The Meatcan Posted May 6, 2020 Share #16401 Posted May 6, 2020 On 5/1/2020 at 12:58 AM, General Apathy said: Hi Terry, well here is the Wisteria in full bloom, sadly all this will be gone when the large rose bush to the left of the Wisteria comes into bloom, so we won't see the two together. Pleased to see that the Wisteria is already heading across the arch I built, next years flowering should be spectacular hanging from the arch. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 01 2020 . wow, that's really nice Ken! Always gratifying to see something one has planted and tended reach a point of such beauty. Nice job! Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted May 6, 2020 Share #16402 Posted May 6, 2020 21 hours ago, manayunkman said: I like the guy with his Bols Jenever in the cartoon Jeep. My opas favorite. In Dutch there is a rhyme but I don’t know how to spell it. Fifth of May Holland is free. My father was in hiding near Os in the south of Holland and was liberated by the 101st A/B September 17, 1944. The family lived in The Hague further north. They were liberated by Canadian and Polish troops on the 5th. My opa was in a Nazi camp in Amersfoort. He had been turned in by his older Nazi brother for trading art for food on the black market. He was also liberated on the 5th by Canadians. Opas younger brother had married a Jewish woman, my aunt Lily. Opa and uncle Dirk spent the late 30s organizing a way to get Lily’s family out of Holland and after occupation they continued their efforts. They never got caught despite the older estranged Nazi brother. To this day I don’t know the name of this brother nor have I tried to find out. My opa died in 1988 he was 95. It's one thing to read this kind of history in books, but to hear it as part of your family history is really powerful. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted May 6, 2020 Share #16403 Posted May 6, 2020 7 hours ago, General Apathy said: Hi Kat, there a bit more to the story of the wooden Jeep, my uncle Jack and his service friend Ken were stationed in Belgium 1940 as part of the BEF units to deter Hitler from invading Belgium, Holland or France, however the overwhelming force and tanks that the Germans had forced the BEF infantry units without tanks to fight a retreat to Dunkirk. Uncle Jack and Ken became separated and Jack got out and Ken was captured and spent over four years as a POW in Germany. To occupy time over those years he became adapt at making models out of any materials they could salvage, I am not certain when he made the Jeep model but he made it on the basis of what he had learnt in the prison camp, odd pieces of wood and flattened out tin cans etc. It's a pity that this question didn't arise just a couple of days ago while I was having a clean out of the property during this virus lock-down, I found and packed away again a plywood pin-ball game that Ken made after he returned from POW camp, I wish I had photographed it to show you. Again it was made from surplus and salvaged pieces he scavenged, a large spring and pull-back striker to fire ball-bearings up and around the board and hitting nails and other pieces of metal bouncing the ball around the game just like electric operated pin-ball machines in amusement arcades., it was initially made for my brother who's ten years older than myself, and then it became mine. Ken became our uncle through marrying Uncle Jack and my fathers sister when he returned home after the war. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 03 2020 . Odd bits of wood and metal they may be, but the story makes them priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted May 6, 2020 Share #16404 Posted May 6, 2020 53 minutes ago, mikie said: Odd bits of wood and metal they may be, but the story makes them priceless. Very well said! Ken, Those stories are priceless! ..Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody Posted May 6, 2020 Share #16405 Posted May 6, 2020 On 5/5/2020 at 9:51 PM, General Apathy said: Hi Rene, well following your lead I just happen to have to hand a bottle of Bols, a wooden and bean-can Jeep my uncle made during WWII and a commemoration banner for a military vehicle tour to Eindhoven August 1986. So best wishes to yourself and your fellow Countryman Manayunkman . . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 05 2020 . For all the Bols aficionados ? Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted May 6, 2020 Share #16406 Posted May 6, 2020 Heel Goed Rene!! Ik vijl een glaasje! My opa drank a glass every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16407 Posted May 8, 2020 8th May, Victory in Europe day today . . . . . . . . . . . Then and Now images, cheating a little the Now shots were posed in 2000 Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 08 2020 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16408 Posted May 8, 2020 8th May, Victory in Europe day today . . . . . . . . . . . My gate display today, a painted Cockerel the French National Symbol. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 08 2020 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16409 Posted May 8, 2020 On 5/5/2020 at 8:09 PM, mikie said: That's interesting, Rene. Best wishes to you all there on 75 years of freedom. What kind of festivities would you have? Parades? Parties? Consuming large quantities of 75+ year old bacon? Hi Mikie, yes throughout the country there are festivals and parades. Some of them attended by veterans (from WW2 and post ww2 conflicts) This happens every May the 5th but this one would have been extra special because of the 75th anniversary. Come to think of it: this year has been extra special but for a very different reason. Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16410 Posted May 8, 2020 On 5/6/2020 at 11:04 PM, manayunkman said: Heel Goed Rene!! Ik vijl een glaasje! My opa drank a glass every day. Hi Peter, my Opa also used to know his way around a bottle of Bols ? Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16411 Posted May 8, 2020 1 hour ago, General Apathy said: 8th May, Victory in Europe day today . . . . . . . . . . . My gate display today, a painted Cockerel the French National Symbol. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 08 2020 . Hi Ken, that Cockerel looks a bit blue in the face. Is he in a fowl mood, perhaps?...……………... Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16412 Posted May 8, 2020 As already pointed out today is VE day. Here's some reading material to go along with it.? Rene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16413 Posted May 8, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16414 Posted May 8, 2020 2 hours ago, General Apathy said: 8th May, Victory in Europe day today . . . . . . . . . . . My gate display today, a painted Cockerel the French National Symbol. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 08 2020 . Hi Rene, are you pecking faults with my cock, I hope you're not going to keep clucking on about it . . . . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 08 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16415 Posted May 8, 2020 7 hours ago, General Apathy said: 8th May, Victory in Europe day today . . . . . . . . . . . My gate display today, a painted Cockerel the French National Symbol. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 08 2020 . Nicely done, Ken. Your commemoration is something to crow about. Don't let Rene rustle your feathers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16416 Posted May 8, 2020 Rene, I will never forget my opas romance with Bols. Thank you for your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16417 Posted May 8, 2020 23 minutes ago, manayunkman said: Rene, I will never forget my opas romance with Bols. Thank you for your input. Not being a drinker much for the past 30+ years, I can't recall ever hearing about Bols. Guess I'll have to keep my eye open for it. My Grandpa Dominic used to convert his whole cellar into a winery for personal use at grape time every year. It was really an impressive operation. He passed on in 1972. But the sight and aroma of red zinfandel still brings back memories of him to me. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16418 Posted May 8, 2020 11 hours ago, General Apathy said: 8th May, Victory in Europe day today . . . . . . . . . . . Then and Now images, cheating a little the Now shots were posed in 2000 Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 08 2020 . But which is the Then, and which is the Now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16419 Posted May 8, 2020 Dad was still fighting on Okinawa on V-E Day. I think I remember him saying the general attitude to the news was basically "Oh, that's good. Pass me some more ammo here". He did say he could tell when things in Europe were winding down when they started to get huge quantities of brand new supplies and equipment that spring. Stuff and in quantities they had never seen anything like before. Up till then, his Army division serving under Navy command wasn't exactly high on the resupply list. What I recall about his comments on V-J day will need to wait a few more months. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted May 8, 2020 Share #16420 Posted May 8, 2020 Mikie, Its very Dutch and very hard to find in USA. My opa gave me some when I was a little boy of 8. In Europe, back then at least, we got beer in school and wine for dinner, so there was no harm in a little bit of Genever for Pete. You’d think I would have become an alcoholic but I rarely drink and haven’t had a drink since New Year’s Eve. Bols Genever is definitely an acquired taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted May 9, 2020 Share #16421 Posted May 9, 2020 14 hours ago, mikie said: Nicely done, Ken. Your commemoration is something to crow about. Don't let Rene rustle your feathers! Hi Mikie, well done there, you hatched a couple of egg-cellent quips. Why did the chicken go to a seance, he wanted to get to the other side . . . . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 09 2020 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted May 9, 2020 Share #16422 Posted May 9, 2020 V.E. anniversary yesterday, May 8th . . . . . . . . . A photograph of Princess Elizabeth at wars end when she was serving with the women's forces, by 1953 she became Queen and reigned ever since . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 08 2020 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted May 10, 2020 Share #16423 Posted May 10, 2020 19 hours ago, General Apathy said: V.E. anniversary yesterday, May 8th . . . . . . . . . A photograph of Princess Elizabeth at wars end when she was serving with the women's forces, by 1953 she became Queen and reigned ever since . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 08 2020 . Ken, Great picture and an amazing woman! She has been a true leader! ...Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted May 10, 2020 Share #16424 Posted May 10, 2020 20 hours ago, General Apathy said: V.E. anniversary yesterday, May 8th . . . . . . . . . A photograph of Princess Elizabeth at wars end when she was serving with the women's forces, by 1953 she became Queen and reigned ever since . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 08 2020 . We don't do Queens here, but if we did, i'd vote for her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted May 10, 2020 Share #16425 Posted May 10, 2020 Hi Kat & Mikie, thank you both for enjoying and adding comment on the photo of the Queen I added, I believe she has led an exemplary life in servitude and benefit to the people of the United Kingdom. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, May 08 2020 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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