D-Day Normandy 2017 - 73rd Anniversary

[Sylvain]

Wire cutter mounted in front.You don't see many vehicles with that, especially today as they are barely road legal.

 

[Fordtough25]

That's a sweeet Jeep! You think these are relics found and fixed up from the war or? Thanks for the pictures your posts are always great!

 

[1911ly]

You get the Jeep and I'll bring my M1919. Togather well have a good time, until we are caught.

Thanks for sharing those pictures. That a beautiful jeep.

 

[Sylvain]

That Jeep was formely owned by the French military and retrofited with markings in French in the 1950s.
Also the speedometers changed to one in Km/h instead of the original mph.

 

[Sylvain]

You get the Jeep and I'll bring my M1919. Togather well have a good time, until we are caught.

Thanks for sharing those pictures. That a beautiful jeep.

The owner has one, just not mounted today (especially while parked outside with keys in the ignition).
Cops don't like it when you drive it with a machine gun on top.
He also had a M1 Garand fixed on the windshield.

He also has an original trailer to carry extra ammo.
The antenna with American flag is off as well.It has to fit into a small garage.

 

[Sylvain]

That's a sweeet Jeep! You think these are relics found and fixed up from the war or? Thanks for the pictures your posts are always great!

It belonged to the French military for a few decades, then sold to the civilian market.
It's why you have so many vehicles in great working order.

It was then painted back to its original WW2 markings.

They have been well maintained for years.
I'm sure some were bought by civilians right after the war too, or found abandoned in some barns decades after the war.
(Just last year I heard a story where they found a Sherman tank in the middle of nowhere, 72 years after the end of the war)

They all have a unique history.

The ones than have not been modified by the French military are more valuable; but at the same time it's also better to have a vehicle that has been maintained by professional mechanics for decades.
And having a speedometer in Km/h that allows you to respect the speed limit is also a plus.

 

[actaeon277]

And this is the story of how Sylvain got tazed.

 

[Fordtough25]

It belonged to the French military for a few decades, then sold to the civilian market.It's why you have so many vehicles in great working order.It was then painted back to its original WW2 markings.They have been well maintained for years.I'm sure some were bought by civilians right after the war too, or found abandoned in some barns decades after the war.(Just last year I heard a story where they found a Sherman tank in the middle of nowhere, 72 years after the end of the war)They all have a unique history.The ones than have not been modified by the French military are more valuable; but at the same time it's also better to have a vehicle that has been maintained by professional mechanics for decades.And having a speedometer in Km/h that allows you to respect the speed limit is also a plus.

Thanks for the info, very awesome! I'm sure with the amount of equipment used during the first have if the last century there's hidden pieces aplenty. I see stories all the time of people in old Russian counties finding/digging for relics. The digging seems a bit crazy but to each their own.

 

[Sylvain]

Thanks for the info, very awesome! I'm sure with the amount of equipment used during the first have if the last century there's hidden pieces aplenty. I see stories all the time of people in old Russian counties finding/digging for relics. The digging seems a bit crazy but to each their own.

Digging can be very risky when you're most likely to find unexploded ordnances.

Just last month someone in my area found 2 live panzerfäustes (German RPG) in the woods.

Just sitting there, someone dug them out and thought it was to dangerous to load them in their car probably.

The bomb squad had to destroy them on site, they don't take the risk of moving those.

Most stuff are found in people's atiques nowadays.
Things they found after the war (like guns left behind by the Germans) and that they kept without telling anyone (usually illegally when it comes to machine guns and ammo).
Then when they die their family find them.

You often see that in the news.
Just recently someone died (I think in Normandy) and the authorities found hundreds of explosives, hand grenades, machine guns, rifles, huge bombs etc ... in his house.
It took over a week to clear the house.

The guy had enough explosives to blow up the entire neighborhood, all rusty stuff than can go off if you drop them.

I had a firearms instructor who told me his dad used own a gun store.
When his dad passed away they found a bunch of WW2 guns, with a bunch of full-auto "off the book" stuff that he used to collect.

 

[Fordtough25]

Digging can be very risky when you're most likely to find unexploded ordnances.

Just last month someone in my area found 2 live panzerfäustes (German RPG) in the woods.

Just sitting there, someone dug them out and thought it was to dangerous to load them in their car probably.

The bomb squad had to destroy them on site, they don't take the risk of moving those.

Most stuff are found in people's atiques nowadays.
Things they found after the war (like guns left behind by the Germans) and that they kept without telling anyone (usually illegally when it comes to machine guns and ammo).
Then when they die their family find them.

You often see that in the news.
Just recently someone died (I think in Normandy) and the authorities found hundreds of explosives, hand grenades, machine guns, rifles, huge bombs etc ... in his house.
It took over a week to clear the house.

The guy had enough explosives to blow up the entire neighborhood, all rusty stuff than can go off if you drop them.

I had a firearms instructor who told me his dad used own a gun store.
When his dad passed away they found a bunch of WW2 guns, with a bunch of full-auto "off the book" stuff that he used to collect.

I have no doubts whatsoever about that, I can imagine the thought was if this happens again we will be ready to hit it with all we can from here! Agree on the danger of digging, just not worth the risk unless it's an accident. If we only knew a small percentage of what's hidden in houses across Europe it would blow our mind!

 

[Sylvain]

I visited a WW2 Commonwealth War Cemetery today.
It's quite a beautiful place, away from everything and very well kept.
It has almost 1,000 graves.

707 from Canada
232 from the UK
4 from New Zealand
2 from Australia
1 from India
3 entirely unidentified
4 from France
2 from Poland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Sacrifice

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_of_Remembrance

 

[Sylvain]

 

[Sylvain]

 

[Sylvain]

 

[Sylvain]

Almost all the graves have different markings at the bottom.

 

[Sylvain]

 

[Sylvain]

 

[GregD]

I have never seen graves so close together.

 

[Sylvain]

 

[Sylvain]

I have never seen graves so close together.

It's common over here.
Some stones are even touching eachother in some areas.