Normandy War Wagons !!!

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YLG80
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by YLG80 » Fri May 18, 2018 9:01 am

@ W. Winget
Europeans only had animals or the train, unlike Henry Ford selling cheap Model T's for the masses in the states
The situation was not that bad in Europe before WWII :D , but a similar difference between the cities and the country :wink: .
Here is a Picture of the traffic in Paris in 1937.
Paris_trafic_1937.jpg
Paris_trafic_1937.jpg (98.37 KiB) Viewed 2312 times
By the end of the Twenties, many European constructors had visited the Henry Ford facilities and improved their mass production knowledge.
Renault and Citroën had already mass production assembly lines in France.
So by the end of the Forties, Paris looked like that. Nice recovery, thanks to the US Marshall plan :) .
There are many post war cars on that picture.
Paris_trafic_auto_1940.jpg
Paris_trafic_auto_1940.jpg (98.13 KiB) Viewed 2312 times
The Ford T equivalent (or VW Cox), i.e the 2CV Citroen, was ready before WWII, but obviously stopped before being in production.
But after the war, Citroën quickly restarted the 2CV (2 HP) project and launched mass production lines in France.
Yves
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by tango021 » Fri May 18, 2018 10:41 am

I came back to my files and still find other pictures of wagons and horses in the town of Sainte Mère Eglise:
Ste Mère Eglise-Rue Centre-3.jpg
Ste Mère Eglise-Rue Centre-3.jpg (154.31 KiB) Viewed 2309 times
normandie_1944_then_now_183.jpg
normandie_1944_then_now_183.jpg (45.44 KiB) Viewed 2309 times
Ste Mère Eglise-RN13-3.jpg
Ste Mère Eglise-RN13-3.jpg (102.09 KiB) Viewed 2309 times
Ste Mère Eglise-RN13-5.jpg
Ste Mère Eglise-RN13-5.jpg (128.66 KiB) Viewed 2309 times
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by tango021 » Fri May 18, 2018 10:53 am

Nothing has much changed 75 years later ...
Ste Mère Eglise-Rue Centre-4-2.jpg
Ste Mère Eglise-Rue Centre-4-2.jpg (113.82 KiB) Viewed 2309 times
Ste Mère Eglise-RN13-4.jpg
Ste Mère Eglise-RN13-4.jpg (97.55 KiB) Viewed 2309 times
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Jeep Willys CJ3B 1955 restored
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by tango021 » Fri May 18, 2018 11:17 am

and two more pictures taken in Montebourg :
Rue Paul Lecacheux-Montebourg.jpg
Rue Paul Lecacheux-Montebourg.jpg (99.84 KiB) Viewed 2306 times
rue Verglais-Montebourg.jpg
rue Verglais-Montebourg.jpg (112.93 KiB) Viewed 2306 times
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by YLG80 » Fri May 18, 2018 1:50 pm

Amazing photos.
On the first picture in Ste Mère l''Eglise, It looks like the paratroopers are in mission on their horse, inspecting carefully the town.
Do you have any idea on the date of that Life photo?
Yves
Ford GPW 1943 - Louisville - DoD 12-7-43
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by 1943Willysgpw » Fri May 18, 2018 3:20 pm

Check it out. Yves lives in a historical house from a WW2 picture.
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Found it 2.jpg
Found it 2.jpg (81.83 KiB) Viewed 2292 times
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by YLG80 » Fri May 18, 2018 9:58 pm

Yes, General Joseph "Lightning Joe" Lawton Collins had install his VIIth Corps HQ in the castle in front of my actual house.
I've many photos.
Unfortunately for the GI's having a rest during 2 or 3 day's, there were no horses in our farm at that time.
But there was already a tractor :) !
7-sept_1944_VIIth-Corps_J-L-Collins.jpg
7-sept_1944_VIIth-Corps_J-L-Collins.jpg (220.52 KiB) Viewed 2287 times
I lived in this farm during many years prior to move in the house of the above pic, on the other side of the road.

But the pics of tango021 are much more surprising with the paratroopers riding horses !
Yves
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by W. Winget » Sat May 19, 2018 12:39 pm

Maybe I made a misstatement on availability of the auto in Europe, I will not deny they had vehicles, but looking at the whole of the population outside of towns, and photos we see in the battlefield areas, most of those vehicles were driven to safety, stashed in a barn, out of fuel due to wartime shortages/restrictions, or commandeered by occupying forces. I can bet Paris in 40 was a lot different than Paris in 44. My point is that the horse was not a relic or strange to people in the 1940s, more so than availability of auto transportation. Sort of like walking into a house today and finding a rotary phone, it's still something people know how to use unless they are under? 15-20 maybe.
Neat photos.
V/R W Winget
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by tango021 » Sun May 20, 2018 9:32 am

Yves,
Your ww2 pic is really nice! Such a nice parking lot in this farm at that moment ...

I really appreciate these "then and now" pics from ww2 era.

For the first picture in Sainte Mère Eglise, it seems that it has been taken on the 7th of june 1944:

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/13 ... d056e.html

Note that most of the "Life" pics have been stamped with the logo "Life" on a reversed picture !

For the last picture with the paratrooper on the horse, you will find more informations here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/photosnor ... iaz-8TPhwz

and here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/photosnor ... k5s4-EDYRH
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YLG80
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by YLG80 » Sun May 20, 2018 10:22 pm

by W. Winget
...most of those vehicles were driven to safety, stashed in a barn, out of fuel due to wartime shortages/restrictions, or commandeered by occupying forces
No worry, there were indeed many cars as you can see on the pictures of the 1940 exodus.
But you are right the population had to store the cars in barns during the war, or even remove the wheels and whatever to avoid the enemy to require the car.
Here is another photo of that VIIth corps HQ showing my father-in-law car on the right side of the photo.
Sept-1944_VIITh-Corps_HQ_Taravisee.jpg
Sept-1944_VIITh-Corps_HQ_Taravisee.jpg (85.41 KiB) Viewed 2238 times
His own car was required by the enemy during the exodus and surprisingly, the Germans gave him another car.
That was the beginning of the war and they were still fair play.
Obvisously there was no fuel available so the car was stored over there, wheels removed :)!

To revert to the soldiers with horses/wagons topic, I love also the pictures of the 10th Mountain division soldiers with their mules and horses.
10th_Mountain_Division-Italy-mules.jpg
10th_Mountain_Division-Italy-mules.jpg (156.24 KiB) Viewed 2238 times
10th_mountain_dv_maneuvers.jpg
10th_mountain_dv_maneuvers.jpg (64.62 KiB) Viewed 2238 times
10th_Mountain_Division_Mule-web.jpg
10th_Mountain_Division_Mule-web.jpg (165.75 KiB) Viewed 2238 times
@tango021
Note that most of the "Life" pics have been stamped with the logo "Life" on a reversed picture !
For the last picture with the paratrooper on the horse, you will find more informations here:
Thank you/merci for the additional information and pictures date.
That's nice to see the images in the movie, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PBrkX6ax7Y.
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by 1943Willysgpw » Wed May 23, 2018 11:06 am

Check this out. Pretty cool the way they blend the old and new pictures. https://www.flickr.com/photos/hab3045/4 ... 743161979/
"None of us are as smart as all of us"

1942 GPW 1871 DoD 2-27-42 Dallas Plant
1945 GPW 247890 DoD 1-26-45 Louisville Plant
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by Captain John » Sat Jun 09, 2018 6:30 am

The sedan on the right is a 1931 Model A Ford tudor it is LHD and has the 31 rad shell . It has the French style fender lamps .

Captain John in sunny Suffolk County England .

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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by YLG80 » Sat Jun 09, 2018 8:47 am

Cool, thanks for that information. I didn't know.
Too bad that my father in law did not decide to store it in one of the 5 garages :) !
But I forgive him because my jeep was stored in garage # 1 :) !
The garage #1 door is visible behind the Ford Model A.
Yves
Sedan_FORD_MODEL_A_LHD.jpg
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Re: Normandy War Wagons !!!

Post by YLG80 » Sat Sep 01, 2018 3:59 am

Another photo of GI's in a wagon.
989th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company_WWII.jpg
989th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company_WWII.jpg (48.93 KiB) Viewed 2034 times
0008-2.jpg
0008-2.jpg (115.15 KiB) Viewed 2034 times
They are from the 989th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company.
Photos taken in Germany by Arthur Lewman.
Ford GPW 1943 - Louisville - DoD 12-7-43
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