months ago, large chunks of the famous, bullet-scarred concrete sea-wall at Utah Beach had just tumbled forward, due to the ever changing dunes behind them. When I'm over the in June for the 70th anniversary I fully expect it to be at best untouched...but quite probably even more crumbled, especially given the severe weather which has been prevalent in the Channel for the first month or so of 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 13, 2014 Share #7088 Posted March 13, 2014 Dodge VC report ............. I spent the last two days at Pete's doing a few jobs on the Dodge with him, here's the front grill badge and proudly states ' Made in U.S.A. ', it is a fine beast of a vehicle, and Pete has worked hard to keep this beast on the road. kenNorman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 8 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 13, 2014 Share #7089 Posted March 13, 2014 Then & Now ...............1940 Dodge VC. here are two shots of the floor pan and the gearbox just six months apart, this vehicle has been totally stripped and rebuilt along with much body work and complete new floor-pan. Pete even had to re-manufacture the front and rear prop shafts, during shipping either loading in the US or un-loading in the UK it was picked up by a fork-lift truck and the two prop shafts were completely buggered. The prop shaft has been bent out of sight in the early photo, and the newly built one can be seen in the second photo. kenNorman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 8 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Andrews Posted March 13, 2014 Share #7090 Posted March 13, 2014 About 20 years ago, several of the beach defense bunkers and OP towers from 1942 were still to be seen along the beaches in Delaware. Last time I was there I think I saw two towers and no sign of bunkers. WHY raze them? They were not bothering anyone as the land was public property. I asked a park ranger and she said "Oh, because we got Fedral government money to improve SAFETY." They were closed up, so which safety was served? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 13, 2014 Share #7091 Posted March 13, 2014 Then & Now ...............1940 Dodge VC. Drivers side side-panel again all this work was done during the present six months work so far done kenNorman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 8 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 13, 2014 Share #7092 Posted March 13, 2014 Top-notch restoration work...a real labour of love! I take my hat off to him Ken. Can't wait to see the finished result. Keep us posted. Will it be a runner by June...maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 13, 2014 Share #7093 Posted March 13, 2014 About 20 years ago, several of the beach defense bunkers and OP towers from 1942 were still to be seen along the beaches in Delaware. Last time I was there I think I saw two towers and no sign of bunkers. WHY raze them? They were not bothering anyone as the land was public property. I asked a park ranger and she said "Oh, because we got Fedral government money to improve SAFETY." They were closed up, so which safety was served? That is Past, This is now, Then is future, things are different, not necessarily better ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 11 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 13, 2014 Share #7094 Posted March 13, 2014 Top-notch restoration work...a real labour of love! I take my hat off to him Ken. Can't wait to see the finished result. Keep us posted. Will it be a runner by June...maybe? Ian. it has to be finished by June, he has booked it into several shows and rallies around then. ***** June 2014 Announcement ***** I heard last night it's a great possibility that there will be no vehicle access to St Mere Eglise town square 4th - 7th June I would imagine that all vehicles will now have to park around the rear of the museum in the newly constructed car-parks, I will try and add more information as and when I hear it. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 11 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 13, 2014 Share #7095 Posted March 13, 2014 Then & Now ...............1940 Dodge VC. The Dodge rolling out into the fresh air today to test a few things such as the brakes, clutch and wheel bearings etc ................. kenNorman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 8 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 13, 2014 Share #7096 Posted March 13, 2014 Then & Now ...............1940 Dodge VC. View of the engine block, wiring is still an ongoing project at present, waiting for the wings to return from sand-blasters and the wiring can then be fixed along the inside wings. kenNorman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 8 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 13, 2014 Share #7097 Posted March 13, 2014 Then & Now ...............1940 Dodge VC. Shot from the rear the new floor panel can be seen and the re-made reinforcing struts on the body sides. kenNorman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 8 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 13, 2014 Share #7098 Posted March 13, 2014 Then & Now ...............1940 Dodge VC. Shot of the block casting date 4 - 4 - 40 kenNorman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 11 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted March 14, 2014 Share #7099 Posted March 14, 2014 Ken, The Dodge rebuild is amazing! Your friend really does excellent work. Those are some nice "then and now" pictures. I sure wish I was there to help with the rebuild. ...Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 14, 2014 Share #7100 Posted March 14, 2014 Ian. it has to be finished by June, he has booked it into several shows and rallies around then. ***** June 2014 Announcement ***** I heard last night it's a great possibility that there will be no vehicle access to St Mere Eglise town square 4th - 7th June I would imagine that all vehicles will now have to park around the rear of the museum in the newly constructed car-parks, I will try and add more information as and when I hear it. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 11 2014 . Great! Hopefully I'll get to see it at first hand then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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