Vic Balshaw
Major General
Beautifully done guys and thank you. 
The Travels of Tel's Tin Tent. (2 Viewers)
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Crimea_River
Marshal
Karl and Terry, I sense your passion behind the trip accounts and photos. Again, well done. More please!
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Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Thanks very much, Vic and Andy, it's much appreciated.
I'm working on the first part of our visit to the Merville battery, and should have the intro posted fairly soon.
I'm working on the first part of our visit to the Merville battery, and should have the intro posted fairly soon.
- Thread starter
- #1,324
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Merville Battery.
To describe the assault on Merville battery, the individual actions and subsequent events over the following days, is far too complex to cover here, therefore I'll just provide a brief overview, and show the location, brief details of the battery and the assault and, In following posts, photos of the battery today. (as in the previous section, suggestions for suitable further study will be provided later).
The battery is located approximately one mile inland from the Normandy coast, on the east bank of the Orne estuary, near the village of Gonneville - sur - Merville (now Gonneville -en- Auge), and consisted of four huge, reinforced concrete casemates, each with 6 feet thick walls and roofs, armoured steel double main doors, and MG posts set into the roof, and further MG embrasures covering the personnel entrances.
In addition, there were open gun platforms, surrounded by defensive sand bags, and concrete ammunition stores and (underground) shelters, with a further large concrete structure as the Command Centre.
The site was defended from aerial attack by a number of 20mm flak guns, which could also be brought to bear on ground targets.
The northern perimeter was ringed by a wide and deep anti-tank ditch, and the entire site was encircled by barbed wire, minefields, obstacles and trenches, with machine guns covering the approaches.
Allied Intelligence had identified this battery when under construction in March 1944 and, due to the size of the casemates, thought that they would house guns of 150mm with a range of over 11 miles, capable of easily reaching down the entire length of Sword beach, just 6 miles to the west, and out to sea, when they would have a devastating effect on troops and equipment landing on the beaches, and the invasion fleet itself.
It was absolutely vital that this battery had to be put out of action before the seaborne landings began, and so it was marked as a priority target, and included in the objectives as part of "Operation Tonga", the Airborne assault.
In May, in the weeks leading up to the Invasion, the battery was pounded by allied bombers, which had minimal effect on its operational capability, and probably added to the difficulties for an attacking force, due to the huge numbers of bomb craters all over the area.
The task of storming and destroying the guns was delegated to 9th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, under the command of Lt. Col. Terence Ottway, DSO, and there would be support from Canadian Para units, engineers and other units, both in diversionary actions, and outer defensive tasks, as well as coordination in relation to other actions further east, involving British, Canadian and Belgian formations.
The attacking forces were to land, by parachute and glider, on DZ/LZ -V, just outside Gonneville-sur-Merville, using Stirling, Albermarle and RAF Dakota aircraft, with Halifaxes towing the Horsa and Hamilcar gliders, bringing in the heavy weapons and equipment (including 6 pdr anti-tank guns to breach the armoured doors).
In addition, a "coupe de main force", in three Horsa gliders, was to land inside the battery, between the casemates !
The first drop, the pathfinders to mark the DZ, took place at 00.50 hrs, with the main forces following over the next 30 minutes to an hour or so.
As with the earlier drop in the Ranville area, this did not go to plan, due to the strong winds, poor visibility not only due to the clouds and the dark night, but also from heavy smoke and dust, from the RAF bombing immediately before the Paras dropped, intended to soften up the battery defences.
The drop was widely scattered, and many men landed in an area flooded by the Germans. Weighed down by heavy equipment, quite a number drowned, and those that survived had a very difficult, and time-consuming task regaining solid ground and, in small parties, re-grouping and trying to find their objective in the dark.
At the designated RV, Lt Col Ottway waited as long as he could for the Battalion to arrive (he included an extra 15 minutes "leeway" in his plan).
Eventually, just 150 men were staged at the RV, with only personal weapons and equipment, one Vickers medium machine gun, and a single box of ten Bangalore torpedoes (to blow the wire defences). The only explosives they had were some Gammon bombs - the gliders carrying the Bangalore torpedoes, explosives and heavy weapons and equipment had either landed way off course due to the conditions, or hadn't arrived at all.
Of the "coupe de main" party, only one Horsa arrived, and this crash-landed in an orchard alongside the battery.
Colonel Ottway was faced with the enormously difficult decision of whether to carry out the attack and probably have his remaining force annihilated, or withdraw to fight elsewhere, leaving the battery intact and able to wreak havoc on the landings, just five hours later.
He chose to carry out the assault, and later commented "It was a question of move off, or give up. In The Parachute Regiment, giving up is not an option".
So, with just 150 men, out of the original strength of 600, the men of 9 Para proceeded to storm the battery, against a well-entrenched, heavily armed force of over 180 German troops, moving across exposed open ground, through a minefield and barbed wire, and fought their way into the casemates.
They found that the guns, thought to be of 150mm calibre by Intelligence, were, in fact, 100mm guns, Czech artillery pieces of First World War vintage. But nevertheless, these would still be capable of raining down destruction on Sword beach, and the invasion fleet. Using what explosives they had, mainly Gammon bombs, the Paras and Engineers managed to destroy or otherwise disable the guns, thereby preventing their use against the landings on Sword beach, on the left flank of the invasion.
The surviving troops needed to signal the cruiser HMS Arethusa, standing off the coast, immediately after taking the battery ,as she was ordered to shell the site with her 6 inch and 4 inch guns, if the assault was a failure. The signal was duly received in time, and the site was bombarded soon after the withdrawal of the Paras.
Although this part of the action was successful, the battery wasn't completely out of action, as German troops emerged from their underground shelters the next day, when a follow up attack by Commandos took place, with limited success. Even though the battery was more or less neutralised, it wasn't until 17th August, when German forces withdrew from the area, that the battery was, once and for all, totally out of the battle.
Of the 150 men who assaulted the battery, only 75 came out. The survivors joined-up with the rest of the Battalion, who had been dispersed over a wide area, and proceeded to continue with their additional objectives over the following days.
All of the above is a very condensed and limited account of the assault on Merville battery, and the full, complex story can be found in numerous articles, videos and books, one of which I'll show later.
The images below show a satellite view of the battery location and the DZ/LZ, a map showing the battery and arcs of fire, a RAF recce photo from March 1944, satellite view of the site today, results of the aerial bombardment in May 1944, and finally, a diagram of the assault.
Photo coverage of the battery site today coming next............
To describe the assault on Merville battery, the individual actions and subsequent events over the following days, is far too complex to cover here, therefore I'll just provide a brief overview, and show the location, brief details of the battery and the assault and, In following posts, photos of the battery today. (as in the previous section, suggestions for suitable further study will be provided later).
The battery is located approximately one mile inland from the Normandy coast, on the east bank of the Orne estuary, near the village of Gonneville - sur - Merville (now Gonneville -en- Auge), and consisted of four huge, reinforced concrete casemates, each with 6 feet thick walls and roofs, armoured steel double main doors, and MG posts set into the roof, and further MG embrasures covering the personnel entrances.
In addition, there were open gun platforms, surrounded by defensive sand bags, and concrete ammunition stores and (underground) shelters, with a further large concrete structure as the Command Centre.
The site was defended from aerial attack by a number of 20mm flak guns, which could also be brought to bear on ground targets.
The northern perimeter was ringed by a wide and deep anti-tank ditch, and the entire site was encircled by barbed wire, minefields, obstacles and trenches, with machine guns covering the approaches.
Allied Intelligence had identified this battery when under construction in March 1944 and, due to the size of the casemates, thought that they would house guns of 150mm with a range of over 11 miles, capable of easily reaching down the entire length of Sword beach, just 6 miles to the west, and out to sea, when they would have a devastating effect on troops and equipment landing on the beaches, and the invasion fleet itself.
It was absolutely vital that this battery had to be put out of action before the seaborne landings began, and so it was marked as a priority target, and included in the objectives as part of "Operation Tonga", the Airborne assault.
In May, in the weeks leading up to the Invasion, the battery was pounded by allied bombers, which had minimal effect on its operational capability, and probably added to the difficulties for an attacking force, due to the huge numbers of bomb craters all over the area.
The task of storming and destroying the guns was delegated to 9th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, under the command of Lt. Col. Terence Ottway, DSO, and there would be support from Canadian Para units, engineers and other units, both in diversionary actions, and outer defensive tasks, as well as coordination in relation to other actions further east, involving British, Canadian and Belgian formations.
The attacking forces were to land, by parachute and glider, on DZ/LZ -V, just outside Gonneville-sur-Merville, using Stirling, Albermarle and RAF Dakota aircraft, with Halifaxes towing the Horsa and Hamilcar gliders, bringing in the heavy weapons and equipment (including 6 pdr anti-tank guns to breach the armoured doors).
In addition, a "coupe de main force", in three Horsa gliders, was to land inside the battery, between the casemates !
The first drop, the pathfinders to mark the DZ, took place at 00.50 hrs, with the main forces following over the next 30 minutes to an hour or so.
As with the earlier drop in the Ranville area, this did not go to plan, due to the strong winds, poor visibility not only due to the clouds and the dark night, but also from heavy smoke and dust, from the RAF bombing immediately before the Paras dropped, intended to soften up the battery defences.
The drop was widely scattered, and many men landed in an area flooded by the Germans. Weighed down by heavy equipment, quite a number drowned, and those that survived had a very difficult, and time-consuming task regaining solid ground and, in small parties, re-grouping and trying to find their objective in the dark.
At the designated RV, Lt Col Ottway waited as long as he could for the Battalion to arrive (he included an extra 15 minutes "leeway" in his plan).
Eventually, just 150 men were staged at the RV, with only personal weapons and equipment, one Vickers medium machine gun, and a single box of ten Bangalore torpedoes (to blow the wire defences). The only explosives they had were some Gammon bombs - the gliders carrying the Bangalore torpedoes, explosives and heavy weapons and equipment had either landed way off course due to the conditions, or hadn't arrived at all.
Of the "coupe de main" party, only one Horsa arrived, and this crash-landed in an orchard alongside the battery.
Colonel Ottway was faced with the enormously difficult decision of whether to carry out the attack and probably have his remaining force annihilated, or withdraw to fight elsewhere, leaving the battery intact and able to wreak havoc on the landings, just five hours later.
He chose to carry out the assault, and later commented "It was a question of move off, or give up. In The Parachute Regiment, giving up is not an option".
So, with just 150 men, out of the original strength of 600, the men of 9 Para proceeded to storm the battery, against a well-entrenched, heavily armed force of over 180 German troops, moving across exposed open ground, through a minefield and barbed wire, and fought their way into the casemates.
They found that the guns, thought to be of 150mm calibre by Intelligence, were, in fact, 100mm guns, Czech artillery pieces of First World War vintage. But nevertheless, these would still be capable of raining down destruction on Sword beach, and the invasion fleet. Using what explosives they had, mainly Gammon bombs, the Paras and Engineers managed to destroy or otherwise disable the guns, thereby preventing their use against the landings on Sword beach, on the left flank of the invasion.
The surviving troops needed to signal the cruiser HMS Arethusa, standing off the coast, immediately after taking the battery ,as she was ordered to shell the site with her 6 inch and 4 inch guns, if the assault was a failure. The signal was duly received in time, and the site was bombarded soon after the withdrawal of the Paras.
Although this part of the action was successful, the battery wasn't completely out of action, as German troops emerged from their underground shelters the next day, when a follow up attack by Commandos took place, with limited success. Even though the battery was more or less neutralised, it wasn't until 17th August, when German forces withdrew from the area, that the battery was, once and for all, totally out of the battle.
Of the 150 men who assaulted the battery, only 75 came out. The survivors joined-up with the rest of the Battalion, who had been dispersed over a wide area, and proceeded to continue with their additional objectives over the following days.
All of the above is a very condensed and limited account of the assault on Merville battery, and the full, complex story can be found in numerous articles, videos and books, one of which I'll show later.
The images below show a satellite view of the battery location and the DZ/LZ, a map showing the battery and arcs of fire, a RAF recce photo from March 1944, satellite view of the site today, results of the aerial bombardment in May 1944, and finally, a diagram of the assault.
Photo coverage of the battery site today coming next............
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Not sure what shots of Merville i sent you Dogsbody, but I'll add any extras after you've finished your post.
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Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Thanks Karl. I probably have what I will use from you already, but the more the merrier.
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Airframes
Benevolens Magister
So, continuing, this is what the Merville battery looks like today.
Pic 1. Looking back to the modern entrance building, which includes a fairly decent souvenir/gift shop, with reasonable prices. Entry to the museum is a reasonable £8.30, or Euro 9.50/$11.22US. ( as with the other museums we visited, no cafe/refreshment facilities were to be found on site - unless we missed them in the other (right hand) side of the building !). Note the British red telephone box !
Pics 2 to 4. General view over the battery area, with the huge casemates.
Pics 5 and 6. Closer view of one of the casemates, with the second view showing the personnel door with the MG42 embrasure and, on the right, the steps leading up to the "Tobruk" MG emplacement, just visible as a "hump" on the roof.
Pic 7. A wrecked bunker.
Pic 8. Another general view, with the table of the site relief model in the foreground.
Pic 9. The neat relief model of the site layout, including the badges of the units involved.
Pic 10. British 25 pdr field gun on display in the battery grounds.
Back soon with more of the site, a "special" C-47 and displays in the hangar, with much more to follow in subsequent posts.
Pic 1. Looking back to the modern entrance building, which includes a fairly decent souvenir/gift shop, with reasonable prices. Entry to the museum is a reasonable £8.30, or Euro 9.50/$11.22US. ( as with the other museums we visited, no cafe/refreshment facilities were to be found on site - unless we missed them in the other (right hand) side of the building !). Note the British red telephone box !
Pics 2 to 4. General view over the battery area, with the huge casemates.
Pics 5 and 6. Closer view of one of the casemates, with the second view showing the personnel door with the MG42 embrasure and, on the right, the steps leading up to the "Tobruk" MG emplacement, just visible as a "hump" on the roof.
Pic 7. A wrecked bunker.
Pic 8. Another general view, with the table of the site relief model in the foreground.
Pic 9. The neat relief model of the site layout, including the badges of the units involved.
Pic 10. British 25 pdr field gun on display in the battery grounds.
Back soon with more of the site, a "special" C-47 and displays in the hangar, with much more to follow in subsequent posts.
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- #1,328
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
More from Merville, with memorials, sculptures, and that "special" C-47.
The C-47 on display here was "rescued" in 2007, from where it lay, abandoned and decaying, on the airfield at Rajlovak, near Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
It is the only C-47 currently in France that actually took part in para drops on D-Day (as well as Operations "Dragoon", "Market Garden" and "Varsity"), and is C-47 43-15073, code 9X "The SNAFU Special", of the 95th Troop Carrier Squadron, 9th USAAF, based at Exeter, UK.
The aircraft was recovered to Merville and faithfully restored and preserved to represent how it looked in 1944, and is a fantastic work of dedicated preservation.
Pics below show :-
Pic 1. One of a pair of large, bronze sculptures, flanking the hangar, depicting Pegasus and Bellerophon, emblem of British Airborne Forces,
Pic 2. Memorial cross to the men lost in the assault.
Pic 3. Bronze silhouettes, simulating the attack across the open ground and minefield.
Pic 4. Bust of Lt.Col. Ottway, DSO.
Pics 5 and 6. The Memorial to 9 Para, set in the centre of a huge RAF roundel.
Pics 7 to 9. The C-47 "The SNAFU Special".
Pic 10. Wartime photo of the C-47.
More from Merville tomorrow, with some detail shots of the C-47 and much more.
The C-47 on display here was "rescued" in 2007, from where it lay, abandoned and decaying, on the airfield at Rajlovak, near Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
It is the only C-47 currently in France that actually took part in para drops on D-Day (as well as Operations "Dragoon", "Market Garden" and "Varsity"), and is C-47 43-15073, code 9X "The SNAFU Special", of the 95th Troop Carrier Squadron, 9th USAAF, based at Exeter, UK.
The aircraft was recovered to Merville and faithfully restored and preserved to represent how it looked in 1944, and is a fantastic work of dedicated preservation.
Pics below show :-
Pic 1. One of a pair of large, bronze sculptures, flanking the hangar, depicting Pegasus and Bellerophon, emblem of British Airborne Forces,
Pic 2. Memorial cross to the men lost in the assault.
Pic 3. Bronze silhouettes, simulating the attack across the open ground and minefield.
Pic 4. Bust of Lt.Col. Ottway, DSO.
Pics 5 and 6. The Memorial to 9 Para, set in the centre of a huge RAF roundel.
Pics 7 to 9. The C-47 "The SNAFU Special".
Pic 10. Wartime photo of the C-47.
More from Merville tomorrow, with some detail shots of the C-47 and much more.
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Vic Balshaw
Major General
You can see that the people of France will never forget and everything looks spick and span, so well maintained.
It was like that everywhere Vic.You can see that the people of France will never forget and everything looks spick and span, so well maintained.
Very humbling
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- #1,331
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
It was indeed.
Virtually everywhere we went, there were signs of the battles, and many places, be it an isolated farm or house, a cross roads or a spot on a roadside, had British, Canadian and French flags flying, a sure indication that something happened there.
These helped us discover some interesting locations on a number of our journeys.
Although there is a slight element of "tourist attraction" (and why not?) associated with most of the well-known sites, such as the beach areas, we found that, inland, away from the "tourist trail", those sites with memorials etc were very much places of genuine remembrance, tended with care.
As Karl stated, very humbling.
Virtually everywhere we went, there were signs of the battles, and many places, be it an isolated farm or house, a cross roads or a spot on a roadside, had British, Canadian and French flags flying, a sure indication that something happened there.
These helped us discover some interesting locations on a number of our journeys.
Although there is a slight element of "tourist attraction" (and why not?) associated with most of the well-known sites, such as the beach areas, we found that, inland, away from the "tourist trail", those sites with memorials etc were very much places of genuine remembrance, tended with care.
As Karl stated, very humbling.
A4K
Brigadier General
Awesome Terry. Many thanks for this thread.
MiTasol
Captain
Great to see a C-47 complete with storepedo racks and contents.
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- #1,334
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Yep, rare to see the racks. Some detail pics of these, on the C-47, and loaded with stores, in the hangar, will be posted shortly.
Thanks again to all for your continued interest.
Thanks again to all for your continued interest.
Crimea_River
Marshal
Really appreciate the work you are putting into this Terry. Did you get to the battery at Longues-sur-mer?
Yes Andy, we did.
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Airframes
Benevolens Magister
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.
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.
- Thread starter
- #1,339
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Moving into the hangar at Merville battery, with some of the displays around the outer walls.
The Museum is open all year round and, as far as I'm aware, the C-47 is moved inside for protection from the elements during the winter months.
The main area of the hangar floor is open and clear of obstructions, and there is a set of tall steps, either for maintenance, or to allow the cockpit to be viewed from the outside.
One display that links nicely with the previous detail photos, is a collection of "Parapack" containers, complete with their parachute packs and harnesses, with a parachute hanging overhead. Alongside is a "loaded" Parapack rack/dispenser (lying top side down), and the "EASCO" location lamp can be clearly seen on the side of the pack/harness.
This battery-powered lamp was activated by a pull-cord wire when released from the dispenser, with the lamp aiding in the location, in the dark, on the DZ.
The photos show the items, which may be of use to modellers, and note that these are a different type of container compared to the rigid-metal, hinged top cannisters dropped from Halifax and Stirling aircraft, as shown in the Pegasus Memorial Museum.
More to follow soon ..................
The Museum is open all year round and, as far as I'm aware, the C-47 is moved inside for protection from the elements during the winter months.
The main area of the hangar floor is open and clear of obstructions, and there is a set of tall steps, either for maintenance, or to allow the cockpit to be viewed from the outside.
One display that links nicely with the previous detail photos, is a collection of "Parapack" containers, complete with their parachute packs and harnesses, with a parachute hanging overhead. Alongside is a "loaded" Parapack rack/dispenser (lying top side down), and the "EASCO" location lamp can be clearly seen on the side of the pack/harness.
This battery-powered lamp was activated by a pull-cord wire when released from the dispenser, with the lamp aiding in the location, in the dark, on the DZ.
The photos show the items, which may be of use to modellers, and note that these are a different type of container compared to the rigid-metal, hinged top cannisters dropped from Halifax and Stirling aircraft, as shown in the Pegasus Memorial Museum.
More to follow soon ..................
