Norman D. Landing

[doyler]

Coutances Normandy - July 1944

LIFE Magazine Archives - Ralph Morse Photographer

 

 

[doyler]

Coutances Normandy - July 1944

LIFE Magazine Archives - Ralph Morse Photographer

 

[doyler]

Coutances Normandy - July 1944

LIFE Magazine Archives - Ralph Morse Photographer

 

[doyler]

Coutances Normandy - July 1944

LIFE Magazine Archives - Ralph Morse Photographer

 

[doyler]

Coutances Normandy - July 1944

LIFE Magazine Archives - Ralph Morse Photographer

 

 

 

[General Apathy]

.

From the Shoebox .  . . . . . .

 

These are empty cartons and without the packs inside they tend to loose their shape a little also they gather dust and such when displayed so I have used a none toxic inside to retain the shape and wrapped them in kitchen food wrap which protects from dust and the colors look a little sharper I believe.  I still have a Camel & Old Gold cartons to wrap yet. 

 

.

 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent,  July 29  2022.

 

...

 

 

[General Apathy]

1 hour ago, doyler said:

Coutances Normandy - July 1944

LIFE Magazine Archives - Ralph Morse Photographer

 

 

.

Hi Ron,

 

Thanks for all the photos a lot I haven't seen, I am familiar though with this crossroads and the blown up Jeep which happened just behind where this blown up tank is, I did some comparisons a few years ago.  Theres also some color footage of this crossroads on the internet and it was amusing to see an officer walking from the direction of the blown up Jeep towards the camera, Note his Majors insignia on his helmet has been sanded off, also the side of his helmet has had a patch inginia sanded off,  by pure coincidence one of the helmets that I have kept also has a majors insignia and the side sanded off. !!!!!!  

 

I have owned this helmet since the late 1970's it was the first Hawley liner I ever acquired, and it is exactly as I bought it from a friend at the time. 

 

.

 

 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent,  July 29  2022.

 

...

[doyler]

Ken

 

Thats a great helmet. Love the finish. 

 

thanks for the info on the crossroads

[Dogsbody]

On 7/28/2022 at 9:47 AM, General Apathy said:

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New memorial unveiled this week . . . . . .

 

A few days ago a new memorial was unveiled dedicated to Pilot officer Robert Joseph Sarvis, July 1917 - July 1944 ( aged 27 ).  Sarvis was born in Canada before his parents emigrated to America while he was young. He schooled in America and attended the university of Murfreesboro, early in WWII he volunteered for the Canadian airforce  ( before America joined the war ) where he was trained as a pilot and sent for service to the UK.  He piloted a Lancaster bomber initially wearing RAF uniform but once the USAAF arrived in the UK he wore American uniform but remained with his RAF squadron and crew.

 

I believe that at one stage several years ago one of the forum members posted a grouping of Sarvis's medals, insignia and paperwork. 

 

The third photo shows the exact crash site and the location of his memorial 600 metres away, beside a quiet rest area with benches and tables. 

 

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Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent,  July 28  2022.

 

...

 

Very nice!. Great to see these memorials.

[Dogsbody]

On 7/28/2022 at 6:22 PM, General Apathy said:

oops forgot to post this last year . . . . . .

 

Just looking through the photographs in my files I realised that I had never added this find, so here it is.

 

.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent,  July 28  2022.

 

...

 

Ah no......not another one of those fire guards 😉

[Dogsbody]

21 hours ago, General Apathy said:

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From the Shoebox .  . . . . . .

 

These are empty cartons and without the packs inside they tend to loose their shape a little also they gather dust and such when displayed so I have used a none toxic inside to retain the shape and wrapped them in kitchen food wrap which protects from dust and the colors look a little sharper I believe.  I still have a Camel & Old Gold cartons to wrap yet. 

 

.

 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent,  July 29  2022.

 

...

 

 

So this was more about thinking inside the box, I guess.

[Dogsbody]

Ron, thanks for adding all these great photos.

[mikie]

14 minutes ago, Dogsbody said:

So this was more about thinking inside the box, I guess.

Nice to see you back around! 

[mikie]

20 hours ago, General Apathy said:

.

Hi Ron,

 

Thanks for all the photos a lot I haven't seen, I am familiar though with this crossroads and the blown up Jeep which happened just behind where this blown up tank is, I did some comparisons a few years ago.  Theres also some color footage of this crossroads on the internet and it was amusing to see an officer walking from the direction of the blown up Jeep towards the camera, Note his Majors insignia on his helmet has been sanded off, also the side of his helmet has had a patch inginia sanded off,  by pure coincidence one of the helmets that I have kept also has a majors insignia and the side sanded off. !!!!!!  

 

I have owned this helmet since the late 1970's it was the first Hawley liner I ever acquired, and it is exactly as I bought it from a friend at the time. 

 

.

 

 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent,  July 29  2022.

 

...

Amazing! 

[mikie]

15 minutes ago, Dogsbody said:

Ron, thanks for adding all these great photos.

I'll second that! 

Mikie

[General Apathy]

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Today's find . . . . . . 1944 German Wasser can.

 

early this morning I fired up the Volvo and picked up a local friend and hit the road down into the boonies away from Normandy.  We went to a militaria show that always has a lot of collectors turning a buck on their finds.  So although I did not turn up this myself at a farm I didn't pay heavily for it.  Downside is it has been over sprayed previously to my tired eyes I am thinking by a U.S. depot using captured jerrycans but that's only a guesstimate  . . . . . . . . .

 

.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent,  July 30  2022.

 

...

[General Apathy]

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Today's find . . . . . . German ' SS ' can.

 

early this morning I fired up the Volvo and picked up a local friend and hit the road down into the boonies away from Normandy.  We went to a militaria show that always has a lot of collectors turning a buck on their finds.  So although I did not turn this up myself at a farm,  I also didn't pay heavily for it. It has a nice amount of rusty patina on the can, thankfully retaining some light areas of original paint and not over sprayed or wire brushed.

 

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Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent,  July 30  2022.

 

...

 

[General Apathy]

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French Forest Fires Southern France . . . . . . 

 

report on this mornings radio news, ' Bored French Fireman arrested for setting three forest fires ', more like Global Madness than Global Warming . . . . . . . .  how many others have carried out this stupid and irresponsible action in todays fragile world . . . . . . . . . . . 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent,  July 31  2022.

 

...

 

[earlymb]

Great finds with the cans!

[Johan Willaert]

On 7/28/2022 at 2:13 PM, General Apathy said:

Jeeping friend Len has photographed one of his manuals for you . . . . . . .

 

.

 

 

Catching up after a few days away...

And I'm sure both ken and I have one of the oilers bottom left attached to the firewall in our Jeeps...

 

 

[Johan Willaert]

On 7/27/2022 at 5:41 PM, cutiger83 said:

Ken and Johan,

 

I have a question for both of you.  I understand completely about the awe of an untouched WWII jeep.  However, all of the rust would greatly worry me.  Does anything need to be done to prevent further rust damage before it is too late? I saw a lot of rust but maybe it is not as bad as my eyes see in the pictures. 

 

...Kat

 

When I got my Jeep and started working on these in the early 1980s; there was a tendancy to clean-up, repaint or replace every part that showed wear and one would generally end up with a very shiny new looking vehicle, even better than they looked when they left the factory during the war.

 

This has now evolved into keeping as much as possible the original finish and parts which are still original to the vehicle.
Now when I restore something a part which although it shows wear is kept in that original condition as long as it's presentable.
Nowadays it would be considered a sin to restore a Jeep in original condition like the one shown a couple of pages back.
It is only original once and for every one of these original unmolested ones, there are a thousand restored ones out there...

Furthermore with so many reproduction parts now being available, it has become very hard, albeit not impossible, to dstinguish original parts from repro...

Even though now new parts sometimes undergo a treatment to have them look old and rusted, it is usually very clear if a Jeep is all original or if it has been restored and usually the history of the unrestored ones is known to quite a few people in the Jeep world.

 

As for the damage; these have survived for over 80 years in sometimes very harsh conditions; they will surely continue to last for decades to come especially since people who buy or own these cherish them and make sure they are not exposed to bad conditions any more... Plus there are products out there to protect and conserve metal.

I try to avoid driving my Jeep in bad conditions and don't really get it out unless the weather is dry, but it does get wet now and then... 

Got it out yesterday; a beautiful Summer's day here...

 

 

[Johan Willaert]

On the subject of unrestored Jeeps, this 1945 Willys MB belongs to a Belgian friend...
Runs as it should and except for one engine overhaul, has never been touched...

[Johan Willaert]

Earlier this year in June, this original 1942 Ford GPW sold at auction in Normandy for about 45.000 USd

Some rust and damaged floor, but a FANTASTIC example of an early Jeep.... Most of the unrestored ones are 1945 and did not see Military service during the war

 

 

[Johan Willaert]

Back in 2014 I purchased what was left of a 1942 Huffman Army bicycle, of which the parts still had the original finish...
I cleaned it up and completed it again, keeping the original paint where possible and trying to match the finish on the spare parts I used on the rebuild...

Back in the 1980s one would have stripped all paint and would have refinished everything...

Took it to Normandy in June 2019 where Ken got to ride it..

 

As said it's only original once...

 

 

[mikie]

1 hour ago, Johan Willaert said:

Back in 2014 I purchased what was left of a 1942 Huffman Army bicycle, of which the parts still had the original finish...
I cleaned it up and completed it again, keeping the original paint where possible and trying to match the finish on the spare parts I used on the rebuild...

Back in the 1980s one would have stripped all paint and would have refinished everything...

Took it to Normandy in June 2019 where Ken got to ride it..

 

As said it's only original once...

 

 

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