Just something I wanted to share

[Deleted member 1183]

I saw this today. One of my Bikes (not the NC this time) was closeby in a small empty car park. It was a dull misty morning in a forest near Bastogne in Belgium. It is a foxhole, and it was once dug and occupied by Soldiers of the American 101'st Airborne division. They helped stop the Germans taking Bastogne even though they were surrounded, in the infamous Battle of the Bulge. There are many more foxholes like it closeby where many brave men lived and died. It is partly filled in now with pine needles and 70 years of natural debris, but still easy to see. A very moving place, so peaceful now, but a hellish place when it was occupied in the winter of 1944/45.

 

[2brnut2b]

Thanks for sharing this ! It was not easy for the ''Easy Company''

Theses Guys did a great job- many lost their lifes on the battlefield-i have great respect for all of them.

 

[Beemerphile]

A man in my church died this morning. He was 98 years old. In WWII he was in a foxhole and lifted up his canteen to take a drink and a rifle round hit him in the left elbow and then went through his right forearm. It caused him pain from then until 3:45AM this morning.

God rest his soul. Finally.

 

[wickerman]

My Grandfather was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was in the "Fighting 69th" infantry division and was called in as a reinforcement. I was lucky enough to have accompanied him on a return visit in the 90's almost 50 years latter. After the Battle of the Bulge he rejoined the 69th and carried on to meet the Russians in Germany(and then walked back to France to catch a ship home!) It was a truly humbling experience and his stories will stay with me forever. Most of his stories were harrowing or somber, but some were so funny like when on his march back to France he came across a table set up by a relief group with hot coffee and donuts, he was thrilled until they asked him for payment he quickly replied "Where in hell do you think I could get any money I have been fighting for months?".
There were also stories about trades made with local women for chocolate.

 

[MichaelJohn]

Very interesting. Yes the "Battered Bastards of Bastogne" put up one hell of a fight. They were outnumbered, surrounded and overmatched - Panthers, Tigers and Royal Tigers against the 101st Airborne which was low on food and amunition. Somehow those GI's managed to hang on until Patton's army got there. Their commanding officer, Brigadier General Anthony McAuLiffe, gave one of the most famous quotes in military history with his "Nuts" response to the German request for surrender, which totally confused the Germans. I think we lost more men in that battle than any other World War II battle. My father-in-law was there, he is now 90 years old and doing great. He was also one of the first Americans across the bridge at Remagen, or at least the pontoon bridge they built after the original bridge fell down. He crossed the bridge on, get this, a German motorcycle! I guess it runs in the family.

 

[itlives]

Thanks for sharing Griff.

 

[davidc83]

What a coincidence; I checked out the "Band of Brothers" series from the library and watch the whole series over the weekend. It was great; and by the way, the 101st Airborne would never admit they needed relief (rescued) by Patton's army-they may have been surrounded, but they were holding their own... the commentary at the end of the 'series' had a couple of the old soldiers in the Bastogne woods looking over their foxholes overlooking the town of 'Foy'.

 

[SergeantChuck]

Thanks for the picture and the discussion. It's no secret I am retired army. To be more specific, I was an airborne ranger. Halfway through my career I was offered the opportunity to serve in an Airborne battalion in Italy. The only airborne unit it Europe outside the 10th Special Forces. I took advantage of my time in Europe and went to many sites like this over my four year tour. I visited the Bastogne area, Normandy, and Pointe du Hoc to name a few.

My visits were in the early 90’s. The one thing that I’ll remember more than anything were the people. They were so nice. They seemed to go out of their way to take care of you. That could have been good old European hospitality or they really loved Americans. I think it was the later. I had the same reception when I visited St. Mere Eglise.

At one point in my visit a lady pulled out an old photo album. She had some very old pictures. I don’t know how far back they went but they were very old and they were all soldiers she had met over the years. To present date. I imagine there is a photo of me in that book now.

The soldiers in those days had it rough. They did not have equipment like the soldiers of today’s army. The created the term “tough as nails”. I fought in Iraq in 1990, 2003, and 2005. It is a different kind of fighting and I’m willing to admit that these old school soldiers had much worse conditions. I don’t think you can even compare the two. Tough old bastards and I really like to be in the presence of guys like that.

I was part of a reenactment jump into St. Mere Eglise back in 1989. We jumped into a drop zone about 6 miles out of town and had to road march in for a ceremony. I had barely hit the ground and there was an old timer gathering my chute to help me pack it up. He was your typical proud old school soldier with all the pins on his hat. He shook my hand and told me to get on my way.

We arrived in town, completed the ceremony, and had some free time to mingle with the old timers and towns people. I’ll never forget my next conversation. I was talking to a group of about 5 old timers. They asked me how many jumps I had. Proudly, I answered, I have 67 jumps and I am a master rated jump master. Next came my question, how many jumps do you have? They all responded the same. I only have five. Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, Holland, and one for jump school. These guys had done one jump for training and then four combat jumps. Talk about feeling 1” tall.

Your photo and the conversations bring back some good old memories. I really miss those experiences.

 

[iaink]

We arrived in town, completed the ceremony, and had some free time to mingle with the old timers and towns people. I’ll never forget my next conversation. I was talking to a group of about 5 old timers. They asked me how many jumps I had. Proudly, I answered, I have 67 jumps and I am a master rated jump master. Next came my question, how many jumps do you have? They all responded the same. I only have five. Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, Holland, and one for jump school. These guys had done one jump for training and then four combat jumps. Talk about feeling 1” tall.

Brilliant story, Chuck.

My Dad landed in Normandy on D-Day.
I tried many times to talk to me about his experiences but he never would.
When he died in 1984 he still had bits of shrapnel is his right leg from when he was wounded. It would move about under the skin and sometimes you could feel it through the skin.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

the commentary at the end of the 'series' had a couple of the old soldiers in the Bastogne woods looking over their foxholes overlooking the town of 'Foy'.

That is exactly where the Photo was taken. I have some others and will post later.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

Some more pics as promised. You will see some buildings in the distance which are present day Foy. Some of the original buildings are still there. I believe that the foxhole in the second pic is being kept in a better state of preservation for visitors, but there are lots of others still evident where you would expect them to be. The trees are much taller now but the branches then were much closer to the ground in 1944, as one vet pointed out. There are similar forests close to where I live so I fully understand what he is talking about. In short there would have been better cover then but poorer visibility. Also, according to records, there was heavy snow on the ground and temps of about -28C. Many of the wounded soldiers were suffering from trench foot. We cannot have any idea of the suffering they endured, or how they coped, even before the bullets and shells started incoming ..........

 

[L.B.S.]

I just finished watching a documentary about "WWII In Colour" which had hours of old archival footage painstakingly colourized to as best possible conditions, and boy oh boy, it really did open up a whole new window as it were, to the old black and white stuff only ever seen.

My late father was only 300-ish kilometres or so away off in the Netherlands, as a Sniper for the PPCLI (Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry) being one of the first of the first to enter Apeldoorn. He didn't talk about too much stuff, but the few tales told that were not grisly, but humourous, are my fondest memories shared with Pops growing up.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

Further on on our trip we have been to this location on Vimy Ridge in Northern France. No doubt this is something all the Canadian members will be extremely proud of........



I suppose I should explain that my Wife and myself have an interest in the history of WW1 and WW2. We are currently touching off many such locations in the course of our Motorcycling holiday in France and Belgium.

 

[wickerman]

I just read about Vimy Ridge last night in Neil Peart"s (the drummer for Rush and motorcyclist) book "Far and Away: A Prize Every Time".

-France granted Canada perpetual use of a portion of land on Vimy Ridge under the understanding that the Canadians use the land to establish a battlefield park and memorial. France granted Canada "freely and for all time" the use of 250 acres (100 ha) of land on Vimy Ridge, in recognition of Canada's war effort. The only condition placed on the donation was that Canada use the land to erect a monument commemorating Canadian soldiers killed during the First World War and assume the responsibility for the maintenance of the memorial and the surrounding battlefield park.-

 

[2brnut2b]

Wow ! great memorial...I'm Canadian and very proud of it but only since you mentioned it simply because I didn't know about it...Do I like War? Nope but man I have the greatest respect for all theses guys who risked their life for their country.
Thanks for sharing, I want more !

 

[Flaferalcat]

My next door neighbor is from Belgium. He was a late adolescent/ early teen during WW-2 and has told me many stories about life under and with the Germans. Some funny, Some not so funny. A few he doesn't quite finish, and I don't encourage him too or ask why. One he likes to tell is how his brother stole an MP-40 from a German while he was taking in a bit too much at a local watering hole... and getting away with it to give to the Resistance. I once told him I wish I could get him, and his stories on tape or something to which he responded he'd only offer silence. Now that he's getting very much older, he doesn't or isn't able to tell as many stories as he had, and of course one day, lest my ego get the better of my caution or a careless cager changes things, memories of his stories will be all I have... So it goes I guess.
Anyway...Thanks for the pics Griff! and your sharings everyone!

 

[Deleted member 1183]

I just read about Vimy Ridge last night in Neil Peart"s (the drummer for Rush and motorcyclist) book "Far and Away: A Prize Every Time".

-France granted Canada perpetual use of a portion of land on Vimy Ridge under the understanding that the Canadians use the land to establish a battlefield park and memorial. France granted Canada "freely and for all time" the use of 250 acres (100 ha) of land on Vimy Ridge, in recognition of Canada's war effort. The only condition placed on the donation was that Canada use the land to erect a monument commemorating Canadian soldiers killed during the First World War and assume the responsibility for the maintenance of the memorial and the surrounding battlefield park.-

It is a spectacular and ironically beautiful memorial to over 60,000 Canadian casualties. Some WW1 Veterans at the time were not in favour of such monuments as they felt that they "rubber stamped" the slaughter that these monuments are commemorating. I can understand their point of view.

All around it the battlefield has been preserved together with inevitable remains of Soldiers from both sides, and buried unexploded ordnance. Apart from the portions of ground cleared for the actual memorial and its administration, there is not a level piece of ground there. This of course is the result of Allied Artillery barrages preceding the Canadian Infantry who took the Ridge. The following photograph will demonstrate. Sheep are used to keep the grass down. I suspect that any other method would be very unsafe for humans. The last photo is of a very large mine crater that had been set off under the German lines by Allied engineers tunnelling to get there. It is by no means the biggest I have seen. Some of the tunnels used to get to the location are still in existence and have been preserved.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

Given the interest of some members I will post other pics and comments over the next few days. If anyone finds it upsetting or morbid etc, please pm me and I will of course stop. All of these places are extremely moving. Even with the most vivid imagination, one still cannot adequately imagine the suffering that was encountered by the People they are commemorating. One also feels great anger against those who were responsible for sending them there. I am of course referring to the egos of ruling Princes and Politicians of the times.

 

[Agent]

In the little northeast Georgia town of Toccoa, you will find the Currahee Military Museum in the old Train Depot on the edge of downtown. This is a museum dedicated to the "Band of Brothers" and all soldiers trained at Camp Toccoa. I think admission is $8 or so and is well worth it. They have one of the actual barns that Easy Company stayed in during their time in France. If you talk to the ladies there, they can tell you how the soldiers had to come in on the train and walk the rest of the way to the Camp, past the town cemetery and the Toccoa Casket Company. They'll tell how the name of the camp was changed and how the little clickers were made. It really is fascinating and if you're riding through the mountains anyway, it's not too far out of the way.

 

[Fuzzy]

My father was in the Navy during WWII. He never talked about it much. His father was in the Navy in WW1. My son is two generations removed but flies in the Air Force and flew combat in Iraq having volunteered for a special assignment. He also flies WWI and WWII planes for a museum. He frequently states how honored he is to help keep the memories alive by keeping the planes flying for all to see. Not all of the war-birds he flies are from my father's and grandfather's side of the wars. It is good to remember that most of the people in the front lines fighting on the other side were normal people called to serve their government just as my ancestors were.