The Travels of Tel's Tin Tent. (1 Viewer)

[Wurger]

 

[rochie]

So, to conclude the section on the Merville battery, here's the final two images, showing Karl and me outside the gates, and the 9 Para Memorial at the crossroads RV, where Col. Ottway gathered his small assault force.
When we were being photographed by Mick, a small group of French visitors were giving us respectful looks - or maybe they just thought we were sad, knackered weirdos !

As with Pegasus Bridge, there are a few videos on-line describing the battle for the battery, including one in the Al Murray/James Holland "Walking the Ground" series.
The book shown below provides very good overall coverage of the planning, the drops and the assault and aftermath, with detailed info on the various actions, maps, diagrams and photos, and is another in the "Battleground, Normandy" series which includes battlefield tour directions and information.
Details :- "Merville Battery & The Dives Bridges", by Carl Shilleto, Pen & Sword, (updated 2024 edition), ISBN 978 1 84884 519 0, price around £16 (Euro 18, $21US).

The final section of the British 6th Airborne actions will be next, with a brief coverage of Ranville.


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The weirdos i reckon !

 

[Crimea_River]

Wonderful stuff guys.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks again Andy.

Ranville.

The (then) village of Ranville is located east of the Orne river and Caen canal, approximately 1.5 miles (2.3 kilometres) from Benouville and Pegasus bridge, and was a strategically important crossroads, leading to the the high ground around Amfreville, Breville, and the Bois de Bavent, with the bridge objectives over the rivers Dives and Divette, and the town of Troan just a few miles to the east.
A few hundred yards north of the village lay the open ground used as DZ/LZ - N, and Brigadier General Gale, commanding 6th Airborne Divn, set up his HQ in a nearby chateau, once his forces were established on the ground.
Fierce fighting took place around this entire area, and many casualties were sustained, by British and Canadian troops, a well as some Belgian and Polish soldiers.
The impressive, large church in Ranville is rather unusual, in that its tall bell tower is separate from the church itself, making it an easily recognisable landmark.
There are 47 British and Commonwealth graves in the churchyard itself, including that of Lt. Den Brotheridge, the first Allied soldier killed by enemy action on D-Day, along with the grave of a German soldier. One of the Commonwealth graves is for an unknown soldier.

Adjacent to the churchyard is Ranville Commonwealth War Cemetery, with the graves of 2,236 Commonwealth soldiers killed in action in the general area (90 of them unknown), and the graves of 323 German soldiers.

Our first sight of Ranville church was when we passed through the now much larger village, on our way to our hotel on our first day in France, on a beautifully sunny Sunday evening. We'd accidentally taken a wrong turn on the very narrow roads (soon corrected !), which happened to give us a good view of the church from a relatively uncommon angle.
When we visited the church and cemetery a couple of days later, it started to hammer down with rain, and it was like being in a car wash !
Fortunately, it was a fairly short downpour, and Karl managed to dash out and grab some photos, shown below, and in the next post.

Pic1. Map showing the location of Ranville.
Pic 2. Ranville church in the early evening sun, taken from the car.
Pic 3. Sgt. Herb Fussell and a mate, of 22nd Independent Parachute Company, "Pathfinders" who had marked the DZ, reached the church and stopped at the front door. Fussell's mate urgently needed to "do his business", and disappeared around the side of the church. Meanwhile, just as the Sergeant lit up a cigarette, a young German soldier appeared in the church gateway. Seeing the Para, the German let rip a nervous, uncontrolled burst from his MP40.
The bullets missed, and splattered in a rising line up the side of the church.
Sgt. Fussell dropped the German with a short burst from his Sten, and carried on with his cigarette. The spot where the Sergeant stood is shown by the arrow in the photo.
Pic 4. The bullet marks are still to be seen today.
Pic 5. More battle scars can be clearly seen on the side walls of the church.
Pics 6. and 7. Ranville churchyard.
Pic 8. The grave of Lt. Den Brotheridge, 2 Ox and Bucks.

Ranville Commonwealth War cemetery coming next ...........

 

[Airframes]

Ranville War Graves Cemetery.

Some general views of the War Graves Cemetery, adjacent to Ranville church, all photos courtesy of Karl (thanks again mate for getting wet !).

This concludes the coverage of the "Operation Tonga" part of our tour. The next section will deal with the first of the coastal objectives and the landings on the beaches, starting with the eastern (left) flank, at Ouistreham and Sword Beach.
I'll be back at the Tin Tent over the weekend (back on Monday), closing-up for the end of season, but if I have time tomorrow, I'll try to post the first instalment.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

All very humbling.

 

[Airframes]

Ouistreham and Sword Beach.


Now for a look at the coastal areas, starting at the eastern end of Sword Beach, at the town, and port, of Ouistreham, which is on the west bank of the Orne river.
It was only a few minutes drive from our base in Benouville - Le Port, and we set off in light rain, which soon cleared later in the day, giving way to mainly sunny conditions. We were rather amused by the female voice on the satnav, obviously AI generated, and the same voice as in the UK, as the pronunciations of French place names were, at times, both funny and confusing (had we not known where we were going !).
For example, the voice pronounced Ouistreham as "Ooeestreeam" !!
Anyway, on with the tour, and first stop was Le Grand Bunker.

This huge structure was originally the Command and Fire Control centre for the local batteries and shore defences, with an uninterrupted view along the coast from west to east and as far away as the Seine. After the war, it was taken over and used by the French Navy, until recent years, when it was restored to its former internal arrangements, and turned into a museum, with the addition of the entrance and shop on the rear (landward) side.
The massive reinforced concrete blockhouse is 55 feet tall (17 metres) and has five levels, with an observation gallery on the top.
Originally on open ground, with very few buildings in the vicinity, the bunker is now surrounded by housing, and looks slightly odd, if still menacing, when it suddenly comes into view.

The pics below show a map and satellite view of Ouistreham and the bunker location, a wartime photo of the bunker, and some of the exhibits on display in the courtyard.
I'll post further photos, and little more on the battles in this area, in following posts as soon as I get the chance.

Pic.1 Map of Ouistreham and Sword Beach area.
Pic 2. Satellite view, with bunker location.
Pic 3. Wartime view of the bunker from the seaward side.
Pic 4. Road into Ouistreham with typical Norman buildings
Pics 5 and 6. The Grand Bunker, entrance/shop and British 25 pdr field gun.
Pics 7 to 9. Higgins boat, used in the movie "Saving Private Ryan".
Pic 10. 88mm FLAK outside the entrance building.

.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

More of the exhibits outside, with that 25 pdr field gun again, a weapon so reliable, effective and accurate, that it was still in service with the British Army into the 1970s, and is still used today by some other armies.
Also shown are a Priest, recovered off the beach, Stuart light tank, and a M1 half track (I'd love one as a camper van !)
The final two pics show the blast protected steps and path to one of the original entrance doors, on the front (seaward) side of the bunker (the colour and original texture of the concrete can also be seen in some pics), and part of the large murals along the side walls of the compound. These show the start/finish points of the individual beaches, along with badges/emblems of the units which landed there on D-Day.

I'm preparing for my trip to the "Tin Tent", to close up for end of season, so I won't be able to post any more until I get back, after the weekend, when I'll continue with the Grand Bunker and Sword beach.

To be Continued..................... popcorn, ice cream, snacks and soft drinks are available in the foyer ... er ... your kitchen.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Excellent shots Terry!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Thanks Terry. Hope all goes well with the end of season close up.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks chaps.
Back with more either Monday evening, or sometime on Tuesday.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

It's in my calendar.

 

[Wayne Little]

Wow, this is fantastic, great Pics and commentary Terry and Karl.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks, Vic and Wayne.

Got back from closing-up the "Tin Tent" earlier this evening, so I'll start preparing the next instalment, and should have something posted during the course of tomorrow (Tuesday) and, of course, continuing for the next week or two, maybe longer.

 

[Crimea_River]

Looking forward to it...

 

[MaxCamps]

Thanks Andy and yes, Longues sur Mer was a "must see", and will be covered later in this thread.
I'm attempting to cover our tour in a rough chronological order of events (and geography) on D-Day and beyond, hence starting with the Airborne element first. The beaches and immediate inland areas will be covered later, running from Ouistreham in the east, to Port en Bessin in the west, and also looking at some of the areas further inland, particularly those involving Canadian forces.
We only had a very brief look at the American sector, at Omaha, due to various factors, but I'll post a little of this much later in the "tour".


Some detail shots of the beautifully restored C-47, showing the "para pack" racks and fairings, and the antenna for the radio altimeter, beneath the rear fuselage.
The racks operated in a similar fashion to bomb racks, and the "steady" arms can clearly be seen. Heavy stores were packed Into specially-designed packs or metal containers, which had a parachute attached to the top end, with a static line anchored inside the rack fairings. The stores packs were normally dropped in "mid stick", that is, when around half the paras had jumped, the containers would be released, so that they (hopefully) landed in the middle of the line of landing parachutists.
Various colours of parachute canopy were used to indicate the type of stores in the containers.
Containers, parachutes and loaded racks will be shown later.

The final two shots show the restored interior, authentic and accurate in every detail, and these were taken on my behalf by Karl.
Note the dished, metal para seats, with lever-latch lap straps. The seats can be folded back, vertically, against the fuselage sides when not in use and for cargo carrying.
The static line cable can be seen running the length of the fuselage, under the ceiling on the port (left) side, to the left of the overhead lighting trunking. The red and green jump lights are visible, just to the right (forward) of the door.
On C-47s (Dakotas) operated by the RAF, the static line cable ran down the length of the cabin on the starboard (right) side, and was mounted just a couple of inches above the level of the seats, close to the fuselage wall.
British and US parachutes used different "hook up " styles, with the US type having the clip-fastener on the static line of the parachute, attaching directly to the cable, whereas the British "X" Type parachute used a "D" ring on the parachute static line, which "hooked up" to a double-lock hook clip, attached to a strop which was permanently attached to the cable by another "D" ring.

Parachutes were also different in the way they deployed. The American parachutes deployed canopy first which, although this provided a (slightly) faster full deployment, resulted in a much greater opening shock, and higher risk of entanglement or twists in the rigging lines. British parachutes deployed rigging lines first, followed by the canopy being smoothly pulled from the deployment bag, which remained attached to the static line and the aircraft.
The British "X" type harness also had the great advantage of a quick-release system, with a box on the front of the harness, fitted with a twist disk on its front face. Lugs on four harness straps locked into the box, and to release the harness, the disc was rotated half a turn clockwise and then thumped, releasing the lugs, and the harness fell away - simple, and quick.
American harnesses used two leg straps with a spring hook and ring fastening, and chest strap with similar fastening. Later in 1944, the British harness system began to be adopted in US service, possibly as a result of losses sustained by drowning, when men couldn't release their harnesses quickly enough.

Much more to come from the Merville battery, with exhibits in the hangar, and interior scenes of the casemates, the latter courtesy of Karl.


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What a superb restoration Terry!

 

[Airframes]

It certainly is Max, they did a fantastic job.

Just a "filler" whilst I assemble the next instalment covering the Grand Bunker.

The beginning of a really nice sunset, on top of the Pennines during a brief rest stop about 25 miles from home, on my return from the "Tin Tent".
Obviously taken from "Hal", through the windscreen, and not very good quality, as it downloaded from my 'phone in a fairly small format.

Back later this evening with more from Normandy and the Grand Bunker .................

 

[Airframes]

So, back on track, and continuing with the Grand Bunker and the exhibits inside.

This structure was, off course, a functional blockhouse for command and control, and not a 21st century, accessible tourist centre, so I wasn't at all surprised that I wouldn't be able to tour the inside on my scooter, and coping (on foot) with all the steep, concrete steps was a definite NO at the time (Mick actually took a tumble on one set of steps, landing on his knees !).
Consequently all photos in the next couple of posts are by Karl, who can maybe explain what's what, although many images are fairly
self explanatory.
Karl sent me the set in order of the floors, from the ground to the top, but I'm pretty sure I've got them mixed up !

In this first batch, the signals operator looks like he's either had an electric shock from his headphones, or else he's off his t*ts on "Pervatin" !!
(the sign behind him means "the enemy is listening") .
The photo-collage labelled "Casino Riva Bella" refers to the pre-war casino in Ouistreham, that was partly destroyed by German forces, and then turned into a fortified gun position and was one of the objectives for Commandant Keifer's No.4 French Commando, as featured in "The Longest Day" movie - with a fair dollop of cinematic licence - and more of this action later in this thread.
My thanks to Karl for the photos which, of course, allows me to see what I missed at the time.

More to follow ...................