Chiangbill Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 Hi all. Didn't like living in Chiang Mai. So we have moved to North Cyprus. Getting closer to Europe now. Spotted this Open Air Musuem nr Kyrenia. This is where (I believe) the Turkish Army invaded Cyprus. Thought these pics would interest you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick W Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 Are they ex Turkish vehicles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trustmeimamechanic Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 I've spent hrs driving up in the mountains behind Lapta looking for an abandoned tank some locals told me was up in the hills , never found it though . That was about 8 years ago so may not even be there now, the Turkish army were all still running around in Hotchkiss jeeps then. Am told the coast line from Kyrenia down to Lapta and beyond is now all being developed , when I was last there it was mostly still coast and very few hotels and none high-rise. Had one of the best meals ever at the Old Police house overlooking the harbour at Kyrenia , the food was excellent and the view as the sun set was perfect , sitting under the tree of idelness at Belapais with a cold beer was another favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 Rick W Are they ex Turkish vehicles? They were Greek Cypriot Nation Guard vehicles, S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiangbill Posted October 2, 2010 Author Share Posted October 2, 2010 I've spent hrs driving up in the mountains behind Lapta looking for an abandoned tank some locals told me was up in the hills , never found it though .That was about 8 years ago so may not even be there now, the Turkish army were all still running around in Hotchkiss jeeps then. Am told the coast line from Kyrenia down to Lapta and beyond is now all being developed , when I was last there it was mostly still coast and very few hotels and none high-rise. Had one of the best meals ever at the Old Police house overlooking the harbour at Kyrenia , the food was excellent and the view as the sun set was perfect , sitting under the tree of idelness at Belapais with a cold beer was another favorite. Hi. Yes The Tree of idelness at Belapais, Very nice up there, we were there yesterday. A lot of the building work has stopped now mainly due to rouge builders. Lots of british have paid the money but the builders haven't finished. It's quite big news here. We are renting, much safer. Lots of Land Rovers now with the Turkish Army. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzkpfw-e Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 Interesting array, T34/85s, BTR152s, but what are the armoured cars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiangbill Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 Hi All. Took some visiting friends to the Open Air Musuem Kyrenia North Cyprus. Took a few more pics while i was there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiangbill Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 I've spent hrs driving up in the mountains behind Lapta looking for an abandoned tank some locals told me was up in the hills , never found it though .That was about 8 years ago so may not even be there now, the Turkish army were all still running around in Hotchkiss jeeps then. Am told the coast line from Kyrenia down to Lapta and beyond is now all being developed , when I was last there it was mostly still coast and very few hotels and none high-rise. Had one of the best meals ever at the Old Police house overlooking the harbour at Kyrenia , the food was excellent and the view as the sun set was perfect , sitting under the tree of idelness at Belapais with a cold beer was another favorite. Hi trustmeimamechanic, We are going up there next week. Will have look around. It will give me something to do. Ha Ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trustmeimamechanic Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Good luck :-D , we were told if you follow what was then the dirt road up to the top of the mountains behind Lapta then turn right at the top and Keep following the road as high as you can go its just off the road to the left faceing the greeks , don't do as I did and end up in the TRNC base that was up there :embarrassed:, if you find it post some pics . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiangbill Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 (edited) Good luck :-D , we were told if you follow what was then the dirt road up to the top of the mountains behind Lapta then turn right at the top and Keep following the road as high as you can go its just off the road to the left faceing the greeks , don't do as I did and end up in the TRNC base that was up there :embarrassed:, if you find it post some pics . OK will give it a try. Hope we don't. 1) Get Lost. 2) Pulled by the army for taking pics. We are in Esentepe when we drive from Kyrenia we pass a big TRNC army camp. They have tanks lots of trucks and jeeps. But recon we would get shot if we stopped to take pics. They are a bit on the edgy side these guys. Edited October 5, 2010 by Chiangbill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Pzkpfw-e ..... but what are the armour cars? They are Marmon Herrington MkIV armoured cars manufactured in South Africa and used in a number of ex British colonys -Palestine Cyprus Greece- East Africa and used by South Africa itself in various modes. The earlier Mk1 to 3 are more famous being used in the Desert War 1940-43 Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 This could be of value for those with an interest in tanks on Cyprus: ARMOR IN CYPRUS: EVOLUTION AND ACTION AUTHOR: Ioannis Mamounidakis http://www.doureios.com/BooksEng/EFeng.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiangbill Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 Well after a couple or three trips around the mountains at the back of Lapta. We found the Old Tank. It has been there since 1974 but it must be looked after as the paintwork is in very good nick. The tank tracks are just lying on the road above where the tank is. The tank is cemented in around the base with steps down from the road to it. The road is very narrow with lots of hairpin bends and sheer drops. If you went off the road i dont think they would ever find you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiangbill Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 From my understanding (third party) when the turkish army landed at Escape beach nr Kyrenia, they came under intense fire from a gun emplacement high up in the mountain, two tanks were dispatched via the mountain goat track as it was at the time starting in Karsiyaka towards Kozonkoy which is now a very pleasent route to follow now. The first tank hit a land mine which blew out the left hand track which still lies there today. The crew were recovered unharmed by the second tank which then pushed the first one out of the way to its position now and then proceeded on to destroy the gun emplacement proberbly saving hundreds of lives. The inscription details the names /ages/ranks of the two crews and describes /praises their heroic action and is a place of "pilgrimage" during the annual anniversary of the intervention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recymech66 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I lived in Cyprus for 2 years while posted there, we went to Kyrenia many times and absolutely loved it. My wife and kids love the restuarant opposite the old church in Bellapais, lovely food. We really miss the old harbour and were lucky enough to see the Freedom celebrations when we had our last holiday in Kyrenia in 2009, the Turkish equivilent of the Red Arrows put on an excellent display over the harbour were we were having a fantasic meal on the roof of one of the restuarants. We went up to St Hilarion castle just outside Kyrenia a few times and saw the Turkish Army bases with the huge statues of Soldiers outside, tried to take pics but thought better of it in case they got a bit twitchy. Wish I'd known about these tanks and the museum, gutted. Saw quite a few Land Rovers being used by the Turkish Soldiers in Kyrenia and Nicosia which made me smile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trustmeimamechanic Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Good work ;-) , glad it took you a few trips to find it... make me feel better about the hrs we spent looking . Reading the last few posts makes me want to go back... i did a fair bit of diving last few times and it was some of the best viz i have ever dived in. Up on the pan handle are some of the best desserted beaches you will ever find... we swam with turtles for hrs. Must say the TRNC were pretty friendly but we were warned by locals to keep our two very pretty daughters away from the mainland Turk males .... is the open air night club still going on the coast just up from Lapta ? it was over by two old Russian helicopters and looked straight out to sea ... we had some good nights there with some of the locals we made friends with ... it seemed to be very much a locals club...I think we were the only brits there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recymech66 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Only a short snippit I took of the Turkish Stars Aerobatic display team. Something went wrong... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recymech66 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Just to balance things up here's one of my videos of an annual Military parade in Nicosia, this was taken in Oct 2009. Something went wrong... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 On our arrival at Airport Camp, Nicosia in September 1976, we arrived late morning after an overnight flight by RAF Transport Command VC10 from Brize Norton to Akrotiri. We were issued a set of pre-UNed shirts, berets, badges, brassard, Trousers OG to supplement the lightweights on our 1157, got changed into uniform, ate in the cookhouse then attended an intelligence briefing. Throughout the six-month tour there was a permanent prize of a crate of beer on offer for the first crew to spot either a T34/85 or a Marmon-Herrington armoured in use on the Turkish side. I am pretty sure it was made clear that these vehicles in Turkish use were ex-National Guard, which confirms what a previous poster says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Well after a couple or three trips around the mountains at the back of Lapta. We found the Old Tank. It has been there since 1974 but it must be looked after as the paintwork is in very good nick. The tank tracks are just lying on the road above where the tank is. The tank is cemented in around the base with steps down from the road to it. The road is very narrow with lots of hairpin bends and sheer drops. If you went off the road i dont think they would ever find you. Great find! Amazing that this heavy M47 did (and does) not slide down the slope. Impossible to recover, they must have decided to leave it there as a memento. I really like those in-situ battle relics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojays Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Hi. Yes The Tree of idelness at Belapais, Very nice up there, we were there yesterday. A lot of the building work has stopped now mainly due to rouge builders. Lots of british have paid the money but the builders haven't finished. It's quite big news here. We are renting, much safer. Lots of Land Rovers now with the Turkish Army. The T54 (I think) is still there, saw it only 18months ago. Not easily found as it is situated part of the way down an embankment amongst some trees, up in the mountains. Substantially intact it has a memorial plaque telling the story of how it got there. I must admit it is in a very strange place. Gregg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLUF Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Just to balance things up here's one of my videos of an annual Military parade in Nicosia, this was taken in Oct 2009. Something went wrong... A bit of a thread resurrection... Looking at your video I am guessing we must have been standing quite close to each other.... :undecided: I have stacks of photos from the Independence day parade (various years) held each October the 1st in Nicosia south and quite a few from the one held in Nicosia north (I think the 28th October?) Plus some also from the Kyrina so called Museum if anyone is interested.. I also found some so called Willy's jeeps in a scrap yard (Nicosia North area) the other day.. Edited January 2, 2012 by FLUF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevpol Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Nice jeeps, CJ2As I think Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recymech66 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 A bit of a thread resurrection... Looking at your video I am guessing we must have been standing quite close to each other.... :undecided: I have stacks of photos from the Independence day parade (various years) held each October the 1st in Nicosia south and quite a few from the one held in Nicosia north (I think the 28th October?) Plus some also from the Kyrina so called Museum if anyone is interested.. Yes please post the pics I'd like to see them, unfortunately I only managed to see 2 of the parades due to only living in Cyprus for 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recymech66 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Do any IT experts have any idea why the video's I posted have disappeared?:-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.