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Norman D. Landing


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Hi Ken. Must be great just to pop down the road and encounter stuff like this!

 

Ian

 

Hi Ian, yep I can just wander out of my bedroom of a morning and see bullet heads in the brickwork above the door, I step out the front door and there are more bullet heads in the stonework around the door, I saunter out into the garden and see US Marsden matting in the garden.

 

I drive into St Mere Eglise and there is a mannequin of a paratroop hanging on the church, the buildings are still the same ones as in the WWII photographs, just the soldiers are missing but the ' ghosts ' of them are there in my mind.

 

Ten minutes and I am at Utah beach or even many other monuments, half hour and I am at Omaha beach under an hour and I can be in St Lo, or the other direction and it's the British beaches.

 

All this history under my feet and in every direction around me ;) , but I still can't find that damn elusive Walmart. :think:

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 3 2010

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I would guess Ian thats why he lives there. Kind of like a fat kid whose parents own a candy shop. I'm not sure of driving times but would guess he's a day drive from, all WWII and WWI battle sites. For a collector and HISTORIAN of his level and Fame. He's the kid in the candy shop.We all owe him a great Thanks for showing and sharing with us. THANKS THANKS Lewis. Robert

 

Hi Robert, history is a good point for living here, but it is also many miles away from the daily troubles of the world, I have no television or daily newspapers, politics have no meaning in such a rural area, it's all based on is it dry or is it raining, is there food on the table, do your neighbours need any help or would they like to come around and share dinner and a glass of wine with you and vice versa.

 

I am extremely thoughtful of all the American servicemen that fought and died in Normandy and returned the area back into one of peace and tranquillity, and I like to in some small way bring these memories and monuments to the forum.

 

Thank you and other members for reading them

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 3 2010

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Hi Ken...beautifully presented vehicles! I always feel that the fact that soooo many US WW2 military vehicles in such condition are still running today is testimony to their original design and build quality. That, and the sheer numbers produced, of course! If I lived over there like you I think I'd be walking around with a camera permanently in my hand because you never know what's around the next corner!!

 

Ian :thumbsup:

 

Hi Ian, it is good to see that the level of restoration on these vehicles has reached such good standards, also pleased to say that certain groups of collectors have banded together and present their-selves in a much more

uniformed and respectful way regarding their representation of WWII servicemen.

 

With what I have seen, witnessed and taken part in over the years then I certainly wish that digital cameras had been invented much much earlier.

 

Oh, sorry again Ian, I ran out of time this morning to show the interior of the U.S. Army chest, perhaps if I get today's chores done then I get back to it later.

 

ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 1st 2010

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Hi Forum Members & Readers.

 

On Sunday 1st August 2010 moving on from the ceremony at the General Leclerc I headed west along the cost road to the one day street market at Ravenoville it was now around 16.00 Hrs and they were beginning to pack away. I had been there at 08.30 that morning but stupidly didn't have the camera with me so I went back to get some photo's for the forum.

 

In the attached photo's above one shows a whole display of WWII militaria, unfortunately the guy on the right of the photo was packing away the American stuff, and this side of the van was mainly his German, British and French items it appears that he had sold some of the items from when I was there on the morning. One item I noticed that had been sold was a factory finish set of USN HBT's with cutter tags.

 

His prices are equivalent with collector store prices, this dealer does not sell at cheap surplus and farm find prices.

 

The second photograph just shows some of the odds and ends thrown in with other items, one stand on the morning had three 1945 dated pup tents ( both sides ) but no poles or pins. So I was too late to photograph a lot of the items that I had seen earlier that day.

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 3 2010

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Hi Forum Members & Readers.

 

On Sunday 1st August 2010 moving on from the ceremony at the General Leclerc I headed west along the coast road to the one day street market at Ravenoville,

 

In the attached photo in the previous post above it shows a whole display of WWII militaria laid out for sale, What did I get, well the answers ' nothing militaria ', instead I bought a turn of the century ( 1900's ) small enamelled gentleman's street urinal. :lol:

 

It stands about 15 - 18 inches in height cost 6 Euros and I intend to fix it into the corner of two walls in the garden and fill it with soil and have creeping plants draping over the front, an architectural conversational piece :thumbsup:

 

On the earlier morning trip to the market I pointed out to my neighbour three items he got for 5 Euros each, a WWII American wrench for a Jeep tool kit, a pamphlet entitled ' Things you must know in France ' dated 1944 with red, white and blue cover with a large V emblazoned across the front, and a 1940's German Agfa camera. :thumbsup:

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 3 2010

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Hi Ken,

 

Are you going to use natural fertilizer for your plants you are putting in your outside urinal? :lol: :pinch:

 

Thanks for some more great pics.....Kat

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Hi Ken,

 

Are you going to use natural fertilizer for your plants you are putting in your outside urinal? :lol: :pinch:

 

Thanks for some more great pics.....Kat

 

Hi Kat, thanks for the comment on the photo's, plenty of dairy fertilizer around here, otherwise I could easily import some from Westminster in London, tons of it produced there.

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 3 2010

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Hi GB, thanks for the photo of the dog, certainly looks contented, I don't understand cruelty to animals, my last dog was one of six from an abandoned litter, turned out to be another fantastic dog and companion for us and our young daughter. ;)

 

My daughter Lauren & ' Pups ' at the Band of Brothers studio ( 2001 :think: )

 

Still trying to checkout some of the locations of Normandy photo's you sent onto me.

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 1 2010

 

 

Hey Ken

 

Did you get any other photos from the set of Band of brothers or did you supply to them from the shop?

 

Buster

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Hey Ken

 

Did you get any other photos from the set of Band of brothers or did you supply to them from the shop?

 

Buster

 

Hi Buster, I did supply stuff to the film and some of the stuff has been shown in other topics in the last three years of the forum. I didn't work full time at the film as I was running the store at the same time but I did a short period in the clothing dept.

 

This is a shot of the area working on the concentration camp bodies, there are three stages in this shot, the ' sterile ' cream molded bodies at the back left corner, the large group of painted bodies, and over to the right the painted and dressed bodies.

 

It was pretty weird stood looking into this area, although I knew these were rubber cast bodies, once they were painted and piled up as they were, it was unbelievable to think that people and even dead bodies could be treated in this way. I can't adequately describe the feeling and thoughts looking at this. :think:

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 7 2010

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I know what you mean .... even looking at that picture made my stomach turn.

Creepy picture.

 

Erwin

 

Hi Erwin, I have never shown the photograph in post # 1361 to anyone before due to the nature of the content, it is quite distressing and the wire fence I am holding onto also adds to the images we have of bodies in concentration camps.

 

Here was a less serious side to the filming this is a continuity Polaroid, almost everyone had these shots taken of them so that should a scene need a little re-shooting then the actor can be dressed identically for cutting a piece back in.

 

The actors being photographed would have the most horrendous wounds and great big smiles on their faces..

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 7 2010

 

 

 

 

 

..

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Shocking images Ken...dummies or not! Makes one realise just how horrific it was back then.."Man's inhumanity to man". I once knew a former WW2 British Army Captain who was among the liberators of Bergen-Belsen. Not surprisingly, he couldn't speak about it.

 

Ian

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Yes, some Veterans I was in contact with and who saw the camps up close never spoke to me about it either.

They just mentioned they saw them and that it was true horror.

Out of respect, I didn't ask about it.

 

The picture of the wounded man however is a bit funny.

Why? Because you know he is an actor just gooffing off.

 

Erwin

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Hey Ken...to lighten the mood a little, that's a very sharp looking, personalised M41 Field Jacket you have on in that photo!

 

Ian ;)

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Hey Ken...to lighten the mood a little, that's a very sharp looking, personalised M41 Field Jacket you have on in that photo!

 

Ian ;)

 

Hi Ian, thanks for the mention on the jacket, it was for ease of finding me with all that other military clothing being worn around.

 

Talking of lightening the mood, a photo above of my daughter who would have been about eight or nine years old at the time, great time for her seeing all the behind scenes side of the film industry. :blink:

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 7 2010

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Yes, some Veterans I was in contact with and who saw the camps up close never spoke to me about it either.

They just mentioned they saw them and that it was true horror.

Out of respect, I didn't ask about it.

 

The picture of the wounded man however is a bit funny.

Why? Because you know he is an actor just gooffing off.

 

Erwin

 

Hi Erwin, there certainly was a lot of goofing around, it was like a big club of militaria collectors and enthusiasts, plenty of tricks and such being played on each other, which got worse during the evenings in the hotel bars. ;)

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 7 2010

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Shocking images Ken...dummies or not! Makes one realise just how horrific it was back then.."Man's inhumanity to man". I once knew a former WW2 British Army Captain who was among the liberators of Bergen-Belsen. Not surprisingly, he couldn't speak about it.

 

Ian

 

 

I agree. These images are shocking even knowing they are not real people.....Kat

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I agree. These images are shocking even knowing they are not real people.....Kat

 

Hi Kat, the image is quite shocking and could take your breath away, as I stood there so close and knowing the historical context of what I was looking at.

 

 

Again on the lighter side another shot of my daughter having the time of her life in the vehicle department, I hope that she will have lasting happy memories of the time we spent together behind the scenes, it was certainly a good bonding time for us..

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 8 2010

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Hi Forum Members & Readers.

 

Whilst working on Band of Brothers we left the studios which were North of London and went to an outdoor location on a country estate and farm somewhere south of London.

 

Parts of the film that we worked on there were when Spiers shot the German prisoners after giving them cigarettes, the link up between airborne troops and the Sherman tanks that had come ashore, and also the battle of the cabbage patch which happened on the outskirts of Carentan.

 

At the beginning of one morning whilst filming was going on a few hundred yards away a team of gardeners arrived and turned an area of grass into a vegetable patch. They had all the vegetables in pots from their companies greenhouses and proceeded to plant them in rows as they would appear in a householders vegetable plot, next morning the battle commenced and the cameras rolled.

 

During some of the breaks we began to find trees with names and dates carved into them, later the landowner related to us that the estate had been a Canadian army camp between 1942-45. It was really interesting seeing names and wondering about the owners life after leaving the camp and whether they made it home or not.

 

Pease note that I will be off line for a few days until the 14th maybe.

 

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 8 2010

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Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I always see stuff like this tree and instantly wonder about each name: Did he make it home? What did he see? Were they good people after the war and what did they do? To me there is a whole lot more to history than just having that valued item.

 

Enjoy your time away Ken, I'll be gone during the same time period in Canada.

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Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I always see stuff like this tree and instantly wonder about each name: Did he make it home? What did he see? Were they good people after the war and what did they do? To me there is a whole lot more to history than just having that valued item.

 

Enjoy your time away Ken, I'll be gone during the same time period in Canada.

 

Hi Scott, hope you managed to enjoy your time in Canada, I agree with you on your comment that there was a lot more to history than possesion of an item.

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum normandy Correspondent August 13 2010.

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Hi Forum Members & Readers, I took off camping for four days this week with friends and their children, couldn't go far due to the friends work restrictions, so we headed over to the opposite side of the peninsula away from the D-Day beach area, down near Granville and Coutances.

 

We camped at a site close to the bridge in the attached photo above, this is a pre-war postcard of the bridge it was well constructed with ornate metal fencing along the sides.

 

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 13 2010.

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Cont....................

 

The storyline line goes back to post D-Day to when the German Army was in retreat out of the Normandy peninsula and heading across this bridge in the directions of Avarances, Coutances and Granville. Many attempts by aircraft were made to destroy the bridge as can be read on the information board above.

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 13 2010. [/font]

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Cont....................

 

The photo above shows the missing centre section of the bridge as it stands today, this represents quite a monument to the battle within this area, the ancient stones of this bridge would command some good prices if taken down and sold.

 

Ken

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, August 13 2010.

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