Guest Silesian-jaeger Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 Ok guys, lets pretend that I can afford to go to Europe next year. Give me the best WWII locations in England, France and Germany to visit. These can be museums, battlefields, tours, or other historic or informative locations. Thanks in advance. ------------------ "In one (German) town, Private Honey stood next to an elderly German man and a ten-year-old boy. As the Shermans and brand-new Pershings rumbled by the boy said,'Deutsches Panzer lind besser.' Honey looked down at him and asked,'If German tanks are better, why aren't they here?' " quote from Stephen E. Ambrose, "Citizen Soldiers" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Warphead- Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 Take a look at http://www.nahverteidigungswaffe.de for the places I have been to (yet) There are also some links to museums and memorials... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McAuliffe Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 Hi Warphead, That looked indeed like a well prepared trip. I lived for the past seven years in the area, but you took some nice pictures of places and toys that I never saw (the Panther G in Grandmesnil), Hope you can show us some more pictures of your trip. ------------------ http://users.pandora.be/aneric/index8.htm#Projects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kipanderson Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 Hi, it depends on the time of year you plan to visit. If you plan to visit in the winter months then the Ardennes has to be the place. I have been there for two private battlefield tours at Christmass time. The atmospher is great, in the half light of winter you can almost hear the panzers rolling over the hills and through the undergrowth. If you are coming to the UK then The Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset is a must. There may be just one or two other tank museums in the world that are as good but probably not. Duxford, 50 miles north of London, is also top quality. Ever seen a Joseph Stalin 2 tank for real? Duxford is the place to go. All the best, Kip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Warphead- Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 I hope to get the last pictures of the Ardennes online in the next two days. I am planning a trip to the Red Army Museum in Kublinka/Russia for next month. With loads of photos of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Devils Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 Bovington Tank museum, London Imperial War museum, France is suposed to have a very good tank museum. I don't remember where but it was posted on this site once before. I have also heard that there is a good museum in or near Munchen. There is always Dachau as well if in Munchen. Cheers. Just read Warpheads post. He has all the good stuff I was thinking of! ------------------ I'm sorry, we haven't the facilities to take all of you prisoner. Was there anything else? [This message has been edited by Red Devils (edited 10-21-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schugger Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 Hi Silesian Jaeger If you plan to visit germany as well and you like museums visit the tank museum in Munster ( not Münster with the u-Umlaut) near Wolfsburg. I hope they still have the KT. Another one is the "Museum for wehrtechnische Studien" in Koblenz which has a lot WW2 stuff in top notch condition ( including a Panther G). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 Very nice photos, Warphead. Looked like an awesome trip. ------------------ Land Soft--Kill Quiet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ckoharik Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Silesian-jaeger: Ok guys, lets pretend that I can afford to go to Europe next year. Give me the best WWII locations in England, France and Germany to visit. These can be museums, battlefields, tours, or other historic or informative locations. Thanks in advance. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> If I could recommend only one WWII location to visit in Europe then it would most definitely have to be the D-Day memorial cemetery in Normandy (the one they show in Saving Private Ryan). Of all the places I have gone that has been the most emotional and moving experience by far. Then, if you had more time, touring the Normandy area is great because you get to see such a variety of places. Point-du-Hoc, Aramanche(?), bunkers galore, etc. Edit: Oh, and of course, take the ferry across to go see the Bovington Tank Museum. Went there twice in one trip! [This message has been edited by ckoharik (edited 10-21-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest machineman Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 The big French tank museum is at Saumur http://musee-des-blindes.asso.fr I went to Bovington a couple years ago and found it excellent. Koblenz was alright, but AFAIK the big German one is at Munster, way up in the north. As was mentioned, don't go to the much bigger city of Munster about half way up (like I did), only to find it wasn't there. It's link is http://panzermuseum.com/about.htm If you do go up north in Germany and are interested in the Naval part of the war there is a bunch of that type of stuff up in that area. Oh, the Deutch Technich? museum in Munich has some interesting things as well, including a U-boat, if I remember right. Oh, hell it's all over. I went on a weekend holiday to the beach in Holland and found I had ended up on Walchern island, which had a nice little museum explaining the very bloody battles to clear the Schelt estaury and free up the approach to Antwerp. Of special meaning to me as a Canadian, stories about that campaign sure read a lot different now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMilli Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 As alredy mentioned above, I heared that Panzermuseeum at Munster really is worth it´s money. [url=http://www.panzermuseum.com ------------------ "I am no fool!" Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schugger Posted October 21, 2000 Share Posted October 21, 2000 Thanks for posting the link to the Panzermuseum, machineman. It seems like the KT is still there. Unfortunatly their forum does not work for me, so I couldnt ask some questions but I saw some posts made by DesertFox. Small world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted October 22, 2000 Share Posted October 22, 2000 If you plan to come in Summer, drop a message in the Saumur museum mailbox. They run a live show every year with tanks in motion. I saw their Panther this year (along with a Luchs, a B1 bis, and many more) and they should run their King Tiger next year. The museum alone is worth the trip, have a look at their site for a list of their tanks. Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Devils Posted October 22, 2000 Share Posted October 22, 2000 I had a question for anyone else who reads the post. While there are some great museums listed above, no one has listed any battlefields, except Normandy. Are there any must see battlefields that anyone has been to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McAuliffe Posted October 22, 2000 Share Posted October 22, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Red Devils: I had a question for anyone else who reads the post. While there are some great museums listed above, no one has listed any battlefields, except Normandy. Are there any must see battlefields that anyone has been to?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Guess you haven't read the thread thoroughly. Warphead refers to his report and pictures of his trip to the Ardennes, Machineman mentioned the Walcheren Island in the Scheldt estuary. Of course you can visit the Arnhem area, the Vosges, Hürtgenwald, or why not, visit remnants of the Maginot-line in Lorraine (France). If you like WWI battlesites, you can still visit Ypres, Verdun or the plains of the Somme-river Also, for those who are interested, Waterloo isn't far away. All a.m. sites have local museums related to the battles that have taken place. I am sure Italian members can give you some good links to interesting areas in their country. ------------------ http://users.pandora.be/aneric/index8.htm#Projects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schugger Posted October 22, 2000 Share Posted October 22, 2000 As McAuliffe's post shows Red Devils, you find that the different locations are all very close together, so you have not much to drive to get from one location to the next. I just want to add the Remagen bridge and the museum as a site which is definetly worth to be visited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest machineman Posted October 22, 2000 Share Posted October 22, 2000 You also may find it interesting if in a biggish German city to look for postcards or pictures of what it looked like right after the war. I lived in Koln for a winter, it seems a modern, nice, bustling place, with life seemingly based around festivals, forest, and funny little glasses of beer, yet a postcard you can get shows just what it looked like after all the bombing was done, the cathedral standing but otherwise pretty much completely blasted and flattened, like a moonscape. Another kind of battlefield.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Devils Posted October 22, 2000 Share Posted October 22, 2000 Yes McAuliffe, I read Kipandersons answer and Machineman. I was looking for more specific answers than just " the Ardennes". From my understanding the Ardennes is a fairly large area. I can picture myself asking a cabby " take me to the Ardennes" and being dropped off in a forrest having no idea where I am or where any battlefields are from there. I was kinda hoping that someone might offer up a specific village where a monument is erected or where tanks or other material have been displayed on an actual battlefield. [This message has been edited by Red Devils (edited 10-22-2000).] [This message has been edited by Red Devils (edited 10-22-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Warphead- Posted October 22, 2000 Share Posted October 22, 2000 There is no battlefield with vehicles at display. At least none I know of. But the museums in Bastogne (plus memorial), La Gleize or La Roche for example are in the villages where the actual fighting took place. There are loads of smaller memorials all over the Ardennes but nothing like a whole "preserved" battlefield. Would be interesting though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schugger Posted October 22, 2000 Share Posted October 22, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by machineman: You also may find it interesting if in a biggish German city to look for postcards or pictures of what it looked like right after the war. I lived in Koln for a winter, it seems a modern, nice, bustling place, with life seemingly based around festivals, forest, and funny little glasses of beer, yet a postcard you can get shows just what it looked like after all the bombing was done, the cathedral standing but otherwise pretty much completely blasted and flattened, like a moonscape. Another kind of battlefield.... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> On postcards? I never checked this or saw any which show that. I saw some pictures showing the destruction of the town in city museums, but actually you can still see some ruins if you wander through the town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McAuliffe Posted October 23, 2000 Share Posted October 23, 2000 hi Red Devils Here are some interesting links regarding monuments, commemoration plaques, museums (watch the opening hours !) in the Ardennes http://users.skynet.be/bulgecriba/monuments.html http://users.skynet.be/bulgecriba/museums.html http://www.trabel.com/bastogne/bastogne-monuments.htm And of course, take a look at the scenarios and the maps I made regarding the "bulge" see link below, including some links to historical information ------------------ http://users.pandora.be/aneric/index8.htm#Projects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Silesian-jaeger Posted October 23, 2000 Share Posted October 23, 2000 Can't thank you guys enough for the great posts. Warphead, your site was great and helped me w/ my choices. BTW, for anyone else interested, I found this site yesterday; gofrance.about.com they have some good info on D-day incl. 1 on 1 guided tours at about 250 pounds a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GriffinCheng+ Posted October 23, 2000 Share Posted October 23, 2000 Hello, Thanks for the pointers. I am hoping to get more detailed directions and resources on how to plan for such a trip. I know no European languages other than English. This is becuase I have a similar plan. I wish to viist Netherland, France (Ardennes in particular) and England for museums and battlefield tours. I am going to Big Bear Meet IV next year (hopefull) where fellow Flanker flyers come together and fly together. The event takes place in Apeldoorn -- a small town just to the north of Anhrem. After the meet, I am thinking to spend a week touring around for WW2 interests. BTW, BBM-III is holding this week and I am going to miss all the good stuffs. I was there last year. Formation flying and food were excellent! Griffin. ------------------ "+" is just the beginning. Expect to see "GriffinCheng76", "GriffinCheng(105)" or "GriffinChengA3E8" more should Forum problems occur again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest machineman Posted October 23, 2000 Share Posted October 23, 2000 While we're on the tourist subject, did you all see the link to Ukraine military vacations a while back? It's at: http://www.alaris.com.ua All modern stuff, mind you. But for anyone who really wants to drive and fire a tank etc, and has the money it would be quite the holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wwb_99 Posted October 23, 2000 Share Posted October 23, 2000 If your are in NW europe, I suggest stopping by Brussels and going to the Musee de l'Armee. They have a full variety of stuff (medieval to modern) including tanks and planes. It is free (unlike most museums in europe) and the colonial african collection is pretty cool (it is a kind of museum of a museum). Also, if you get far enough east, the military museum in Budapest has a very impressive collection of small arms. WWB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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