Smithy Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 I spent the first four days of this week in Normandy, revisiting some of the places we went to in 2009 and also taking in places which we couldn't get to at the time. It's certainly different to see the area at this time of the year and not a month earlier, but really I can't wait to return once again! We were pretty lucky with the weather with only our time at Pointe du Hoc being cut short due to rain. We managed to visit everywhere we had intended to though and also fitted in a couple of extra places. In fact one of these I would recommend to everyone, this being the Azeville Battery which is just to the north of St Mere Eglise. I found the place really interesting with 300m of underground tunnels still open for the public to take guided tours around. As people who know who have made the trip there are quite a few vehicles outside on the roadsides but I also saw some machines which I hadn't seen before while I also spotted a Ferret and a 1942 Bedford MW which had been on a tour of the area. Anyway now for the pictures starting with the above mentioned vehicles. The machines that take to the sea (or not anymore!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 Museum pieces Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 Armour galore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 Best of the rest This one below was for sale Azeville Battery Anyone know what these are off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
private mw Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 great pictures thanks for sharing i would love to visit normandy again , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 cracking shots !.... I absolutely love Normandy and despite many visits over the years I still get a really weird 'chilly' feeling whenever I am there...... hey....the first Sherman with the horizontal springs and a couple of beach obstacles by it ...is that at Utah?.... .......also Azeville Battery is great .... .there's also another one not that far away from it but I can't recall the name?? .....anyways... one (or the other one) of these batteries actually deliberately shelled their neighbouring battery in the days after D-Day ...apparantly cos one of the Batterys Commandants decided to surrender and the fella in charge of the other battery was a bit more of an ardent Nazi and therefore didn't think much of his comrades shall we say. ...'commitment to the cause' ...! also when I was last at one of them the French Army had not long recovered a massive battleship shell... something like a 16 incher.........the shell had been fired from way out in the bay and had scored a direct hit on one of the concrete casements but had failed to explode....it had then skidded and smashed its way straight thru the emplacement and out through the back door finally burrowing into the earth of the meadow behind...there it had lain for many years until someone must have twigged er!...hang on a minute!...if it didn't explode!...is it still 'live'?"..... and yes...... it was still very much alive... ..christ knows how many tourists had innocently marched around on top of some proper high explosive in the meadow during the intervening years !.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 cracking shots !.... I absolutely love Normandy and despite many visits over the years I still get a really weird 'chilly' feeling whenever I am there...... hey....the first Sherman with the horizontal springs and a couple of beach obstacles by it ...is that at Utah?.... .......also Azeville Battery is great .... .there's also another one not that far away from it but I can't recall the name?? .....anyways... one (or the other one) of these batteries actually deliberately shelled their neighbouring battery in the days after D-Day ...apparantly cos one of the Batterys Commandants decided to surrender and the fella in charge of the other battery was a bit more of an ardent Nazi and therefore didn't think much of his comrades shall we say. ...'commitment to the cause' ...! also when I was last at one of them the French Army had not long recovered a massive battleship shell... something like a 16 incher.........the shell had been fired from way out in the bay and had scored a direct hit on one of the concrete casements but had failed to explode....it had then skidded and smashed its way straight thru the emplacement and out through the back door finally burrowing into the earth of the meadow behind...there it had lain for many years until someone must have twigged er!...hang on a minute!...if it didn't explode!...is it still 'live'?"..... and yes...... it was still very much alive... ..christ knows how many tourists had innocently marched around on top of some proper high explosive in the meadow during the intervening years !.... Thanks for the feedback guys. Hi Bob. Yes the first Sherman is at Utah it sits almost in the car park of the museum that is now situated pretty much on the beach front. The other battery you are thinking of is Crisbecq. During the tour of Azeville we were told that the commander in-charge of the Crisbecq battery was much more fanatical than the one at Azeville, so much so out of a garrison of 400 only around 100 came out alive at Crisbecq compared to a much higher percentage at Azeville once it was seen that the battle was over. Ah yes the battleship shell, there was a picture showing where it came to rest and it is amazing to see how it had gone in the front of the battery and come out of the back without exploding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 also another little from a visit to those batteries..... at the time they offered a guided tour and explaination of the way the battery functioned but...being a typical Brit my grasp of French is limited to say the least....and the next English speaking tour was not til a day or so's time ....but.. the fella that took my money was most emphatic and made great efforts to assure me "ze guide she speak good englisse! don't worry ..you will be understanding good!" So!.......... .....Suitably assured of getting my moneys worth out of the tour I paid up and joined a small group of French tourists for the walkabout........the tour duly entered the first emplacement and the young lady delivered what was evidently a very thorough explaination in French of course ......of what went on in there.... .her talk went on for a good 20 minutes with much typical Gallic gesturing and approving nods from the French tourists and many questions were asked and she gave what was obviously very thorough answers to each enquiry which I endeavoured to follow as best I could ......thinking all the while...ah she'll get to me in a minute ..be patient !........... ..................finally she turned to me (the only English person there).......and said "Zo!.....theeese iss..... ah....how you say?.......zee gun room!" with that she turned and led the party out the door to the next stop.............. hahaha! served me right I guess for not paying attention at school french lessons! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 also another little from a visit to those batteries..... at the time they offered a guided tour and explaination of the way the battery functioned but...being a typical Brit my grasp of French is limited to say the least....and the next English speaking tour was not til a day or so's time ....but.. the fella that took my money was most emphatic and made great efforts to assure me "ze guide she speak good englisse! don't worry ..you will be understanding good!" So!.......... .....Suitably assured of getting my moneys worth out of the tour I paid up and joined a small group of French tourists for the walkabout........the tour duly entered the first emplacement and the young lady delivered what was evidently a very thorough explaination in French of course ......of what went on in there.... .her talk went on for a good 20 minutes with much typical Gallic gesturing and approving nods from the French tourists and many questions were asked and she gave what was obviously very thorough answers to each enquiry which I endeavoured to follow as best I could ......thinking all the while...ah she'll get to me in a minute ..be patient !........... ..................finally she turned to me (the only English person there).......and said "Zo!.....theeese iss..... ah....how you say?.......zee gun room!" with that she turned and led the party out the door to the next stop.............. hahaha! served me right I guess for not paying attention at school french lessons! They gave us an audio device at Azeville and you were allowed to wonder around on your own on the numbered path, so that saved that problem . It really was an excellent place and like I say I would recommend it to anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Thanks for the feedback guys. Hi Bob. Yes the first Sherman is at Utah it sits almost in the car park of the museum that is now situated pretty much on the beach front. questions questions! ...for all you Sherman experts out there....what model is the one at Utah?...and the other one in Smithys post at St Mere Eglis ?....which I think is the same model ?...what size main gun is that ?....is that the 76mm ? and....is that the US (sort of) equivalent to our Firefly 17lb-er???.. .and finally!..... .....can anyone explain what the increment markings are for on the 2 Cromwells (?) ?...they are Cromwells aren't they?.... .....oh yeah and Smithy!...the one Cromwell (on a peice of bridge gantry) is opposite Pegasus Cafe..yes?no?.... but where is the other one?.don't recall seeing her but mite have ...all confused I am!!!!???........many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 .....can anyone explain what the increment markings are for on the 2 Cromwells (?) ?...they are Cromwells aren't they?.... .....oh yeah and Smithy!...the one Cromwell (on a peice of bridge gantry) is opposite Pegasus Cafe..yes?no?.... but where is the other one?.don't recall seeing her but mite have ...all confused I am!!!!???........many thanks! These are Centaurs, used by Royal Marines armoured support, they were used to bombard the shore from landing craft, these are bearing marks on the turret. The other Centaur is on display in the street at Hermanville. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 (edited) These are Centaurs, used by Royal Marines armoured support, they were used to bombard the shore from landing craft, these are bearing marks on the turret. The other Centaur is on display in the street at Hermanville. sorry bout the mistaken identity....whats the differance then between Cromwells and Centaurs?...they look the same to me but ...guessing its engine/main gun/armour?..... PS: having done some Googling I see the main differance is the engine !thanks anyways. also......has anyone restored/saved/got one of the Comets with the detuned 17lb main gun... nice looking tank....very Centurion looking turret.......??? Edited July 9, 2011 by RattlesnakeBob spelling tsk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 These are Centaurs, used by Royal Marines armoured support, they were used to bombard the shore from landing craft, these are bearing marks on the turret. The other Centaur is on display in the street at Hermanville. The one on a plinth in Hermanville actually has a plack by it which actually reads something along the lines of, "Sherman DD tanks such as this one came ashore here...." And yes you are correct in saying that the other one is situated at Pegasus Bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rippo Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 One has a brass plaque saying its a mk1 churchill!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 One has a brass plaque saying its a mk1 churchill!!! http://www.ww2museums.com/artikel/1265/Centaur-IV-Sword-Beach.htm click onto the photo of the plaque ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rippo Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Hello richard, I think there's also a plaque on the front of the tank, saying who restored it. Might be wrong though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Hello richard,I think there's also a plaque on the front of the tank, saying who restored it. Might be wrong though. Hi John, I have never stopped to look at that one closely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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