Do we have a "landmark" here? The towers in the distance are distinctive. Does anybody recognize them? Jan
Do we have a "landmark" here? The towers in the distance are distinctive. Does anybody recognize them? Jan I have a book 'France, mai-juin, l'ampleur d'un desastre', with then and now pics throughout France. (Only a couple of BEF pics.) Since these are all French vehicles I had a look through. The only potential twin towers I found were l'eglise Saint-Charles-Borromee in Sedan. Any good? Andrew
I have also been searching through hundreds of old postcards from the villages behind Dunkirk, and indeed I couldn't find any twin towers. But this must be it! Well done Andrew! Another fact to prove this location: the landscape isn't flat enough for the Dunkirk area. So this is no clue for our "area for destruction of equipment"... But while I was looking at all these postcards, I came across this one: There were many postcards with windmills, but only one with twin mills. Could this be the location of the photograph in #8 I wonder? Jan
And these are two identical pictures from two different Wehrmacht albums. This must have been one of a series of "souvenir photographs" (n° 58 from the series? Both pictures are numbered "58" at the back...???). On the first one we can read the typical remark "Engl. Rückzug Dünkirchen" or "English retreat at Dunkirk". But the text on the back of the second picture is more interesting: "Engl. Fahrzeuge bei Haeghe - Meulen 2.6.40", or "English vehicles at Haeghe - Meulen 2.6.40". Haeghe - Meulen is a tiny village between Bergues and Hondschoote, and as we can see from the maps below it is right in the middle of this "area for destruction of equipment": Do we have another clue here? Jan Same place, other view: Jan
Nice detective work Jan. When are we going knocking on farm doors ? They must have stashed something away !
I 've read that the Germans were very efficient in clearing all the vehicles away ,with the total wrecks going as scrap metal. Must have been hundreds of wheels left with the locals though as every vehicle picture you see has some/all wheels missing ! I'm assuming it was the locals , wonder if they were nicked for farm trailers/carts? Hi Craig. It looks like most of the vehicles that are missing wheels have been burned. I see a few sitting on brake drums but most of the ones without rubber seem to be sitting on their wheel rims with the tires burned away. Just a thought. Great pictures. Dave
Nice detective work Jan. When are we going knocking on farm doors ? They must have stashed something away ! Wheels!
Wheels! I do believe that you're right ! It must be worth a try. Would it be something like this ? "Avez-vous des vieilles roues anglaises ?" I'd be happy with a box of nuts and bolts if they were BSF or BSC ! The toolkits are another thing. Northern France and Belgium must be full of Imperial tools that don't fit anything but they're hiding them from me.
With all them small farms you'd think theres got to be stuff out there still , barns full of Whitworth 11/16 spanners maybe ! Craig
Didn't a farmer recently pull a complete German kitchen wagon out of a barn recently? I can't recall what country it was in. Does anyone remember reading about that? Dave
I know a farmer near Ypres with a few Bren Carrier wheels in his pile of farm junk! Edited to say: He still has them and tells how his father wanted them for use as wheelbarrow (that tooks ages to translate with hand gestures) wheels!
And these are two identical pictures from two different Wehrmacht albums. This must have been one of a series of "souvenir photographs" (n° 58 from the series? Both pictures are numbered "58" at the back...???). On the first one we can read the typical remark "Engl. Rückzug Dünkirchen" or "English retreat at Dunkirk". But the text on the back of the second picture is more interesting: "Engl. Fahrzeuge bei Haeghe - Meulen 2.6.40", or "English vehicles at Haeghe - Meulen 2.6.40". Haeghe - Meulen is a tiny village between Bergues and Hondschoote, and as we can see from the maps below it is right in the middle of this "area for destruction of equipment": Do we have another clue here? Jan Same place, other view: Jan This one says "Hondschoote", which is only a few kilometers east from Haeghe Meulen: Jan
I remember several accounts of this scene from 50th Division men whose units abandoned their vehicles there. They all said it was one of the most depressing sights they ever saw; for some, it was the first time they realized just how desperate the BEF's situation really was.
Here is a better photo without the red letters on top i won it from the seller of the above photo. Bergues. Keith
Hey guys. I got the war diaries from the 503 coy RASC (thanks to Andy). It looks like they destroyed/abandoned their vehicles inbetween Kiliem and Hondschoote on the raod D947 on May 29th, as per the diaries. It looks like right at Hondschoote where they were told to abandon their vehicles and proceed to the beach. There was also another area on the Proven to Rousebrugge-Haringhe road where No.1 Echelon abandoned their vehicles and jumped on board with 2 Echelon wiuntil Hondschoote where the rest of the vehicles were abandoned. I've been doing a lot of research on the RASC and it appears that large amounts of equipment and trucks were destroyed in this area under the watchful eye of the Military Police. Another tidbit, some of them were ordered to dump their supllies in the canal on the Bray Dunes side. Anyone have any idea what canal that might be? http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/47132-sgt-noel-f-stockton-42nd-division/ post #21 talks about the vehicles on May 29. There is also a couple interviews on the IWM archives from RASC members who said they were told to abandon their vehicles at Kiliem, just south of Hondschoote and head to La Panne and Bray Dunes.
