General Apathy Posted March 3 Share #25301 Posted March 3 . Photo from a UK Jeeping friend of a pack of toilet rolls showing a production start date of 1942 . . . . . . . . . now owned by an American company. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 03 2024. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 4 Share #25302 Posted March 4 On 2/29/2024 at 12:58 PM, General Apathy said: . Hey Grandpa spring is on the way so I washed down my trampoline today . . . . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, February 29 2024. ... What an industrious young man. And well dressed for the job. I’ve been trying to come up with a clever caption for this since you posted. But I decided he’s too cute and doesn’t need one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 4 Share #25303 Posted March 4 15 hours ago, General Apathy said: . Hi Peter, How on earth did you ever survive as a child being fried in a pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 😂 !!!!! Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 03 2024. ... 🤣🤣🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 4 Share #25304 Posted March 4 3 hours ago, General Apathy said: . Photo from a UK Jeeping friend of a WWII DUKW ( Duck ) in a storage yard waiting for onward transport to a new owner in France . . . . . . . We spotted a couple of DUCKs yesterday morning too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 4 Share #25305 Posted March 4 7 hours ago, mikie said: What an industrious young man. And well dressed for the job. I’ve been trying to come up with a clever caption for this since you posted. But I decided he’s too cute and doesn’t need one. . Hi mikie, no need to brush it aside, thank you at least you commented how industrious he looked as he cleaned his trampoline. . . . . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 04 2024. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 4 Share #25306 Posted March 4 . UK Jeeping friends . . . . . . . Three UK Jeepers at the North Weald airfield with the ' Sally-B ' B-17 aircraft in the background . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 04 2024. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted March 4 Share #25307 Posted March 4 42 minutes ago, General Apathy said: . UK Jeeping friends . . . . . . . Three UK Jeepers at the North Weald airfield with the ' Sally-B ' B-17 aircraft in the background . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 04 2024. ... Douglas' Slatgrille looks absolutely fantastic!! As for Sally B, got to take a ride in it many years ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 4 Share #25308 Posted March 4 1 hour ago, Johan Willaert said: Douglas' Slatgrille looks absolutely fantastic!! As for Sally B, got to take a ride in it many years ago... . Hahahaaaa Johan, I have almost identical photos . . . . . . . . . . plus the cabin . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 04 2024. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted March 4 Share #25309 Posted March 4 1 hour ago, General Apathy said: . Hahahaaaa Johan, I have almost identical photos . . . . . . . . . . plus the cabin . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 04 2024. ... Somewhere i have pre-digital photos of the complete interior... But I scanned these years ago, me in the Pilot's seat and on the Navigator's chair... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 4 Share #25310 Posted March 4 3 hours ago, General Apathy said: . UK Jeeping friends . . . . . . . Three UK Jeepers at the North Weald airfield with the ' Sally-B ' B-17 aircraft in the background . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 04 2024. ... just for the record, I have never been in the B-17 Sally B. 😁 mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 4 Share #25311 Posted March 4 1 hour ago, Johan Willaert said: Somewhere i have pre-digital photos of the complete interior... But I scanned these years ago, me in the Pilot's seat and on the Navigator's chair... . Hi Johan, you don't looked stressed so the images must have been taken pre-mission. !!!!!! A couple of shots of when we did some cine-footage for the American history channel about 1995 taken in the static Mary-Alice before she entered the American museum at Duxford. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 04 2024. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted March 4 Share #25312 Posted March 4 1 minute ago, General Apathy said: you don't looked stressed so the images must have been taken pre-mission. !!!!!! Haha, I sweat out the mission on base, waiting for the planes to return... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 5 Share #25313 Posted March 5 . Normandy shell hole find . . . . . . . . . Wartime Trench art !! .50 Caliber Cartridge case made into a whistle I don’t think I have seen any similar ones anywhere. But whats nice is it was a field find along with a large 105 shell base that had been made into a cigarette ashtray with work possibly started in North Africa. It made it to the beach in Normandy and then it appears that sometime after that both the whistle and the ashtray were involved in an explosion and fire. A section of the brass base has melted from one side to the other side. The G.I that was making this had used a centre punch around the sides, in punched dots it’s possible to read ‘ Africa ‘ & ‘ France D-Day June 6 1944’ all done before the explosion and fire. The surviving Italian coin to rest the cigarette on is 1939, there would have been three other coins but they had all disappeared. It's supposition but due to the ashtray weight these items would not have been carried in a field pack, I would think it would have had to have been carried in a vehicle equipped with the tools and time to carry-out the intricate work. If so having started in Africa and then Normandy possibly someone in a 1st Inf. artillery unit. !!!!!!!! Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 05 2024. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 5 Share #25314 Posted March 5 . IT APPEARS THAT THE PHOTOS IN THE PREVIOUS POST MAY BE MISSING !!! SO REPOSTING AGAIN. Normandy shell hole find . . . . . . . . . Wartime Trench art !! .50 Caliber Cartridge case made into a whistle I don’t think I have seen any similar ones anywhere. But whats nice is it was a field find along with a large 105 shell base that had been made into a cigarette ashtray with work possibly started in North Africa. It made it to the beach in Normandy and then it appears that sometime after that both the whistle and the ashtray were involved in an explosion and fire. A section of the brass base has melted from one side to the other side. The G.I that was making this had used a centre punch around the sides, in punched dots it’s possible to read ‘ Africa ‘ & ‘ France D-Day June 6 1944’ all done before the explosion and fire. The surviving Italian coin to rest the cigarette on is 1939, there would have been three other coins but they had all disappeared. ( The Italian coin may well have been from an Italian POW in Tunisia, North Africa. ) It's supposition but due to the ashtray weight these items would not have been carried in a field pack, I would think it would have had to have been carried in a vehicle equipped with the tools and time to carry-out the intricate work. If so having started in Africa and then Normandy possibly someone in a 1st Inf. artillery unit. !!!!!!!! Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 05 2024. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted March 5 Share #25315 Posted March 5 Indeed the only unit I can think of that started out in North Africa, then Italy ( Sicily) and landed in Normandy on 6th June would be the 1st Infantry Division Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dentino Posted March 5 Share #25316 Posted March 5 1 hour ago, Johan Willaert said: Indeed the only unit I can think of that started out in North Africa, then Italy ( Sicily) and landed in Normandy on 6th June would be the 1st Infantry Division Johan, didn't some units of the 82nd have credit for these campaigns as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 5 Share #25317 Posted March 5 On 3/4/2024 at 7:30 AM, General Apathy said: . UK Jeeping friends . . . . . . . Three UK Jeepers at the North Weald airfield with the ' Sally-B ' B-17 aircraft in the background . . . . . . Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 04 2024. ... just for the record, I have never been in the B-17 Sally B. mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 5 Share #25318 Posted March 5 Just a thought, but since the shell casing at least would have been hard to carry around, is it possible these were actually from a sailor? I wonder if there was a ship sunk or damaged off Normandy on D-Day that was also in the North Africa landings? Granted, the 105 wasn’t a naval gun, but it could have been a souvenir picked up ashore and worked on aboard ship in his spare time. Mikie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted March 5 Share #25319 Posted March 5 3 hours ago, Brian Dentino said: Johan, didn't some units of the 82nd have credit for these campaigns as well? Yes, they have, but did they have 105mm Artillery? It is a possibility however Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 5 Share #25320 Posted March 5 . Hi Graham ( McDUFF ) thanks for posting a ' like ' on the shell-casing ashtray, I appreciate the comment given the time it took to take several images , sizing and annotating and adding to the post. The ashtray weighs 2Lbs to lug around plus the .50 Cal Case, and who knows possibly other items he adapted. The ashtray is unusual, but to have actually been damaged and recovered makes it even more of a unique item. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 05 2024. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 5 Share #25321 Posted March 5 2 hours ago, mikie said: Just a thought, but since the shell casing at least would have been hard to carry around, is it possible these were actually from a sailor? I wonder if there was a ship sunk or damaged off Normandy on D-Day that was also in the North Africa landings? Granted, the 105 wasn’t a naval gun, but it could have been a souvenir picked up ashore and worked on aboard ship in his spare time. Mikie . Hi Mikie, Thanks a suggestion I hadn't considered, all I can offer is that the two pieces i.e. ashtray and whistle were found over twenty miles inland, whichever individual was altering it had some time on his hands and the tools to add the ' France D-Day June 6 1944 ' details to it. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 05 2024. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted March 5 Share #25322 Posted March 5 I didn’t say it was a good thought. I don’t get those very often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dentino Posted March 6 Share #25323 Posted March 6 4 hours ago, Johan Willaert said: Yes, they have, but did they have 105mm Artillery? It is a possibility however No, not as a organic unit to the 82AB, no 105 attached during this early time of the war. I was just thinking this may have been a 105 shell casing (cut down and available to an 82nd soldier) that may have been started by someone in N. Africa and carried as a cut down "ash tray" as a reminder of his time in N. Africa. I have talked to several vets who were with the 82nd in N. Africa that said that not only would the locals scavenge anything to make "trinkets" to sell to the men, but would also steal anything that wasn't nailed down. You are probably right about the 1st ID, but there were several other units there including some artillery units attached to armored divisions (105 howitzers supporting). Guess there is no telling for sure, but just guessing it could have been any one of a number of units that could have had this from N. Africa through D-Day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCDUFF Posted March 6 Share #25324 Posted March 6 8 hours ago, General Apathy said: . Hi Graham ( McDUFF ) thanks for posting a ' like ' on the shell-casing ashtray, I appreciate the comment given the time it took to take several images , sizing and annotating and adding to the post. The ashtray weighs 2Lbs to lug around plus the .50 Cal Case, and who knows possibly other items he adapted. The ashtray is unusual, but to have actually been damaged and recovered makes it even more of a unique item. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 05 2024. ... Hi Ken, those items are a 'wow' to me. Firstly a whistle - never seen one done before as you say too, and the D-day markings with date, battle damage AND being discovered together in Normandy...wow! Could there be a link with the 2nd Armored who were in North Africa and Normandy? Just a thought. Cheers Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escht Posted March 6 Share #25325 Posted March 6 10 hours ago, General Apathy said: . Hi Mikie, Thanks a suggestion I hadn't considered, all I can offer is that the two pieces i.e. ashtray and whistle were found over twenty miles inland, whichever individual was altering it had some time on his hands and the tools to add the ' France D-Day June 6 1944 ' details to it. Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 05 2024. ... Hi Ken If the area it was found in is 20 miles inland and known wouldn't that help in excluding or including a unit that it could well have come from. in reality it can never be proven one way or another . It's a great stand alone relic in its own right and a great thing to have been recovered. I once found a small metal model of the Eifel Tower in a shell hole outside of the village of Tavigny in the Ardennes along with 30-06 ammo, bazooka rounds and rifle grenades. Presumably a GI souvenir pickup from a trip into Paris or maybe even the result of tidying up postwar and just chucked into a convenient hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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