doyler Posted March 26, 2013 Share #6501 Posted March 26, 2013 Hi Ron, good shot of the unusual shipping container and the wine, I will get back to you on this when I have researched a little more. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 26 2013 . Thanks Ken Container was found here in my area on ebay.Went unsold twice.Paid $9.95 for it plus shipping.I really like it.As stated never seen one before. THe Ranger wine(a fine 1995)was a gift from a friend.He was with 3 batt then West Point.Now a lt.Col I think.I believe he got this in the Ft.Benning area when he was there for a school(possibly jumpmaster).He had some old contacts there and was beating the bush for stuff.I dont recall the whole story but it may have been possibly bottled in commeration of the Rangers and the June 6th Invasion/D-Day celebration of 1995. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyCanteen Posted March 26, 2013 Share #6502 Posted March 26, 2013 Ken Found this shipping can recently.First one I have ever came across.Thought of you when I saw it.Now maybe I will have to get the bottle in the can and send you a care package after all that harsh winter weather you had. Nice find. Does it have a large circular "paint can" style lid? I recall seeing a couple at past shows, but never did pick one up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rakkasan187 Posted March 27, 2013 Share #6503 Posted March 27, 2013 I would like to contribute to the "Then and Now" theme of this great post with one that I discovered when I was in Normandy with my father in September 2012. As we were going through St. Lo, France we stopped at the Church of St Croix. This is the location where Major Howie, of the 29th Infantry Division after he was Killed in Action, his flag draped body lay in the ruins of the Church. There is a plaque on the outside of the church showing the location of where his body was. http://en.wikipedia....Thomas_D._Howie Just down the street from the Church is a cemetery. In that cemetery is a crypt named to the Family Blanchard. This Crypt was used as a communications center during the breakout. Any place that was underground provided some protection from the bombings. It was a prime spot due to aerial bombing and artillery attacks. I took some pictures of the small and narrow staircase leading down into the crypt. What was in the crypt was a concrete tomb and a marble statue that broke into a few pieces, from the vibrations of the explosions according to our tour guide. The first photograph is in a book that I have and when I came back from Europe I started looking through my WW2 books for Then and Now shots comparing them with my photos. I don't think that this was or has been ever shown before, since this crypt was off the beaten path an not on a regular stop. The Second photo is of the crypt taken in September 2012. You can notice the damage of the cross at the top where a shell hit and damaged it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rakkasan187 Posted March 27, 2013 Share #6504 Posted March 27, 2013 Staircase leading into the crypt underground Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rakkasan187 Posted March 27, 2013 Share #6505 Posted March 27, 2013 Marble statue that is broken in several pieces that is on top of the concrete tomb. Hope you all enjoy.. and I will find more of my photos and compare to old pictures of the areas. I have a few from Bastogne, and some from other areas that when i resize them I will load them. Ken, I hope you don't mind me adding some more shots.. Leigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted March 27, 2013 Share #6506 Posted March 27, 2013 Nice find. Does it have a large circular "paint can" style lid? I recall seeing a couple at past shows, but never did pick one up. Yes Similiar to a lid on a paint can or like the one on the older cans of Herseys Coco powder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyCanteen Posted March 27, 2013 Share #6507 Posted March 27, 2013 Yes Similiar to a lid on a paint can or like the one on the older cans of Herseys Coco powder Ok, then it's definitely the same type I saw. I haven't seen any in years, so they must not be too common. Pretty neat thing, you have to wonder how many people tried to send stuff in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted March 27, 2013 Share #6508 Posted March 27, 2013 Hope you all enjoy.. Great pictures. Thanks for adding some pics to this thread. ....Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 27, 2013 Share #6509 Posted March 27, 2013 Marble statue that is broken in several pieces that is on top of the concrete tomb. Hope you all enjoy.. and I will find more of my photos and compare to old pictures of the areas. I have a few from Bastogne, and some from other areas that when i resize them I will load them. Ken, I hope you don't mind me adding some more shots..... Leigh Hi Leigh, let me look into a crystal ball for you, " you should move to Normandy, buy a house, tour the area and post then & now photo's on a militaria forum " it appears you already have one interested reader Kat seems converted after seeing your photo's. Thanks for the images, these are one's I haven't got to see so far since I have been living here. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 27 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 27, 2013 Share #6510 Posted March 27, 2013 Ken, I hope you don't mind me adding some more shots.. Leigh Leigh & Kat, sorry I forgot to add the smiling emoticons I intended to, to my previous email, so here they are now, :lol: ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 27 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rakkasan187 Posted March 27, 2013 Share #6511 Posted March 27, 2013 Hi Leigh, let me look into a crystal ball for you, " you should move to Normandy, buy a house, tour the area and post then & now photo's on a militaria forum " it appears you already have one interested reader Kat seems converted after seeing your photo's. Thanks for the images, these are one's I haven't got to see so far since I have been living here. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 27 2013 . Thank you Kat and Ken for the interest. As I mentioned, I do have more photos, some from Caen, some from Bastogne, Nuremburg that I will gladly post, since there seems to be an interest. When my dad and I went to Normandy I ended up taking about 3000 pictures and my dad took about 2000. Leigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted March 27, 2013 Share #6512 Posted March 27, 2013 Leigh, it is not the Blanchard but rather the BLANCHET crypt that you show above. It was used by HQ, 1st Battalion of the 29th's 115th Infantry on and around July 18th 1944 during the bitter StLo fighting... The event is related by Joe Balkoski in his Beachhead book and in the 29th Divisional History 'Lets Go!' It is still easily found as it is indicated with a sign. Just walk into the cemetery and take the second walkway to the right and you will walk straight to it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rakkasan187 Posted March 27, 2013 Share #6513 Posted March 27, 2013 Leigh, it is not the Blanchard but rather the BLANCHET crypt that you show above. It was used by HQ, 1st Battalion of the 29th's 115th Infantry on and around July 18th 1944 during the bitter StLo fighting... The event is related by Joe Balkoski in his Beachhead book and in the 29th Divisional History 'Lets Go!' It is still easily found as it is indicated with a sign. Just walk into the cemetery and take the second walkway to the right and you will walk straight to it... Johan, thanks for the correction on the family name... Leigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 28, 2013 Share #6514 Posted March 28, 2013 Normandy ' Then & Now ' .................................... This morning I took a trip over to Omaha beach area and passed through Isigny sur Mer so I took the opportunity to capture this ' then & now ' whilst I was there. Isigny sur Mer is around mid-way between Utah and Omaha beaches and inland from Pointe du Hoc area. The WWI French soldier now stands on a taller plinth than it did during WWII resulting in a different aspect of the building when photographing, nice to see that the tree is still in place to the left of the building. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 28 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted March 28, 2013 Share #6515 Posted March 28, 2013 Ken, More great pictures! Interesting that the base of the statue has changed. Was it replaced because it was damaged? ....Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 28, 2013 Share #6516 Posted March 28, 2013 Ken, More great pictures! Interesting that the base of the statue has changed. Was it replaced because it was damaged? ....Kat Hi Kat, I believe there was no damage done to the base plinth it was simply raised and made to look more stylish than the earth mound it was stood on previously. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 28 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted March 28, 2013 Share #6517 Posted March 28, 2013 I believe there was no damage done to the base plinth it was simply raised and made to look more stylish than the earth mound it was stood on previously. Ken, I see what you are talking about now. Thanks for the second picture....Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 28, 2013 Share #6518 Posted March 28, 2013 Normandy ' Then & Now ' .................................... This morning I took a trip over to Omaha beach area and took the opportunity to take the shot for this ' then & now ' comparison, this features an old hotel on the coast road along the bluffs overlooking Omaha beach and the Vierville draw D-1 & D-3 exits from the beach. sadly this hotel and restaurant has gone into decline and closure over the last thirty years , I do remember eating in the restaurant a couple of times in the late 70's. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 28 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 28, 2013 Share #6519 Posted March 28, 2013 Normandy ' Then & Now ' .................................... This morning I took a trip over to Omaha beach area and on the way to Houesville to pick up a friend I stopped off between Liesville and Houesville to take the comparison shot for the ' then & now ' images above. This small building was used as an aid station for paratroopers in advance of the field hospitals that landed and moved in-land from the beach areas. Attempting to be close to where the original photographer stood then the door to the building is now obscured by the bushes that have grown there since the war. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 28 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 28, 2013 Share #6520 Posted March 28, 2013 Normandy now ................. here is a shot of the winter flood plain from the high vantage point of the chrurchyard at Liesville sur Douve, this is a watery scene of the area that the Germans created and American troops would have seen and fought through during June 1944. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 28 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6521 Posted March 29, 2013 Ken, I see what you are talking about now. Thanks for the second picture....Kat Hi Kat, thanks for enjoying the ' then & now ' images I have added today Something I forgot to include in the mention of Isigny sur Mer is that the great American cartoonist's ancestors originated from there, check out the wiki information below........... Local legend has it here that when the ancestors moved to America there was some discrepancy recording the details of name and location and Isigny became the family name of Disney when written down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_family That's all for now folks ! ! and remember you heard it here .................................... ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 28 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6522 Posted March 29, 2013 This small building was used as an aid station for paratroopers in advance of the field hospitals that landed and moved in-land from the beach areas. Attempting to be close to where the original photographer stood then the door to the building is now obscured by the bushes that have grown there since the war. Ken, Great pictures! Very interesting that the main stone wall is still there. ...Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6523 Posted March 29, 2013 That's all for now folks ! ! and remember you heard it here .................................... Ken, You are a fountain of knowledge! ....Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patlee6 Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6524 Posted March 29, 2013 Ken, Further to your reference to Isigny-Sur-Mer and the Walt Disney connection. Three miles south of Lincoln(UK), is the village of Norton Disney which was the family seat of the Disney family from 1300, they originally came from Isigny-Sur-Mer as you say. Walt visited the village in the 1950s to trace his roots etc. Heres an article I found-----------http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uncle-walts-lost-ancestors-1266622.html. It turns out he was adopted by the Disneys and was not a blood relative. I like the photo comparisons you have posted, shame about the little restaurant/bar above Omaha, Its been empty now for years. A great business opportunity you would have thought for someone!. Lee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6525 Posted March 29, 2013 Ken, Further to your reference to Isigny-Sur-Mer and the Walt Disney connection. Three miles south of Lincoln(UK), is the village of Norton Disney which was the family seat of the Disney family from 1300, they originally came from Isigny-Sur-Mer as you say. Walt visited the village in the 1950s to trace his roots etc. Heres an article I found-----------http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uncle-walts-lost-ancestors-1266622.html. It turns out he was adopted by the Disneys and was not a blood relative. I like the photo comparisons you have posted, shame about the little restaurant/bar above Omaha, Its been empty now for years. A great business opportunity you would have thought for someone!. Lee. Hi Lee, thanks for coming in with more information on Walt Disney, the more information the better I have made your link a love one so it can simply be clicked on and hey-ho, sorry that should be hi-ho, hi-ho and off to site we go http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uncle-walts-lost-ancestors-1266622.html Yesterday as we were driving around the narrow roads and tiny villages of the Omaha beach area it was very obvious and sad that despite increasing amounts of people that now visit the Normandy beach area that small independent restaurants, bars and business's are not surviving. Maybe everything is now being done at whistle-stop speed and in organised tour buses and it is time scheduled as to each and every stop and the older more pleasant days of meandering around and enjoying the local area's are a thing of the past. Friends of mine were only saying yesterday that they have an American couple booked into one of their chalets for two days and they are under the impression that they are going to be everywhere and see everything in two days, they even have Le Mont st Michel on their itinerary which is easily a three hour drive to the other side of the peninsula and would take a complete day to see the island and monastery etc. This is without counting all the beaches, towns and museums that are to be seen along this coast. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 29 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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