The Travels of Tel's Tin Tent.

good stuff Dogsbody, it feels like i was really there !

Awesome photos Terry thanks!
Like Vic, I never realised so many original items had been found (and preserved).

Thanks chaps, glad you're all enjoying this description of a fantastic tour.

My main aim when planning this tour, quite a few months ago, was to try to illustrate and describe the landings, and subsequent battles that are not particularly well known to the average person. In general, most people (particularly Americans, with respect), think of D-Day as "Bloody Omaha" and American paras at St.Mere Eglise, no doubt influenced over the years by such movies as "The Longest Day" and "Saving Private Ryan", and are, to a degree, innocently unaware of the countless battles elsewhere, on D-Day itself, and later in the first week or so the invasion.
Therefore, it was (and is) my intention to provide at least a little insight into the actions elsewhere, and their absolute strategic importance for the overall success of "Overlord", particularly those actions to secure the left (eastern) flank of the beach head.
Later in this "tour" I will attempt to describe, and illustrate, some of the areas, battles, obstacles and differing terrain that British and Canadian forces had to cope with, along with the German units they very soon encountered, including Panzer Divisions - which were not present in any appreciable numbers, in the American sector, in the first week or so of the landings, despite what's shown in "Saving Private Ryan".

Back soon ...............

Being I am 17 years late to this topic, I still will jump in.

My parents started selling travel trailers back in the mid-1960s. Their main brand was a high quality trailer made in Michigan called Century. Many of their customers became their best friends and mine too. Their customers formed a brand exclusive trailer club called Wheels of the Century. Even though by that time I was in the USAF, I was able to plan leaves to join my parents on 4 of these caravans. It was great fun.

Fast forward to me being stationed in West Germany in the early 1980s in a movable radar squadron. One day sitting in the mess tent (a rare thing when we went to the field) I was sitting near my Commander. I will admit I wasn't too thrilled about this tent camping thing. My CO asked me what is wrong, you want a travel trailer or something. I replied, Sir yes sir. Why wouldn't I sir? My parents have sold them for years. My CO said nothing. He just all but inhaled his meal and quickly left the mess tent!

Nice one. Deep down, he would probably have loved to have the use of a trailer !

Continuing with a few more of the many exhibits inside the museum. Apologies for the "flare" and reflections in some of the photos; whilst, in general, the lighting in the Museum was excellent, it was virtually impossible to avoid reflections from lamps on glass at some angles.

Pic 1. British Para with "X-Type" parachute harness and Bren gun valise. This would be lowered on a 12 feet long rope, once the parachute canopy was fully deployed and the parachutist stable and clear of other parachutes.
Pic 2. The bagpipes and Commando beret of piper Bill Millin. Contrary to the popular notion that Millin played the pipes as Lovat's Commandos crossed the canal bridge, this did not happen. At that time, the bridge was under constant, and accurate, sniper fire, which caused numerous casualties, so Lovat's men, including Bill Millin, ran across the bridge. He did, however, play the pipes as the men crossed the Orne river bridge, further down the road.
Pic 3. Battledress blouse and berets of Lt.Col. Geoffrey Pine-Coffin, DSO and bar, MC. (yes, that really was his name!), the C.O. of 7th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, who reinforced the bridges and Benouville-Le Port at around 01.40 hrs on June 6th, having dropped at 00.50 hrs.
With typical British Army humour, he was referred to as "Wooden Box" - obviously !
Pic 4. Display of relics and parts from one of the Horsa gliders.
Pic 5. British infantry weapons - PIAT bottom right.
Pic 6. Bren carrier.
Pic 7. Airborne Jeep, modified for glider loading. Vickers and Bren mgs (in SF role) in background.
Pic 8. A display of pieces taken from the gliders at the canal, including a fuselage roundel, and the tip of a Horsa fin, with tow ropes above.
Pic 9. Large photo display of some of the gliders at the bridge, showing the glider broken on landing and in the edge of the pond.

The final set of Museum photos will be next, before moving on to the coverage of the battles during the counter attack by 21st Panzer in Benouville and Le Port.
Back soon ..................

More from the Museum.

Pics 1 to 4. A collection of some of Major John Howard's items used on D-Day, with his Red Beret displaying the Light Infantry cap badge, also shown are his "Ox and Bucks" shoulder flash and Pegasus Airborne patch, medals and map.
His Para helmet is the earlier type, with leather straps and fibre rim, and clearly visible are the entry and exit holes of a German sniper's bullet. The round penetrated the thickly padded steel helmet, grazed the top of Howard's head, and exited out the rear, when Howard was still involved in the battles around the bridge in Benouville a day or two after D-Day.
Apart from the graze, and a headache, he didn't suffer any other injury at this time, and continued service until late in the war, when a vehicle injury caused him to undertake less hazardous duties.
Worthy of note is that Howard was a very experienced and capable soldier, having "come up through the ranks", and really understood how to get the best from his men. Pre-war, he had been a regular soldier, and then a Police officer. On the outbreak of war he was recalled, and quickly rose from Private, to Sergeant, then Sergeant Major to Regimental Sergeant Major, the highest non-commissioned rank in the British Army. Soon after, he was commissioned, and quickly rose again to Major, when he was given command of D Company, 2nd Ox and Bucks.
In later life he visited Normandy and Pegasus bridge annually. Major John Howard, DSO, Croix de Guerre avec Palme, passed away in May 1999, at the age of 86.
Pic 5. Representation of a Glider Pilot of the Army Air Corps Glider Pilot Regiment.
Pic 6. Browning GP35 9mm pistol with wooden shoulder stock/holster. (probably still my favourite pistol).
Pic 7. British comms equipment - including carrier pigeon !
Pics 8 to 11. Some examples of the often overlooked part of warfare. Apart from planning for the battles, detailed planning was needed for re-supply and, not only what was needed, but how to pack, get it where it was needed, how to get it there, and how to identify the various items once they arrived. A huge amount of thought and effort went into the design and manufacture of various styles of containers capable of carrying various supplies, from ammunition and weapons, to fuel, rations and water, medical supplies and even cooking equipment, that could be transported in gliders, or dropped by parachute. Various colours of parachute canopies denoted the type of stores, and even folding trollies were manufactured, to transport supplies from the DZ.
This, along with the Mullberry harbours (to be shown later), made a massive contribution to the success of D-Day and the continuation of the fight against tyranny.

Still some more to come from the Museum, then I'll start on the other battle sites.

Fascinating accounts Terry, delivered with integrity and enthusiasm. Thank-you.

Awesome Terry... fantastic account and photos.

Thanks very much chaps !
Working on the next instalment, coming soon ..........

......to a theatre near you.

Airframes said:

More from the grounds of the Pegasus Memorial Museum.

It was during the "ride" around the neat, smooth paths, that my mobility scooter had a hissy fit, and declared that it didn't want to play anymore.
I gave it a stiff talking to, but to no avail, and had to 'phone International Rescue, aka Karl, who was elsewhere in the grounds (with the the odd helping push, it managed to just about hold out until being able to get it re-charged).
Consequently, I didn't get all the photos I'd hoped to get and, with the Horsa in particular, missed some opportunities for detail shots, and relied on Karl for the internal photo (looking aft from the front entrance door).

The photos below show the statue of Brigadier James Hill, DSO and 2 bars, MC, the Commander of 3rd Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Divn, the full-size Horsa replica and, in the glass-fronted building, the remains of an original Horsa.
The 40mm Bofors AA gun is shown in front of the impressive museum building, and from the opposite side, with the original bridge in the background.
The other pics show the White half-track, and a quad .50 cal AA mount.

The Horsa replica was specially commissioned for the Museum, and was built using the original plans, but is not cleared for flight !

Back soon with some of the Museum internal exhibits, artefacts and relics.

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Great history thank you Terry and my commiserations on running out of fuel on your coal powered vehicle.

Airframes said:

Continuing with a few more of the many exhibits inside the museum. Apologies for the "flare" and reflections in some of the photos; whilst, in general, the lighting in the Museum was excellent, it was virtually impossible to avoid reflections from lamps on glass at some angles.

Pic 1. British Para with "X-Type" parachute harness and Bren gun valise. This would be lowered on a 12 feet long rope, once the parachute canopy was fully deployed and the parachutist stable and clear of other parachutes.
Pic 2. The bagpipes and Commando beret of piper Bill Millin. Contrary to the popular notion that Millin played the pipes as Lovat's Commandos crossed the canal bridge, this did not happen. At that time, the bridge was under constant, and accurate, sniper fire, which caused numerous casualties, so Lovat's men, including Bill Millin, ran across the bridge. He did, however, play the pipes as the men crossed the Orne river bridge, further down the road.
Pic 3. Battledress blouse and berets of Lt.Col. Geoffrey Pine-Coffin, DSO and bar, MC. (yes, that really was his name!), the C.O. of 7th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, who reinforced the bridges and Benouville-Le Port at around 01.40 hrs on June 6th, having dropped at 00.50 hrs.
With typical British Army humour, he was referred to as "Wooden Box" - obviously !
Pic 4. Display of relics and parts from one of the Horsa gliders.
Pic 5. British infantry weapons - PIAT bottom right.
Pic 6. Bren carrier.
Pic 7. Airborne Jeep, modified for glider loading. Vickers and Bren mgs (in SF role) in background.
Pic 8. A display of pieces taken from the gliders at the canal, including a fuselage roundel, and the tip of a Horsa fin, with tow ropes above.
Pic 9. Large photo display of some of the gliders at the bridge, showing the glider broken on landing and in the edge of the pond.

The final set of Museum photos will be next, before moving on to the coverage of the battles during the counter attack by 21st Panzer in Benouville and Le Port.
Back soon ..................


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I love the spare on the front of the Jeep but who was it for - the driver or a passenger?

The parachute was the airbag

Ah, the folding Airborne Bicycle (worth a small fortune now, if one can be found!), for use by whoever was lucky enough to grab it first I think !
Or maybe it was a way for a British team to have an edge in the first post-war Tour de France ?

As for my scooter, it soon became obvious that all the electrickery was continuously leaking out without being seen, unless some passing French person stole it during the night !
I'd accidentally left the battery pack un-charged since leaving the Tin Tent last year, until returning this year, a period of around nine months !
This is a "spare" scooter I leave at the Tin Tent, but bring the battery pack home with me, to keep re-charging. New batteries were fitted late last year and, when eventually re-charged at the end of June this year, showed full charge on the "fuel tank" meter, and the scooter ran fine, so I thought it was OK.
But of course that was only very short runs around the camping park. Due to degradation, the batteries would not be holding charge at the original capacity, so when it had to handle longer runs, often over demanding or loose and uneven surfaces when in France, it came under heavier load and discharged within a short time.
Ah well, at least I'm having new batteries fitted before returning to the Tin Tent to close-up for the end of season next week.

And now, a short digression whilst I collate and edit the next series of pics.
One evening early in our tour, after being out all day, and having had lunch at a very good cafe, we decided to give the hotel restaurant a miss for one night, and just grab some pizzas and beers. We'd noticed a group of British guests with pizzas earlier in the week, and knew they must have got them fairly locally, as we saw their car depart and return within a short space of time.
A quick search on "tinternet" and a 24 hour pizza shop was located, just "down the road", so we all piled into "Hal" and hummed along under electric power. and found this !



It turned out to be a sort of" Pizza ATM" !
Insert your debit card, key in your desired selection(s) on the large screen, press "Go", and four minutes later hot pizzas, ready boxed, slide out of the dispensing slot !
Brilliant idea, and the pizzas were pretty darned good, too !!

Here's the final selection off photos from the Pegasus Memorial Museum (there are quite few more, but I'd be here until next week, just sorting and posting them !).

Pic 1. A selection of items from Sgt. Runacres of 13 Para.
Pic 2. The "colours" of 12 (Yorkshire) Btn, The Parachute Regiment.
In the late 1960s, 13th (Lancashire) Btn merged with 12th (Yorkshire) Btn and 17th (Durham) Btn, to form 4 Para (4th [volunteer] Btn, The Parachute Regiment), a reserve Battalion that still exists today, and is regularly deployed alongside regular Army units. Both Karl and I served in this Btn at one time, although in different Companies, at different times. Brian Johnson, of AC/DC fame, also served in 4 Para for a short time, in the same Company as myself, although a couple of years earlier. (he lived in the same street as I did, and I knew him, and his younger brothers, back in the late 1950s to late 1960s).
Pics 3 to 9. A very impressive large-scale diorama of the assault on Pegasus bridge. (it's either 1/32nd or 1/35th scale).
Pic 10. The original, large engineering model of the Ranville swing-bridge (Horsa bridge).

For the next series of posts, I will try to maintain at least some form of chronological order in the period covering the assault on Merville battery, around the same time as Pegasus bridge was seized, and the subsequent battles with 21st Panzer, and other units, around the bridges, Benouville, Le Port, and the Ranville areas.
This may take some time to sort out, but I hope to have something to show at least by the weekend.
In the meantime, thank you for your kind comments and "likes" etc, and I'll be back as soon as possible.

The diorama allows one to appreciate the feats made to take this bridge.

Brilliant stuff.