World War 2 in your backyard
- Thread starter Marcel
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Nice shot Marcel!
- Thread starter
- #203
Was at the grebbeberg again. In front of the hill are the remains of a 300 year old "bastion" system called "het Hoornwerk". In 1940, this was enhanced by some little bunkers and some trenches in order too defend the water doors behind it. Because of Dutch greediness, the trees in front of the line were not cut down, greatly limiting the field of fire to a couple of dozen yards. On my 10th, soldiers tried to cut down as much as possible, so the situation was slightly less bad when the Germans arrived the next day.
Didn't have my camera, so you'll have to do with some from my phone.
Didn't have my camera, so you'll have to do with some from my phone.
Good shots Marcel!
Snautzer01
Honourably banned
- 42,908
- Mar 26, 2007
Not bqckyard but Bretange France
Snautzer01
Honourably banned
- 42,908
- Mar 26, 2007
In this area 135 aviators escaped in the dark nights 1944 to England.
- Thread starter
- #208
So after 3 months of corona quarantine and the practice rooms closed, we decided as a band to do an acoustic set at our drummer's house in Steenbergen Brabant. Close to his house is a graveyard where I found the grave of one of the most famous pilots of world war 2, wing commander G.P. Gibson VC of dambuster's fame. Took a few pictures with my phone.
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Snautzer01
Honourably banned
- 42,908
- Mar 26, 2007
Most northen point of holland main land waddenzee. Touching someone put flowers there. Not forgotten.
- Thread starter
- #211
Ah, I know that, near Uithuizermeeden. I used to live there up north. Nice addition!
ARTESH
Chief Master Sergeant
Well, not sure if it is counted as "my back yard" or not, but besides the famous Polish cemetery in Tehran, there 3 others as well, one is located at northern part of Iran, in the city of Rasht. The second one is located at Central part of the country, in city of Isfahan, the 3rd one is located around the city of Qazvin.
Also several British soldiers from both WW s and some time before it, rest in UK embassy outer garden, and in a place named as "The English cemetery" in Qeshm island, in Persian Gulf.
Also there was a cemetery for some Russian / Soviet troops died during both WW s around the City of Tabriz, which was destroyed after 1979.
Maybe there are more places / cemeteries in the country, but are either forgotten or destroyed.
Also several British soldiers from both WW s and some time before it, rest in UK embassy outer garden, and in a place named as "The English cemetery" in Qeshm island, in Persian Gulf.
Also there was a cemetery for some Russian / Soviet troops died during both WW s around the City of Tabriz, which was destroyed after 1979.
Maybe there are more places / cemeteries in the country, but are either forgotten or destroyed.
- Thread starter
- #213
Time for a "In my backyard" post. All photo's were made by me.
I was at Bergen, where there used to be an airfield during the war. This was home to the 4th JaVA, flying Fokker G-1. The airfield at that time was hardly finished and not drained well, hence it was the scene of the infamous incident where all but one G-1 were wiped out in the early minutes of the attack on May 10th 1940. Because of the bad drainage, all G-1's were grouped together on the concrete platform, like sitting ducks. Later some of the damaged G-1's could be repaired, but the the blow to the Dutch airforce was immense, putting out of action 13 of the best fighter they had. During the war, the Germans used the airfield as well and after the war, the unsuitable airfield was quickly decommissioned. The remains that you can see are mostly from the German period.
Like this: German defense bunkers, some were garages, some carried AAA. There are still a couple of these bunker-vilages around the terrain. This is Wiederstands Nest 7. There were a total of 7 of these "villages"
This is the "Einjager Halle", a hangar, disguised as a farmer's shed. In here there was always a BF-109 on standby to defend the airfield. You can still see the big hangar door.
Some more bunkers, this is on Wiederstand nest 5 (WN5)
Another view on the Einjager Halle. The pastures in front of it used to be the runway. Bergen never had a concrete runway. In the back, the dunes, separating Bergen from the Nord Sea.
View on the runway. The trees on the right is where the platform used to be where the G-1's were destroyed.
An extra: remains of a V1 launchpad in the village of Bergen. You see the foundations of the lower part of the ramp. This is where the V1 would be. The second photo are the foundations of the "legs" of at the higher end of the ramp. These remains were rather recently discovered.
Lower end:
High end:
I was at Bergen, where there used to be an airfield during the war. This was home to the 4th JaVA, flying Fokker G-1. The airfield at that time was hardly finished and not drained well, hence it was the scene of the infamous incident where all but one G-1 were wiped out in the early minutes of the attack on May 10th 1940. Because of the bad drainage, all G-1's were grouped together on the concrete platform, like sitting ducks. Later some of the damaged G-1's could be repaired, but the the blow to the Dutch airforce was immense, putting out of action 13 of the best fighter they had. During the war, the Germans used the airfield as well and after the war, the unsuitable airfield was quickly decommissioned. The remains that you can see are mostly from the German period.
Like this: German defense bunkers, some were garages, some carried AAA. There are still a couple of these bunker-vilages around the terrain. This is Wiederstands Nest 7. There were a total of 7 of these "villages"
This is the "Einjager Halle", a hangar, disguised as a farmer's shed. In here there was always a BF-109 on standby to defend the airfield. You can still see the big hangar door.
Some more bunkers, this is on Wiederstand nest 5 (WN5)
Another view on the Einjager Halle. The pastures in front of it used to be the runway. Bergen never had a concrete runway. In the back, the dunes, separating Bergen from the Nord Sea.
View on the runway. The trees on the right is where the platform used to be where the G-1's were destroyed.
An extra: remains of a V1 launchpad in the village of Bergen. You see the foundations of the lower part of the ramp. This is where the V1 would be. The second photo are the foundations of the "legs" of at the higher end of the ramp. These remains were rather recently discovered.
Lower end:
High end:
Good shots Marcel!
- Thread starter
- #216
Almost literally in my backyard. On the 3rd of November, 1944, 8 spitfire mk IX flew over the Moerdijk bridge. One was hit by flak and crashed at walking distance from where my house is now. So last week I walked there to see the excavation of the remaining wreckage.
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