Norman D. Landing

[General Apathy]

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Todays Normandy Then & Now. . . . . . . . . . . 

 

Here’s the comparison shot I did this morning from memory of the sketch, I just downloaded the shot and found the sketch I had on my computer from a wartime soldiers sketch pad, couldn’t believe it,  I took the photo on the same date that he drew it in 1944 . . . . . . September 19th,  77 years to the day, we stood in the same spot  . . . . . . .  

 

If I had taken my computer perhaps I could have found the house in the second sketch and made a comparison.

 

Also the German barbed wire stakes we saw in Quineville as fence posts . . . . with the airfield matting mesh.

 

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Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 19  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

[Dogsbody]

3 hours ago, General Apathy said:

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Todays Normandy Then & Now. . . . . . . . . . . 

 

Here’s the comparison shot I did this morning from memory of the sketch, I just downloaded the shot and found the sketch I had on my computer from a wartime soldiers sketch pad, couldn’t believe it,  I took the photo on the same date that he drew it in 1944 . . . . . . September 19th,  77 years to the day, we stood in the same spot  . . . . . . .  

 

If I had taken my computer perhaps I could have found the house in the second sketch and made a comparison.

 

Also the German barbed wire stakes we saw in Quineville as fence posts . . . . with the airfield matting mesh.

 

.   

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 19  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

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It's obvious why there isn't a welcome sign on the mat(ting) 😉

[General Apathy]

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Recent French Resistance Monument  . . . . . . . .

 

Hi Pararafta, 

 

Thanks for the like on the above Then and Now comparisons in Quineville of the American soldiers sketches.  

 

Here's a new or fairly recent monument to the work of the French Resistants sited in Ste. Marie du Mont, when you enter the town from the Carentan direction. I love the detail of the statues but especially the detail of the radio. 

 

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Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 19  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

[Dogsbody]

Besides collecting militaria I also invest in some history books every Now and Then and as far as I'm concerned I can't go wrong with the After the Battle "Then and Now editions.  I wasn't aware of the German Coastal Radar Stations publication (it flew under my radar, so to speak) but thanks to Ken mentioning it a while ago in one of his posts I have been able to add this one to my collection also.

Of special interest is the Through the Lens 'Dams Raid'. It is not in the well known Then and Now format but it is an in depth study of the subject. The book is in a landscape format and contains lots of photos and text right on through from the building of the dams to the 50th anniversary of the raid. Quite impressive.

 

 

 

[Dogsbody]

4 minutes ago, General Apathy said:

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Recent French Resistance Monument  . . . . . . . .

 

Hi Pararafta, 

 

Thanks for the like on the above Then and Now comparisons in Quineville of the American soldiers sketches.  

 

Here's a new or fairly recent monument to the work of the French Resistants sited in Ste. Marie du Mont, when you enter the town from the Carentan direction. I love the detail of the statues but especially the detail of the radio. 

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 19  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

Beautiful! And on the surrounding 'walls' it looks like there are small canopies on top of them.

[General Apathy]

35 minutes ago, Dogsbody said:

It's obvious why there isn't a welcome sign on the mat(ting) 😉

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Hi Rene,

 

I didn't show Mike anymore of the matting, but I showed him several other places where the locals at the end of the war had utilised the stakes as garden and fence posts.  

 

Three shots here, two at Ravenoville Plage and the third shot of the two stakes at Utah beach was the start of a fence line with twelve of the stakes along the line, I would guess that they also ran around the rear of the property they were used at. 

 

 

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Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 19  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

[cutiger83]

11 hours ago, General Apathy said:

.

Todays Normandy Then & Now. . . . . . . . . . . 

 

Here’s the comparison shot I did this morning from memory of the sketch, I just downloaded the shot and found the sketch I had on my computer from a wartime soldiers sketch pad, couldn’t believe it,  I took the photo on the same date that he drew it in 1944 . . . . . . September 19th,  77 years to the day, we stood in the same spot  . . . . . . .  

 

If I had taken my computer perhaps I could have found the house in the second sketch and made a comparison.

 

Also the German barbed wire stakes we saw in Quineville as fence posts . . . . with the airfield matting mesh.

 

.   

 

.

 

.

 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 19  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

Ken,

 

Amazing then and now post!! I love it that you found this on the exact same day.

 

..Kat

[cutiger83]

8 hours ago, General Apathy said:

.

Recent French Resistance Monument  . . . . . . . .

 

Hi Pararafta, 

 

Thanks for the like on the above Then and Now comparisons in Quineville of the American soldiers sketches.  

 

Here's a new or fairly recent monument to the work of the French Resistants sited in Ste. Marie du Mont, when you enter the town from the Carentan direction. I love the detail of the statues but especially the detail of the radio. 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 19  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

Ken,

 

You are exactly right! The detail in this statue is beautiful !

 

...Kat

[American Graffiti]

Hi Ken,

Great posts, love the sketchbook. A. really good sketches he obviously had talent, and B. its touching he really wanted to remember the cafe "where two French girls bought us 4 bottles of cider" and the part of the Atlantic where 6 were hurt and 6 killed. Very humbling personal perspective. Illustrated as well by your T&N's

Thank you

AG

[General Apathy]

16 hours ago, Dogsbody said:

Beautiful! And on the surrounding 'walls' it looks like there are small canopies on top of them.

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Hi Rene,

 

we tried to figure out what the names were on the canopies, as they didn't really make a lot of sense alongside the monument we wondered if they were code-names for aerial weapons drops, but a lot wouldn't have made any sense in French before the invasion as we saw, Willys, Cadillac, Dodge amongst the names . . . . . . . . There was no explanation plaque anywhere. !!!

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 20  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

 

 

[General Apathy]

8 hours ago, cutiger83 said:

Ken,

 

Amazing then and now post!! I love it that you found this on the exact same day.

 

..Kat

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Hi Kat,

 

yes a very strange experience that I unknowingly did it on the same day, same month,  77 years apart. 

 

Another strange experience that I may have mentioned before went like this.  I first visited Normandy in 1973 and took several photos at the American cemetery at Omaha beach.  I eventually moved to France in 2007 and learnt of a crashed aircraft in the village killing the American pilot.  In 2008 I went to the cemetery at Omaha beach to find the pilots head-stone, it was then that I realised that I had stood within three feet of this pilots headstone when I took the photographs in 1973, thirty-four years before.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 20  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

  

[General Apathy]

31 minutes ago, American Graffiti said:

Hi Ken,

Great posts, love the sketchbook. A. really good sketches he obviously had talent, and B. its touching he really wanted to remember the cafe "where two French girls bought us 4 bottles of cider" and the part of the Atlantic where 6 were hurt and 6 killed. Very humbling personal perspective. Illustrated as well by your T&N's

Thank you

AG

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Hi AG,

 

thanks for the comment, sadly I do not own the sketch book, here's a link to several more of Victor Lundy's sketches he was 92 in 2016. I wish

I could see the entire sketch pad as there are probably several more places that I would be able to make comparisons.

 

https://www.doodlersanonymous.com/post/2440/the-sketchbook-diary-of-a-wwii-soldier-from-1944/

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 20  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

  

 

 

[General Apathy]

9 hours ago, cutiger83 said:

Ken,

 

Amazing then and now post!! I love it that you found this on the exact same day.

 

..Kat

.

Hi Kat,

 

here's another shot I took in Quineville on the same day and month that the artist Victor Lundy completed his sketch. Before D-Day a lot of the bunkers were disguised as French houses or farms, the artist included the remains of the roof beams and end walls added as part of the disguise. Notice the slope on the left of the bunker it was clad in red roof tiles, a few of which remain on the slope and seen in my comparison photo. 

 

.

 

.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 20  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

  

 

[Dogsbody]

19 hours ago, General Apathy said:

.

Recent French Resistance Monument  . . . . . . . .

 

Hi Pararafta, 

 

Thanks for the like on the above Then and Now comparisons in Quineville of the American soldiers sketches.  

 

Here's a new or fairly recent monument to the work of the French Resistants sited in Ste. Marie du Mont, when you enter the town from the Carentan direction. I love the detail of the statues but especially the detail of the radio. 

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 19  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

 

2 hours ago, General Apathy said:

.

Hi Rene,

 

we tried to figure out what the names were on the canopies, as they didn't really make a lot of sense alongside the monument we wondered if they were code-names for aerial weapons drops, but a lot wouldn't have made any sense in French before the invasion as we saw, Willys, Cadillac, Dodge amongst the names . . . . . . . . There was no explanation plaque anywhere. !!!

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 20  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

 

 

Hi Ken, could it be in reference to the Jedburgh teams? See last photo you posted with the wreath. I know, for instance, of a Jedburgh team called Dudley that was parachuted into Holland a week before Market-Garden.  There were I believe about 90 of those teams parachuted into France.

[General Apathy]

1 hour ago, Dogsbody said:

 

Hi Ken, could it be in reference to the Jedburgh teams? See last photo you posted with the wreath. I know, for instance, of a Jedburgh team called Dudley that was parachuted into Holland a week before Market-Garden.  There were I believe about 90 of those teams parachuted into France.

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Hi Rene,

 

Thanks you could be right I believe it was 93 teams dropped into 54 different departments, there are three separate walls and would appear to be about thirty parachute canopies on each.

 

I must admit Mike and myself hadn't thought of Jedburgh team names we were trying to associate the names on the canopies with SOE supply drops, or instructions ' Jaques has a long moustache ' 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 20  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

  

 

 

 

[mikie]

Hi folks.  Just checking in to say I've been following the recent posts with great interest and enjoyment.  I have a lot on my plate at the moment, and a fair amount of stress going on.  Don't worry, no disasters, and nothing catastrophic.  Just life stuff.  So have not commented much the past few days, and even passed by a couple of pun opportunities.  But you have been posting great stuff that as always makes this place a great relief from life's little road bumps! Thank you one and all!

 

Mikie  

[Dogsbody]

77 years ago operation Market Garden was in its fourth day and today marks the anniversary of the Waal river crossing at Nijmegen by paratroopers of the 504th PIR. Lest we forget.

 

 

[manayunkman]

2 hours ago, mikie said:

Hi folks.  Just checking in to say I've been following the recent posts with great interest and enjoyment.  I have a lot on my plate at the moment, and a fair amount of stress going on.  Don't worry, no disasters, and nothing catastrophic.  Just life stuff.  So have not commented much the past few days, and even passed by a couple of pun opportunities.  But you have been posting great stuff that as always makes this place a great relief from life's little road bumps! Thank you one and all!

 

Mikie  

In my thoughts and prayers Mikie.

 

This isn’t supposed to harm you but prosper you.

[manayunkman]

7 hours ago, General Apathy said:

.

Hi Kat,

 

here's another shot I took in Quineville on the same day and month that the artist Victor Lundy completed his sketch. Before D-Day a lot of the bunkers were disguised as French houses or farms, the artist included the remains of the roof beams and end walls added as part of the disguise. Notice the slope on the left of the bunker it was clad in red roof tiles, a few of which remain on the slope and seen in my comparison photo. 

 

.

 

.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 20  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

  

 

 Some great stuff Ken.

 

 Really enjoying it, so for my sake don’t stop 🛑 😂

 

 Seriously don’t stop

[manayunkman]

In late May 1944 my father was 15 and lived in The Hague, Netherlands.

 

One night he was caught after curfew with a radio tube in his pocket by the Nazi police.

The nazis suspected him of working for the underground.

 

They were actually making radios to listen to the BBC instead of the Nazi fake news.

 

Well they beat him up and an submerged him in the park duck pond in an attempt to drown him.

 

They left him for dead but he had been holding his breath and made it home.

 

His mother (father was in prison after his nazi brother snitched on him) realized that he had no place at home and since they already had trouble enough she sent him to an uncle who had property in the Son Best area and provided more secluded environment to hide.

 
On September 17, 1944 elements of the 501 PIR liberated him.

[mikie]

2 hours ago, manayunkman said:

In my thoughts and prayers Mikie.

 

This isn’t supposed to harm you but prosper you.

Thank you.  Those things are always welcome and appreciated.  As I said, no big disasters here.  But I'm busy, distracted, and a bit stressed out and haven't been jumping in here as much as I'd like.  Keep all the good stuff coming here.  There is nothing better than good old shot of Norman D. Landing to brighten my day. 

 

Mikie 

[General Apathy]

On 9/19/2021 at 7:59 PM, Dogsbody said:

Besides collecting militaria I also invest in some history books every Now and Then and as far as I'm concerned I can't go wrong with the After the Battle "Then and Now editions.  I wasn't aware of the German Coastal Radar Stations publication (it flew under my radar, so to speak) but thanks to Ken mentioning it a while ago in one of his posts I have been able to add this one to my collection also.

Of special interest is the Through the Lens 'Dams Raid'. It is not in the well known Then and Now format but it is an in depth study of the subject. The book is in a landscape format and contains lots of photos and text right on through from the building of the dams to the 50th anniversary of the raid. Quite impressive.

 

 

 

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Hi Rene,

 

When Winston Ramsey started producing ' After the Battle '  his young son Gordon stood in for a lot of the figures to be seen in comparison shots of the wartime shots.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 21  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

  

[General Apathy]

19 hours ago, mikie said:

Hi folks.  Just checking in to say I've been following the recent posts with great interest and enjoyment.  I have a lot on my plate at the moment, and a fair amount of stress going on.  Don't worry, no disasters, and nothing catastrophic.  Just life stuff.  So have not commented much the past few days, and even passed by a couple of pun opportunities.  But you have been posting great stuff that as always makes this place a great relief from life's little road bumps! Thank you one and all!

 

Mikie  

.

Hi Mikie,

 

Good to hear from you and that you are still following the thread even if not posting, yes I had expected you to jump in on a few of the pun comments . . . . .

 

Take care and be safe, life can get in the way of fun lots of the times . . . . . . . . . . 

 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 21  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

  

[General Apathy]

18 hours ago, Dogsbody said:

77 years ago operation Market Garden was in its fourth day and today marks the anniversary of the Waal river crossing at Nijmegen by paratroopers of the 504th PIR. Lest we forget.

 

 

.

Hi Rene,

 

thanks for your post and photos reporting on the Waal crossing commemorations, interesting to see.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 21  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.

 

  

[General Apathy]

16 hours ago, manayunkman said:

 Some great stuff Ken.

 

 Really enjoying it, so for my sake don’t stop 🛑 😂

 

 Seriously don’t stop

.

Hi Piet,

 

thanks, not always easy to keep coming up with dedicated military topics to posts, hence the tangents that the thread keeps running off on,

but hopefully these are interesting or can be remembered by readers and members. 

 

Heres another shot taken in Quineville on Sunday 19th, explanation on the photo but sadly no wartime shot to compare it to or it's use. 

 

.

 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 21  2021.

 

" Life's too short for reproductions "

 

"  Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes "

 

.