Royal_Dragoon_Guard Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 Hi, just thought some readers might be interested to read about a CMBO fanatic loose on the Normandy battlefield today! Its amazing what is still to be found, eg. 2 local woods have yielded foxholes, weapons pits and what look like hiding areas for vehicles - earth dug up on two sides, certainly big enough for a halftrack/armoured car for example. One of the woods, the largest in Manche, is full of bomb craters, some near the foxholes too! Hill 192 yielded several bits of shrapnel, including quite large chunks with screw thread visible etc, probably US 105mm. Just along the lane from me is a sunken track between banks, halfway up on one side, only barely visible in winter because of the foliage, is a small dugout, dug into and under one bank. It still has a rusty corrugated entrance roof propped up by a couple of old railway sleepers. Not far away there is a curious U shape carved out of an otherwise complete bank, tree covered, about 5 ft. high. The view through this gap is of the main road from Isigny (Omaha beach) to St. Lo. Range is about 800 metres where the road tops the ridge and drops down to my valley. I reckon this was an anti-tank gun position, 5 cm I reckon , not an 88mm or even a 7.5cm, the lane/path is far too narrow. I have researched and discovered the crossroads near me was held by a company of German Infantry falling back from Omaha. There are a couple of mortar craters, 81mm, in the vicinity too. You need to search away from farmland where everything has been tidied up. Patches of woodland and around the sunken lanes, especially coppices formed where 4 hedgerows meet, are good places. The French are very tidy so its not easy to find these relics! Nearby there are two houses still sporting extensive pock-marking from small arms fire. One, overlooking a bridge across the Vire, has what looks like an impact from a larger weapon, possibly 37mm, along with much .50 damage, M5 Stuart or M8 Greyhound? The best houses to search for this are the old farm outbuildings made of wattle/daub (dried mud). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobal2 Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 That's not just in Normandy. Every now and then people find WW2 (or WW1, for that matter) stuff all over France, be it unexploded shells or mines, shrapmetal, bits and pieces of vehicules or equipment (shovels, helmets, boots, rifles, grenades, spare tracks etc...), even hidden ammo and weapon dumps - in working shape too. It's been said that during the shooting of "The Longest Day", the film crew dug out an english tank from one of the beaches, had been buried under the sand all that time. They put it back in shape and it was used in the film. Also, you can pretty much find German bunkers everywhere, all across France. There was one overlooking a park, in one of my ex-GFs town (a few clicks north of Paris). Mostly now they're all covered with graffitis and are used for housing by bums. As for signs of battles, many many old buildings in Paris still bear the traces of the war, riddled with bullet holes etc... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 You need to be careful stomping around old fighting positions since there could well be mines and unexploded muntions there as well. Panther Commander 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobal2 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Yep, accidents like that crop up every year too. Maybe two or three a year tops, but don't believe that "it only happens to the others" I recall a particular story of one idjit-and-a-half. The man was a peasant, and will plowing one of his fields he unearthed an unexploded mine. Instead of calling in the Gendarmerie as is advised, the genius brought it back home and tried to open it with a handsaw "to see what the inside looks like". Turns out, the paramedics didn't have to open him up to see what his insides looked like. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royal_Dragoon_Guard Posted June 4, 2004 Author Share Posted June 4, 2004 Don't worry, I ain't picking up anything dodgy, and I'm not going where nobody else has tread either (like in that dugout - its inaccessable anyway), why I've still got years of fighting to do in CMBO! With regard to concrete, yep that's everywhere, but earthworks are still quite a rarity away from the Ardennes, Hurtgen etc. My god the French are a tidy race! It kinda brings the battlefield to life though, to look at a foxhole and wonder who was the guy that dug it. Then to research and find the unit that was there, and what happened. To read about the assault crossing of a river, then go down there not expecting to see much, only to see one helluva shot up house, with bullet groupings still visible around the upstairs windows! The earthworks in Foret de Cerisy are almost certainly those dug by the recon. element of 17th SS PzGr. Regt. They were trying to close a gap between the US and British forces. A road junction in that forest leads to the coast, Bayeaux, Caumont and St Lo. Those in my local wood were probably dug by Panzer Lehr (remnants of which later moved to the US sector), as maps show it as part of their July line. Just came back from walking the dog, and clocked an "American" convoy passing by! A couple of Two and Half Tonners, Dodge weapons carriers, a tow truck, Dodge ambulance and about a dozen jeeps! Nice to see the locals waving to em too! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Determinant Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Thanks for your interesting posts RDG. You're a lucky man to live in Normandy - a charming and peaceful part of the world. It seems strange now that it was a scene of such extreme, if necessary, horror just 60 years ago. I assume that you will be attending some of the commemorations. What's your itinerary? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobal2 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Some kind of local reenactment for the 60th anniversary ? And no, we're not tidy. We'd live in pig shacks if we thought we could get away with it. You'd have to see my flat to understand . On the other hand, we're greedy. Got to get that wheat money rolling fast, y'know ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royal_Dragoon_Guard Posted June 5, 2004 Author Share Posted June 5, 2004 I've just got back from Arromanches - absolute madhouse, Gendarmes outnumbering the vets about 5-1. It was probably quieter on D-Day! Think I'll leave my next trip until all the hullaboo has died down a bit! I kinda like stalking about the quiet places best, once I'd been to all the museums/batteries etc. Intend to check out some of the battlefields beyond Gold beach in more detail next. Lingevres is good, the famous spot where you can see the gaps in the hedge caused by two knocked out Panthers, and the remains of the lamp-post one demolished! Apparently scorch marks are still visible in some of the cornfields around Caen, the result of too many cooked-up British/Canadian Shermans. Amazing. Kobal 2, you're the exception - I've never seen such immaculate villages and towns, flowers everywhere, and no litter! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runyan99 Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Let me know if you go to Lingevres. I visited there recently, and have made some comments in the CMAK forum. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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