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Norman D. Landing


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General Apathy

 

Ken,

 

Your shoebox NEVER ceases to amaze me! It is truly endless......Kat

 

Hi kat, thanks once again for enjoying something from the shoebox. As you know I am working on getting my Ford GPW on the road again this summer hopefully, so I have been skirting round for whatever jeep parts are laying around. Sadly this brand new Ford original old stock crank handle had been stored in the garage with the Jeep, originally when it was put in there it was totally wrapped in Cosmoline, as it had been by the manufacturers in WWII. Never foresaw that the damn field mice would develop a taste for Cosmoline. so here it is with whatever remains of the cosmoline wrap.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 11 2016.

 

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General Apathy

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From the shoebox . . . . . . well the garage anyway

 

shown here is the crank handle with the Ford logo embossed into it, and the remains of the Cosmoline wrap, they were supplied with a black finish and not O.D. paint.

Also shown is a second version of the hand-crank handle again with the Ford logo, this is the one I have carried on the Jeep over the years. Willys Jeep crank handles are embossed with WO-A on the shaft rather than Ford.

 

I do have another crank handle which is embossed with G503 the designation for US built Jeep stocks.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 11 2016.

 

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General Apathy

Ken, I have enjoyed spending the last few days reading through the years of this topic :o. I feel like I have recieved a guided your of Normandy and then some! Thanks for taking the time to share with us the sights and the items from your collection. My family and I are headed to France next month for a few weeks, and as this is my first time to France I insisted on a couple days in Normandy. I now realize that two days will only barely scratch the surface of all their is to do and see :(. Also thanks for the Map recomendation, I have mine ordered. :D Skip

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Hi Skip, thanks for joining in and welcome to the mystery journey here within, even I don't have a daily idea of what the day or posts will bring. Pleased that you have enjoyed reading through the blog and hope that it has or will be of some use to you when you visit here.

 

If you require a guided tour then these two guys are the ones for you, Dale Booth at dboothnormandytours.com, or Allan Bryson at firstnormandybattlefieldtours.com, I can really recommend both of them, and both native English speakers so no confusion with language. They may also be able to offer B & B accommodation I believe.

 

Whatever you decide to do I hope it all turns out successfully for you and the family.

 

www.dboothnormandytours.com

 

or

 

http://www.firstnormandybattlefieldtours.com/

 

Keep us up to date when you return, let us know what and which parts you enjoyed.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 11 2016.

 

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General Apathy

Love the bat. My gradfather was a huge Yankees fan and went to games in the 1920s and 30s. He saw Babe Ruth play in many games. I wish I had been able to grab some of his memorabilia after he passed away. I have no idea what happened to it.

 

Oh yeah, I have not yet seen the old posts about the fossils, but look forward to seeing them. You can say that your house dates way farther back that the 1700's! I am not in any way any kind of expert, but fossils are one of the many things I find wonder in.

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General Apathy

Love the bat. My gradfather was a huge Yankees fan and went to games in the 1920s and 30s. He saw Babe Ruth play in many games. I wish I had been able to grab some of his memorabilia after he passed away. I have no idea what happened to it.

 

Oh yeah, I have not yet seen the old posts about the fossils, but look forward to seeing them. You can say that your house dates way farther back that the 1700's! I am not in any way any kind of expert, but fossils are one of the many things I find wonder in.

 

Hi mikie, pleased to hear that you have some fond memories of your grandfather, sound like he had some great memories of the early ball games and some of the players.

 

Sorry to hear that you haven't got to the fossils part yet on the blog, so I will add another shell in the wall here below, I have been assured by a Paleontologist that it is definitely not a fossil from the coprolithic period or lithification time scale, it's more recent than that. ^_^

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 11 2016.

 

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Hi kat, thanks once again for enjoying something from the shoebox. As you know I am working on getting my Ford GPW on the road again this summer hopefully, so I have been skirting round for whatever jeep parts are laying around. Sadly this brand new Ford original old stock crank handle had been stored in the garage with the Jeep, originally when it was put in there it was totally wrapped in Cosmoline, as it had been by the manufacturers in WWII. Never foresaw that the damn field mice would develop a taste for Cosmoline. so here it is with whatever remains of the cosmoline wrap.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 11 2016.

 

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I think mice will eat anything

 

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Hi mikie, pleased to hear that you have some fond memories of your grandfather, sound like he had some great memories of the early ball games and some of the players.

 

Sorry to hear that you haven't got to the fossils part yet on the blog, so I will add another shell in the wall here below, I have been assured by a Paleontologist that it is definitely not a fossil from the coprolithic period or lithification time scale, it's more recent than that. ^_^

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 11 2016.

 

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like 1944

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Relevant to these forums, my granddad in the 1930s ran his own radio repair shop. Being Italian by birth, a lot of his equipment was confiscated in 1942. But stangely enough, there didn't seem to be any problem with him working in defense plants, making artillery shells and aviation electronics during the war.

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General Apathy

 

I think mice will eat anything

 

 

Robert, I give them enough poisoned grain to eat without them having to eat anything else, funny though they never seem to eat any of the bills that come into the house, I feed the mice and still have to pay the bills. :huh:

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 12 2016.

 

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General Apathy

like 1944

 

 

Hi Robert, OK we get it that you like 1944, but have you any other years you like . . . . . . . . . . . :lol::lol:

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 12 2016.

 

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General Apathy

Relevant to these forums, my granddad in the 1930s ran his own radio repair shop. Being Italian by birth, a lot of his equipment was confiscated in 1942. But stangely enough, there didn't seem to be any problem with him working in defense plants, making artillery shells and aviation electronics during the war.

 

Hi Mikie, back in the 70's I had a friend who's grandparents were Italians, they arrived in the UK in the 1970's and built a chain of very successful ice-cream parlours and restaurants. However with the outbreak of WWII they Anglicised their family name to Offord from Offredi to enable their businesses to continue. Warwick then changed the name back to Offredi in the 1970's.

 

In the 1970s & 80s Warwick and his father ran Thruxton as a race circuit. Although an RAF airfield initially, it became USAAF station 407 pre D-Day for the 366FG. flying P-47D's. At the end of war over 200 Horsa gliders were assembled at the airfield ready for breaking up, it was de-listed as an airfield in 1946.

 

We often used to make fun of him with derivatives of his name, I came up with Woff, this came about from seeing letters addressed to him W. Offredi, another name we had for him was Off-roadie as he had various WWII four wheel drive vehicles.

 

Sadly Woff passed away in 2008.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 12 2016.

 

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General Apathy

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Fantastic WWII footage on youtube . . . .

 

About five years ago there was a news article that a company in the States was experimenting with a new style wheel for the Hummer, it consisted of a plastic honeycomb style wheel with just a rubber face around the outside of the rim, it uses the minimum of rubber so there is no sidewall or inner tube.

 

Last night I found a clip on Youtube of a very similar design being tested on a Jeep in WWII, it's very interesting technology for it's time period. ( you will note that the footage has been shown from the reverse side thereby making the Jeep right-hand drive )

 

Enjoy

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 13 2016.

 

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General Apathy

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From the shoebox . . . . . . . . . .

 

This 82nd patch came to me from the veteran, quite unusual with a felt material background, often wondered if there was or should have had a matching felt tab as well.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 13 2016.

 

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Fantastic WWII footage on youtube . . . .

 

About five years ago there was a news article that a company in the States was experimenting with a new style wheel for the Hummer, it consisted of a plastic honeycomb style wheel with just a rubber face around the outside of the rim, it uses the minimum of rubber so there is no sidewall or inner tube.

 

Last night I found a clip on Youtube of a very similar design being tested on a Jeep in WWII, it's very interesting technology for it's time period. ( you will note that the footage has been shown from the reverse side thereby making the Jeep right-hand drive )

 

Enjoy

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 13 2016.

 

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It's amazing what was developed years ago then dropped only to be brought back. One example was the flying wing which was dropped and destroyed. Now known as the B-2 stealth bomber

 

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Normandy1944

Amazing history!!!

 

Normandy little known facts . . . . . . . . . .

Members of the Wehrmacht Indian Volunteers. Joined because they were against the british Empire. Part of Rommels forces in Holland and moved to Normandy.


https://www.google.fr/search?q=indians+in+german+army+normandy&espv=2&biw=1088&bih=514&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwigrrm07K_LAhXnK5oKHQrTAPEQ_AUIBigB

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 8 2016.

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attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

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Fantastic WWII footage on youtube . . . .

 

About five years ago there was a news article that a company in the States was experimenting with a new style wheel for the Hummer, it consisted of a plastic honeycomb style wheel with just a rubber face around the outside of the rim, it uses the minimum of rubber so there is no sidewall or inner tube.

 

Last night I found a clip on Youtube of a very similar design being tested on a Jeep in WWII, it's very interesting technology for it's time period. ( you will note that the footage has been shown from the reverse side thereby making the Jeep right-hand drive )

 

Enjoy

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 13 2016.

 

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That is amazing footage Ken! I wonder if there are any examples surviving in museums? A really novel piece of engineering for its time!

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Ken,

 

Thanks for the recommendations on the tour guids. I will check into them. My wife has already secured our accomidations and the only input I had was the location. I don't recall the name of the B&B off hand but thought it was beteween Utah beach and Ste. Mere

-Eglise. How is the weather in April? Any recommendations on apparel .... Looking at your posts in April over the last few years, seems like it could vary quite a bit. Enjoyed the Martin tire video ... Amazing :o. Really like the 82nd felt patch! Thanks for sharing.

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attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

Hi Kevin, hahaha long time no-hear, well I don't know who stuck that MGB engine in it, it was totally original when my friend Bryn owned it and toured Europe in it.

 

I still have all of those spares that I bought off you, in fact never used any of them just put them in stock for some day in the future, which might be fairly soon as I plan on doing an overhaul of the old Jeep in the coming months ??

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 9 2015.

 

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Hi Ken

Further to the info. on YOA 97.......... my son Mike was looking to see if he could find my old Jeep, something about me being 60 this year......... turns out it is now living in Australia

http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=247086

 

( Not the one I would have wanted anyway, the one I rebuilt would have been the real prize but that seems to have disappeared ...... )

 

Current owner is now in email contact with me and asking a few questions that I either don't remember, or are about the Jeep before my time.

 

Hope this all links together so it makes sense......... can't believe this was way back in August last year, had 9 months of seriously ill father in law and time justs goes when focussed on other things.

Kevin

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attachicon.gifforum George Washington tomb.jpg

 

Strange Normandy finds .........................

 

I picked up a couple of post cards recently I would date them to turn of the century about 1900 showing the tomb of George Washington, Mt. Vernon, VA, thought it stange to find these cards here now in Normandy.

 

Wonder how different the scenes are now that are depicted on the cards.

 

 

 

ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, February 21 2013

 

 

 

 

Hi Ken,

When I saw this post while playing catch-up, I thought I had a chance to earn my keep around here. My lovely wife, daughter and I spent a very enjoyable afternoon at Mt Vernon back in 2008. I was sure I had shots of Washington's tomb and bedroom that you could compare to your old postcards. But I cannot find the darned things. I think this may have been when I had some memory card issues, and Iost some photos, including all my shots taken at the Bentonville, NC battlefield.

Just so I won't be a total deadbeat, here is a photo of the tomb I copied from the Mt Vernon National Park website, and a few of our surviving pictures. We all had a good time, including my often grumpy then 9 year old daughter. The view of the Potomac is stunningly beautiful. It is well worth a visit if anyone happens to be in the DC area.

Enjoy,

Mikie

 

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General Apathy

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Jeep, work in progress . . . . . . . . . .

 

Apologies for being missing for several days I have been working on the Jeep all this week, hopefully I will be back on line tonight and answering the last few days comments.

 

Shot of the Jeep in a friends garage, all the tools necessary and space to work around it, in front of my Jeep is a Jeep coming to completion from a full nut and bolt rebuild. That's my front seats stacked up in the rear of my

Jeep, I had to take the tank out from under the drivers seat to clear the sludge that petrol becomes when standing for years.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 18 2016.

 

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General Apathy

Looks great, Ken!!!

 

Talking about full nut&bolt restorations,this is our museum's GPW after three weeks of work...

 

 

 

Hi Johan, this is my Jeep THREE DAYS before sailing to Normandy in 1976, I have friends that called round to see me at this stage and the buzz going round was ken won't be on this years trip.

 

I completed the repaint and rebuild and got to the ferry with five minutes to spare. I slept the first three days in France trying to catch up on the sleep I had missed, I was even left in camp when everyone else went on a tour of a brewery.

 

Thankfully I wasn't rebuilding the engine or gearbox on this rebuild, it was basically a strip down and repaint, and re-wiring, but Johan you will still understand how much work that is. . . . . . . . .

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 18 2016.

 

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General Apathy

Looks great, Ken!!!

 

Talking about full nut&bolt restorations,this is our museum's GPW after three weeks of work...

 

Hi Johan, good luck with the rebuild for the museum, I noted the sleeping accommodation over behind the Jeep. :lol:

 

keep us informed of the work as it progress's

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 18 2016.

 

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Johan Willaert

Thankfully I wasn't rebuilding the engine or gearbox on this rebuild, it was basically a strip down and repaint, and re-wiring, but Johan you will still understand how much work that is. . . . . . . . .

Yes, it remains a huge task... the advantage is that it's not the first jeep we're working on, so we have a good idea what we're looking at and how it should look in the end...

 

Plan is to have the museum's jeep on the road by July... Team effort...

 

Johan

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Jeep, work in progress . . . . . . . . . .

 

Apologies for being missing for several days I have been working on the Jeep all this week, hopefully I will be back on line tonight and answering the last few days comments.

 

Shot of the Jeep in a friends garage, all the tools necessary and space to work around it, in front of my Jeep is a Jeep coming to completion from a full nut and bolt rebuild. That's my front seats stacked up in the rear of my

Jeep, I had to take the tank out from under the drivers seat to clear the sludge that petrol becomes when standing for years.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 18 2016.

 

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looking good Ken. Make sure you post a video of you driving it when its done

 

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