75 replies to this topic

[Peter M]

It's just strange to see him doing this isn't it...

Very, very strange man.

[George Armstrong Custer]

I didn't suppose you needed to see the one of Adolf's valet cleaning his boots before he gets back into the car ,so I didn't scan it.

I wouldn't mind seeing that if you get a moment to scan it, Dave! So AH was prepared to get his boots dirty exploring the scenes of his Great War service, eh? But what a change from his days as a runner in the trenches to have a flunkey to clean his boots before stepping back into the chauffer-driven Merc! As others have said, this is fascinating stuff thanks to you, Aurel and Alan's images.

ciao,
GAC

[stevew]

Steve,

As to the building in Ypres opposite the Cloth Hall ....
I'm afraid it is your ... imagination.  ;-)

Aurel

Aurel,

If you remember I can't find Little Bertha in Boezinge, so getting the distance from the edge of the road to the buildings is an easy mistake IMHO

Steve

[inishowen]

Dave -
many thanks for posting the photo of hitler at Langemark. Its exactly the one I was thinking of.
Fearghal

[CROONAERT]

I wouldn't mind seeing that if you get a moment to scan it, Dave! So AH was prepared to get his boots dirty exploring the scenes of his Great War service, eh? But what a change from his days as a runner in the trenches to have a flunkey to clean his boots before stepping back into the chauffer-driven Merc!

OK then....

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[CROONAERT]

Also did he visit Messines during this tour of former WW1 sites ?

Looking at the itinery,Mick, I don't think he did. The tour on this day ended at Wijtschaete and the next day encompassed Arras, etc.

Dave

[CROONAERT]

Another of the nostalgic moments for Adolf - a visit to the wall in front of which he was photographed back in 1916 (Fournes en Weppes)...

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[CROONAERT]

...and the famous 1916 shot to which I was referring...

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[CROONAERT]

I wonder what was going through his mind at this moment!...

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[59165]

Thats easy,Dave...
"Whats behind curtain no.1"

[Andy in Brum]

Fascinating and chilling thread. Thank you.

Andy

[AndyHollinger]

So much to think about.  Pictures 60 years old ... showing a side to the war that is so different than what happened further.  A PR trip ... memory lane for a high placed gov't official remember when he was a soldier - would be camera fodder for any gov't at any time.  Think JFK visiting PT109 stuff ... you can imagine the official photographers, the soldiers with their Licas, Brownies, etc.  Film crews rushing from place to place ... all that sort of stuff.  Minor level propaganda officals trying to decide what to do with Vimy Ridge in the New Europe, etc.

But all so horribly different knowing the man's a monster.  The older I get, the more I teach history, the more I believe in the Great Evil.  He tanscends almost everyone except his contemporary, Stalin.

[Owen D]

Not Hitler at the Menin Gate but a 2pdr.
From "Dunkirk and After" by Gordon Beckles. Undated

[Owen D]

From After The Battle's Blitzkrieg In The West.
German Horse Transport under the Menin Gate May 1940.

[George Armstrong Custer]

Yes, the old Gate's seen some coming and going as the European story unfolded in the first half of the 20th century, hasn't it? Great pics of some of what it's borne witness to, Owen.

ciao,
GAC

[Owen D]

I was interested to see how the statues at Vimy appear to be boxed in. In the pictures with the memorial in the background you can see a dark shape between the two pylons, and in another picture you can see the central "Canada Grieving for her Lost Children" statue boarded up, too, still in situ, but looking as though it's inside a crate. I wonder why they did this? Protection from air raids, perhaps?

Tom

During the Battle of Arras May 1940, units of both 50th Div and  5th Div had at different times taken  up postions on Vimy Ridge in the old trenches of the Memorial Park.
On the Memorial itself the 92nd Field Regiment RA  had established an OP in support of 50 Div.
I expect the memorial had its protection put there during the Phoney War.

[Tom Morgan]

Thanks Owen - I know zilch about that period, so your comments are very welcome.

Tom

[Wpg Jake]

I remember reading somewhere that Hitler actually posted guards at Vimy to prevent vandalism...I wonder if this was a common problem during the occupation.  Just read and was properly shocked by the behaviour of some french citizens at the memorial recently....what would the dead be thinking indeed.

[Frank_East]

Hitler's driver in the photograph appears to be Erich Kempka, his personal chaffeur since 1936 but a driver within the higher circles of the Nazi Party since 1930.

As Hitler's chauffeur, Kempka held the the post of Sturmbannfuehrer within Hitler's bodyguard, the SS Leibstandarte.

Hitler's HQ during the Western Front campaign was at Bruly de Peche and after the battle in early July, 1940, he visited the former Great War battlefields where his unit, the "Liste" Regiment had served.He invited Max Amann his former sergeant (now Reichsleiter of the German press and his publisher) to accompany his party.Also invited to the HQ  was the former "Liste" Regiment staff adjutant, the former Captain, Fritz Wiedemann,now his personal adjutant, who along with Amann had recommended Hitler for the Iron Cross First Class.

When at the Chemin de Dames, Hitler marched across a field, map in hand to point out some trenches which had partially collapsed and ditches piled up with rubbish and rusting barbed wire.Full of pride, he pointed out where he had served as a messenger in the Great War.Amann and Wiedemann being eye wittnesses to his heroism of that war were on hand during the tour to heap praise on him and Hitler's personality livened up such that no one of his staff he seen him in this good mood for some time.

Earlier at Hitler's HQ on the evening of 15 June 1940, the first reports began to circulate through the HQ that the French were seeking an armistice.After many exchanges of congratulations between Hitler's staff and driven on by recalling Hitler's words that Compiegne would be the scene of German triumph, Hitler gave instructions for serious celebrations to commence.The aftermath was that on the evening of 15 June 1940, Hitler's entire staff were drunk.

It is not recorded what Hitler drunk as although formally teetotal, he frequently drank champagne which he referred to as vinegar water and was known to have a sly drink of cognac back on the Obersalzburg.

[geoff501]

At the risk of running slightly off-topic, here is my favourite photo of the corporal. Thanks, I now I have a name for the driver (Kempka). This is on Saxon Square, Warsaw October 1939. Right outside the self same building where Polish cryptographers first broke the German Enigma machine almost a decade earlier. Hitler went to war with the same machine, used by all services, substantially unmodified. Official British Intelligence estimates was that codebreaking shortened the corporal's war for those who fought on land, sea and air by 2 years.

 hitler.jpg   56.22K   3 downloads

[Frank_East]

At the risk of running slightly off-topic, here is my favourite photo of the corporal. Thanks, I now I have a name for the driver (Kempka). This is on Saxon Square, Warsaw October 1939. Right outside the self same building where Polish cryptographers first broke the German Enigma machine almost a decade earlier. Hitler went to war with the same machine, used by all services, substantially unmodified. Official British Intelligence estimates was that codebreaking shortened the corporal's war for those who fought on land, sea and air by 2 years.

 hitler.jpg   56.22K   3 downloads

Geoff,

Interesting stuff.

As I see it,the problem was that the Germans used the Enigma machine which was initially in service by the Swiss banking industry and was not subject to restriction as to its availability on the open market.The Germans used it as a short cut for their military use and paid heavily for the decision not to carry out their own research and development to create their unique product.

[chrislock]

From After The Battle's Blitzkrieg In The West.
German Horse Transport under the Menin Gate May 1940.

And don't forget the battle damage was repaired with matching cement, to hide the scars of that May 1940 battle after the war. Well, apart from the German anti tank cannon round strikes, which can be seen today on the face of the rear right piller, above the sign telling all, that there are no New Zealand soldiers on this Memorial. According to Dominique Dendovan's book "The Menin Gate" These cannon strikes were repaired in dark grey cement, to remind the people of Ieper, that Germany has invaded not once ( as per the memorial ) but twice, as per the now obvious repaired WW2 damage. Fascinating book. By the way, accoding to the book, the memorial was planned for the Lille Gate, but sub strata would not support the weight, hence why plans altered for the Menin Gate entrance!

[George Armstrong Custer]

Again, this is a great pic of the Gate bearing witness to Chapter II of the great European wars of the first half of last century. Must be from an early After The Battle, and not one I've seen a copy of?

ciao,
GAC

[pwtgb]

Absolutely fascinating to see this pictures. Thank you one and all.

pwtgb

[CROONAERT]

. Must be from an early After The Battle, and not one I've seen a copy of?

It's from Jean-Paul Pallud's huge book "Blitzkrieg in the West, Then and Now" published by After the Battle. Highly reccommended if you have an interest in this period (though, like practically every other book on this period, it's a little weak on detail about the combats to the immediate north and south of Ieper (the town wasn't attacked "front-on" from the east as is claimed in some publications) between the 26th and 28th May 1940).

A fascinating period in the history of the area, IMO. Some very recognisable names saw action again in these dark days - Hollebeke, Oostaverne, Wijtschaete (especially Wijtschaete!), St.Eloi, The Bluff, Zillebeke, Hill 60, Kemmel, Loker, Dranoutre, Brielen, Boesinge, Steenstraat, etc, etc. and so-on through Diksmude and beyond.

Dave