World War II - Then & Now
Wilhelmstrasse, Berlin, Germany.
The Oskar Schindler factory at Ul. Lipowa 4, Krakow.
Operation Overland - D-Day, June 6, 1944 - Invasion of Europe.
Generaloberst Friedrich Dollmann inspects the Merville Battery for damage on May 23, 1944 after it had been bombed by the RAF.
Somua rocket half-track at Lion-sur-Mer (Sword Beach) on May 30, 1944. Part of 21. Panzer Division.
Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division in the village of St Marcouf.
Paratroopers of the 101st Airborne pass through Ste Marie-du-Mont on D+1.
Paratroopers of the 506th PIR of the 101st Airborne on Rue Holgate in Carentan.
Uncle Red Sector, Utah Beach.
US Army Rangers on Pointe du Hoc.
US troops coming ashore at Omaha Beach, Easy Red sector, E1 draw, (near St Laurent-sur-Mer). In the middle right of the picture is the German pillbox WN65. This pillbox only surrendered after naval gunfire was called in on it.
A DUKW coming ashore at Arromanches, site of one of the two Mulberry artificial ports. Captured on D+1 by the 50th Division.
US M7 Priest passing through Carentan.
The 7th Armoured Division move inland from Sword Beach.
US Sherman tanks moving through Coleville. The business on the right hand corner is still going strong.
Bristish Sherman tanks passing through Douvres-la-Delivrande on D+1. This town was the link point between the Canadians on Juno Beach and the British at Gold Beach.
German POW's marching down Juno Beach to be sent on ships to England. This part of Juno Beach is near Bernieres-sur-Mer.
Bristish Troops at Exit A on Sword Beach at Hermanville-la-Breche.
Canadian Troops guarding German POW's on Juno Beach.
Bren Gun Carriers of the 51st Highland Division crossing Pegasus Bridge, captured by British glider borne tropps on the night of the 5th/6th June 1944.
Miscillaneous photographs of D-Day places and Memorials.
On July 17, 1944. One month after D-Day. While returning to his headquaters at La Chateau Roche-Guyon, two Canadian Spitfires spotted Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's Staff car and turned back to attack. Rommel was wounded on this stretch of road and dragged into the Gatehouse on the left by his officers. His driver lost an arm to 20mm cannon fire.
Dead Man's Corner, north of Carentan. The house in the picture was used as a command post by Col. Von der Heydte of the 6th Fallschirmjager Regiment as they battled the Colonel Sink's 506th PIR of the 101st Airborne in fierce fighting. The place got it's name as there was a dead American soldier in the turret of a Stuart light tank for several days at the intersection. As a short cut for directions the US soldiers used to say things like "keep going till you get to the dead guy in the tank".
Photographs from left to right:
1. The intersection. North to Carentan and south to St Mere Eglise.
2. The museum itself. Former Fallschirmjager HQ.
3. A German 88mm Gun in the museum grounds.
4. A Bren Gun Carrier in the museum grounds.
The church at St Mere Eglise where in the early hours of 6th of June 1944 members of the 82nd Airborne landed. A building had caught on fire and the local inhabitants had formed a bucket chain to put the fire out. Austrian and German troops defended the town. Paratrooper John Steele was wounded and his chute got caught on the steeple whilst the bells continued to chime and the fighting continued below. There is now a dummy on the church steeple. The last picture is of a stained galss window inside the church depicting paratroopers.
The Azeville Battery:
Situated on the east coast of the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy, the German coastal battery - Stützpunkt 133 - had a 170 men garrison, and four blockhouses with 105 mm heavy guns. On 6 June 1944, it was unsuccessful in repulsing the Allied Forces landing on Utah Beach; indeed, the guns were at their maximal range. In the evening of 7 June, the 4th American Infantry Division was pinned down by Azeville and Crisbecq-Saint-Marcouf defences. On 8 June, the assaults of the 22nd Regimental Combat Team broke against battery of Azeville. In the meantime, at the request of his commander, Azeville battery opened fire on Crisbecq-Saint-Marcouf blockhouses, to drive back American infantry penetrations. But, Azeville was encircled and shelled, then attacked with flame thrower, the battery fell on 9 June.
The Crisbecq Battery:
The battery of Crisbecq was built to be the main strongpoint of the Cotentin east coast, but only two casemates were completed out of four on D-Day. The position was heavily bombed in the night of 5-6 June 1944, however the battery was able to oppose to the Landing. On the D-Day the solid defensive system kept in check the American parachutists. On 7 June, the 210 mm guns sank a destroyer; at the end of the day the 4th Infantry Division was always stopped in front of the blockhouses. The following day, three American battleships, together rammed the position and ended up reducing it to silence. The German Kriegsmarine garrison evacuated the battery in the night of 11-12 June. The Commander of the battery, Oberleutnant Omhsen, was distinguished for his action against the allied landing.
Photographs:
1. Blockhouse of the Azeville Battery.
2. From inside blockhouse.
3. The Crisbecq Battery with gun.
4.
5. View towards Utah Beach from Crisbecq Battery.
Brecourt Manor as seen in Band of Brothers. The first picture is the manor house itself and the second picture is the field where the German 105mm guns were located. There are no remains of te guns or their positions now.
Utah Beach
On 6 June 1944 in Normandy, the American Forces slammed ashore on Utah Beach, 2.5 kilometres southern than expected. This navigation miscalculation put the Americans out of range of the heavy coastal batteries of Saint-Marcouf and Azzeville. At 6:40 am, Brigadier-General Theodore Roosevelt Second-in-command of the 4th Infantry Division landed with the first assault wave, composed of units of the 8th Infantry Regiment and tanks of the 70th Tank Battalion. One hour later, the engineers had cleared off the beach, and the German defenses were neutralized, as the strongpoint WN 5 at La Madeleine. The Americans moved inland. At the end of the morning, the junction occured with the parachutists of the 101st Airborne Division. Around 7 pm, General Collins who commands the VIIth Army Corps had set up his headquarter in Audouville-la-Hubert.
Photographs:
1. The Utah Beach museum.
2. 88mm Flak gun with Sherman tank in background.
3. Liberty Way marker - 00km.
4. Beach obstacles.
5. The beach itself.
Omaha Beach
On 6 June 1944, the American troops landed in Normandy on Omaha Beach. The Vth Corps under General Gerow was assigned the task to clean off the beaches, and to build up exit corridors. But nothing occured as expected : near all the amphibious tanks sank, the bombers had been missing their targets, a strong tidal current veered of course the landing ships, and the engineers troops who had to open breaches in the defenses lost much equipment. At 6:30 am the first wave of the 1st Infantry Division was slaughtered, the second wave at 7 am suffered heavy losses. Around 9 am, the Rangers and the 116th Infantry Regiment opened the first exit. Around 10 am, two gates were finally cracked open at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, with the support of tanks, and two destroyers shelling the casemates of Les Moulins. Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer was liberated at the end of the afternoon of D-Day, Colleville-sur-Mer was seized the next day.
Longues-sur-Mer Battery
Situated west of Arromanches-les-Bains in Normandy, Longues-sur-Mer overlooked the ocean from the top of a 65 meters height cliff, a perfect position where the Germans had installed a four 150 mm guns battery. On 6 June 1944, at 5:30 am several allied battle ships opened fire on the battery. When the Allied Armada was on sight, the German heavy guns striked back. The HMS Ajax concentrated his fire on the German battery at one kilometre range. The battery stopped bombing a short time, but fire started again and the position shelled the Landing ships until 5 pm.The battery surrendered to the British troops the next day with the 184 men garrison.
Colleville/Saint-sur-Mer US Cemetery.
The cemetery of Colleville/Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer was inaugurated in 1956 after four years work. The cemetery overlooks the beaches of Omaha. Emotion overwhelms the visitor facing the large central viewpoint, the Memorial decorated with a huge Battle map, the «Garden of the missing» where are carved the names of 1 557 missing soldiers, and the ten squares of steles, perfectly line up where are buried 9 386 American soldiers and 4 women. At the entrance a capsule dedicated to General Eisenhower contains the report of the D-Day fighting and had been sealed on 6 June 1969.
La Cambe German War Cemetery.
La Cambe cemetery is the largest German military cemetery in Normandy. 21 400 German soldiers are buried there. In the middle, a six height meters hill, surmounted by a granite cross, is the common grave of 296 combatants. There are a lot of unkown German Soldiers buried here as evidenced by the second last photo. The last photo is the grave of tank ace Michael Wittmann, killed in Normandy.
Pointe du Hoc
La Pointe du Hoc on the Norman coast was a strategic objective in the sector of Omaha Beach. The Germans had built there a major coastal battery that could threaten the Landing beaches. On 6 June 1944 at 5:45 a. m., Colonel Rudder’s 2nd Rangers Battalion transfered in the landing ships, three assault crafts out of twelve transporting the men sank before reaching the coast. With fitted ladders and grabs the Rangers climbed the cliff under German machine-guns fire. At the top they discovered a lunar landscape and they noted the absence of the guns in their hollows. The next day the Rangers found the guns in a path beyond the coast road and attempted to destroy them. In the evening of 7 June, after a mercyless fighting 90 men out of 225 Colonel Rudder’s battalion were still able to fight. On 8 June the 29th Infantry Division arrived from the east and relieved the Rangers after two days beleaguering.
As can be seen in the photographs the extensive shell craters from the arial and naval gunfire still exist. The middle photograph is of the Ranger Memorial.
