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

Airframes said:

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" !!





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

Click to expand...

I didn't want to sleep tonight anyways

More inside the Bunker from Karl, with the first pic relating to SOE operations in Normandy, and representations of the armoury, medical centre and an armoured-door defensive firing port, with MP40. The poster relates to the armoured access doors being blown by Commandos, with the demo team preparing the charges, and actual damage to the frames.





Another set from inside the bunker is next, then I'll move on to Sword beach and the general area.

I don't remember many details from the upper floors, it was pretty busy in each room, so i snapped a few pics in each and moved on.

Final set from inside the Grand Bunker, with the plotting table, guard room (note Ost Battalion uniform sleeve flash) medical equipment/stores, PBX, and a display of German insignia.
Not sure of the connection with the Welsh Guards soldier (Karl ?).
The remaining pics show the view from the observation gallery at the top of the bunker, and of course, in 1944 the buildings and trees weren't there, affording an uninterrupted view from west, through north, to east.

Back with more from Ouistreham/Sword beach, probably tomorrow.

OK mate, no problem - I think I'm more or less correct in most of the descriptions.

Great shots Terry!

Awesome shots Karl, and great description Terry. Cheers for posting!

In the 3rd pic in the last set (#1384), what the heck kind of shoes is that civvy guy wearing??!!

Ah, I think they're made from converted "Folboats" !!

Great pics guys.

I was looking at those shoes as well Evan, wondered if it was the camera angle!

Maybe he was visiting from Cirque de Soleil?

Looks like an interesting display. Thanks for the pics and info guys.

Ouistreham and Sword beach.

Sword beach is the eastern most of the five invasion beaches, and stretches from the port of Ouistreham for five miles westward, where it meets with Juno beach. The landward side of the beach is faced with sloped concrete sea walls, with few exits, which posed a slight problem during the landings, more so as, in 1944, the walls were much higher than today, as the sand has increased in depth over the last 80 years.
The areas along the beach front, and immediately inland, are residential, with some large houses and other buildings leading off to narrow streets and roads lined with further buildings, therefore making it difficult to advance quickly, due to the nature of the terrain and street fighting which was inevitable.
The British 3rd Infantry Division landed here on the morning of D-Day, along with 1st Special Service Brigade and the French troops of No.4 Commando, supported by the tanks of British 27th Armoured Brigade, who also had on strength specialised vehicles, Hobart's "Funnies", to deal with mines, wire, bridging etc.

As mentioned earlier, one of the Ouistreham objectives of Commandant Kieffer's French No.4 Commando was the strongpoint built into the former Casino de Riva Bella, as depicted in the 1962 movie "The Longest Day". However, whilst this was an effective scene in the movie, it wasn't particularly accurate, and some cinematic licence certainly came into play but, to be fair, at least part of this was due to circumstances beyond the control of the production team.
The original Casino was not in the town itself, alongside the harbour as depicted in the movie (more on this later), but on the sea front, between the beach and the coast road, where the current Casino now stands. The building, already seriously damaged by the German forces, was wrecked during the D-Day fighting, and the basement and few remaining parts of the structure were demolished in the 1950s. What is seen in the movie is a film set "Casino", specially constructed for the scene, alongside a real, battle-damaged, former Municipal building, due for demolition, which was also blown up in the "Casino" scenes - saving the local authorities the task, and expense !
The movie scenes weren't even filmed in Ouistreham, but 30 miles west, along the coast, at Port-en-Bessin, of which more in the next post.

The photos below show how some of the area looks today.

Pic 1. Satellite view showing the harbour, part of the seafront and Sword beach, and the location of the Casino, on the same site as the original.
Pic 2. The coast road above Sword beach, looking west, with the current Casino, and the beach, on the right.
Pic 3. Looking out over Sword beach.
Pic 4. Houses lining the coast road, with the beach again on the right. Some of the buildings are original, others rebuilt, and many were fortified in 1944.
Pic 5. Looking east down Sword beach, Casino in the distance. Note the sea wall.
Pic 6. Looking west down the beach, giving some idea as to the vast area covered by this landing beach.
Pic 7. Typical narrow street leading from the beach, where close fighting took place.
Pic 8. Churchill AVRE at the western end of Sword beach. We couldn't get parked to get better pics of this.
Pic 9. Attractive thatched house - but a dangerous obstacle, on a narrow crossroads ideal for ambush and/or "registered" mortar fire.

More on that "Casino" scene, and Port-en-Bessin, next.

Port-en-Bessin.

We visited this very attractive "picture postcard" fishing port twice, but unfortunately were unable to find a convenient parking space on both visits, consequently photo coverage is very minimal, taken on the move, from the car, and of poor quality due to the small format in which they downloaded from my 'phone ( I knew I should have used my DSLRs !!).
The port, and the inner basin, is a very popular tourist destination, with rows of cafes, restaurants, bars and shops lining the road alongside the basin, and it was very busy when we visited, especially on the sunny day.

This objective was taken by 47 Commando, after vicious fighting in and around the port, and the steep cliffs and hills immediately surrounding the harbour. German resistance was strong, and included flak guns in and around the harbour, and on ships alongside the breakwaters, the latter being eventually sunk at their moorings.
The port was later used as the terminal for PLUTO (Pipe Line Under the Ocean), for the daily supply of fuel and oil.

The inner basin doubled for Ouistreham in "The Longest Day" movie, where aerial shots show the French Commandos running along the street at the side of the basin, and the assault on, and final neutralising of the Casino. Stirring stuff but, had this really been Ouistreham, the troops would be advancing the wrong way, and the Casino was hundreds of yards away from Ouistreham harbour, on open ground next to the beach !

The map shows Port-en-Bessin in relation to Ouistreham, 30 miles to the east, a satellite view of the port, the basin and some street views.

Pic 1. Map showing the two different ports, arrowed.
Pic 2. Satellite view.
Pics 3 and 4. The inner basin. Note posters commemorating troops who took part on D-Day.
Pic 5. Looking down the street to where the movie "Casino" stood, in the open area. This is the hill where the nuns walked down to offer medical assistance.
Pic 6. One of the very narrow streets leading off the harbour area, which had to be fought over, house to house.

Back soon with coverage of more areas visited on our tour ...............

Excellent shots Terry!

Musee des Epaves Sous-Marines, Commes. (D-Day Shipwreck Museum).

We came across this place purely by chance when toodling along the French lanes, when I spotted the turret and gun of a Sherman poking up from behind a hedge, along with the now familiar French, British and Canadian flags.
Karl did a quick "U" turn and we drove into the car park of what turned out to be a privately run museum, owned by a French diver, with all the exhibits having been recovered from the sea off the Normandy coast.
I'd seen a very short video on this museum months before, but had forgotten about it, and hadn't remembered either where it was. It's actually about mid way between Longues-sur-Mer and Port-en-Bessin, near Commes, on the D6 road.

The outside display area was surfaced with shale, difficult terrain for my scooter, especially as it was still playing up, and I was too stiff to walk on an uneven surface, so I had to content myself with what I could see over the fence and hedges, and let Karl and Mick get the photos.
Some of the pics on my hard drive, particularly the indoors shots, seem to have disappeared, and some shown below are on my Fuji bridge camera, but as they were all taken by Karl, I've credited them accordingly.

First six pics, the rest in the following post.

More from the D-Day Shipwreck Museum.

I'll continue with other areas of the tour sometime tomorrow ................

Some more from the Museum that I missed on my Fuji camera.