Guerre et Paix en le Ardennes museum - novion porcien, nr Rethel, France

[Snapper]

Hello all,

 

Inspired by the snaps of tanks and relics in the Ardennes I thought I'd draw your attention to the little museum in Novion-Porcien called the War & Peace museum. It houses a stunning collection of stuff dating from the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 up to the end ofWW2. Needless to say, the WW2 MVs are of major interest and the collection includes a Brockway bridging unit and a LeRoi compressor truck (on a jimmy) plus one of the big rubber boat pontoons. There is the usual mix of German MT enhanced by a genuine Hanomag 250/D and a superb Hotchkiss six wheeler which may have been rebodied by the Germans as an artillery tractor. There was also a huge sound locator on a similar chassis as an 88mm gun - which was in the same display. But the French stuff was the best - all 1940 vintage MT including a Citroen Kregess half track, a little Renault UE tankette, several motor cycle combinations which I assume were Rhone-Gnome (or whichever way round it goes) and best of all a Laffly field car. Entrance fee was about 11 quid for my family of four.

 

On roads nearby I found some abandoned French bunkers - big casemates with lots of machine gun points and a few WW1 memorials of great interest - including one for a relocated cemetery from battles of 1914 and 1918. We also got down to Verdun for a day. It is stunning there. So much to see and so much to amaze about the sheer scale of sacrifice by the French and Germans. The great ossuary at Douaumont houses the bones of 130,000 men - and you can see them through the windows!! very spooky. The cemetery out front is for 15,000 more Frenchmen. You can climb to the top of the ossuary tower and see for miles. Saddest of all are the destroyed villages marked by rubble and small monuments. We walked round Fleury - and you can feel the ghosts. The landscape is pockmarked with craters. But the French covered the whole battlefield with pines to absorb the poisons in the ground - it is the most melancholy place I have ever been, and I know the Somme and Flanders well enough to compare. I am not a massive Francophile, but I think Verdun has to be seen to truly appreciate the glory of France as much as our own battlefields mean to us. We moved on to Normandy and I finally got to see the Vimoutiers Tiger. Ok, it's not complete, but it is a gem. We also went to the Polish memorial on Mont Ormel. The sound and light show is baffling, but the talk by a local historian was superb - especially when you consider it was in her second language. We happened to be in Alencon on the day they were commemorating the arrival of General Leclerc and the 2nd French armoured div. The French have their funny ways and they can be lousy drivers (but not as bad as some Belgians), but they know how to remember their own and our sacrifice. Go and have a look for yourself.

[Guest matt]

Hi Snapper,

 

Did you by chance get some pics of the CCKW LeRoi compressor truck? If so I'd love to see them as I'm in the process of restoring one myself.

 

Cheers,

 

Matt.

[ashley]

Hi snapper,

though i have been to many of the places you mention, are there any photos of your trip ??

 

Ashley

[Joris]

I could not agree more on Verdun, I visited it last year and spend 2 days there which was nowehere enough. There is so much to see and you don't have to search for anything, the french put up superb car routes which pass all the major sites.

[Snapper]

Hello Matt, Ashley and Joris. yes I have got snaps of the compressor truck and the other locations and am more than happy to post stuff on the site or email to you directly. I've been taking pictures "professionally" (the wife will have a laugh at that one - as will Zoomer) for a zillion years - but the art of posting snaps on the site may take me time to learn. all tips gratefully received.

 

Thanks for all your encouragement

 

 

Snapper (Mark B)

[Mark]

Hi Snapper try this for posting pictures

 

Thought it may be wise to write a few words on how to post pictures up on the forum. Knowing how to do this puzzled me for sometime but it didn't need to as it is a very painless process.

 

 

First of all you need to use a site that allows you to upload your own pictures to it. I use http://www.photobucket.com'>http://www.photobucket.com'>http://www.photobucket.com so here is what you need to do;

 

1.Go to http://www.photobucket.com and fill out the necessary

2. Once you have registered and you have had a look around the site you need to find the ' add pictures' button.

3. Click on browse button this should pop up a 'choose file' window, Desktop, My Documents for example

4. Locate the folder/file that has the pictures in the you want to upload ( it may be easier to place a shortcut of the image on your desktop to begin with as it is easier to find).

5. Click the image that you want to upload, you may see something like P7110008.JPG which is a picture of my GMC or if you have renamed it you will see that name of the image.

6. Click 'submit' on the Photobucket site

7. You should now see your picture up on Photobucket.....well done that is a result!

 

Now to get image from there to HMVF follow the following steps.

 

1. Underneath your picture on Photobucket you will see three boxes 1st Url, 2nd Tag and the 3rd box is Img

2. Highlight the 3rd box ..........the Img box

3. Right click of the mouse and copy

4. Then paste it in to your message HMVF

 

 

That is pretty much it! It may seem a bit long winded but once you have done it once or twice you soon get the hang of it but if anyone else has a better/quicker then please do let us know.

 

Hope that helps...........now get posting.

 

[Mark]

by the way Jack wrote it not me :roll:

[Snapper]

Thanks a lot Mark...I think!! Blame Jack - anyone who moves house in the dark in a Jimmy must be a bit bonkers.