Monday 8 July 2013

Normandy trip – Day four – Bayeux and Radar Museum

The group stopped in Bayeux for lunch and a tour of the museum of the Bayux tapestries. During lunch Jan and I found a guide-book at the tourist information centre, and found something called Musée Memorial de la Bataille de Normandie.
Given the choice of old cloth (Ok, they are interesting, and are war-related) and D-Day, we chose the latter.
The museum turned out to be very interesting, with a lot of gear and vehicles inside, and a good movie also. Absolutely recommended if you happen to be in the vicinity. Unfortunately there was a ban on photography inside the museum, but there were some AFV:s outside that I hadn’t seen before on the trip.
Hetzer, one of the very few German AFV:s we saw. In bad condition sadly enought.
American M10
And a Sherman, always Shermans….
A Churchill Crocodile, unfortunately missing its armoured trailer. But still.

Next stop: Musée du Radar.
This relatively new museum shows the radar facility in Douvres-la-Délivandre and gives a good overview of its history. Don’t miss the very good guide-book when you buy your tickets.
Würzburg Riese radar. Very impressive.
On site in 1944 was also a Wasserman radar, but it was destroyed in the fighting. Here is a diorama of how it looked. One of six very nice dioramas in 1/87 scale showing different wartime radars.
Bunker turned into a museum. This two-story bunker was the nerve centre of the base, and was used as fighter command.
A diorama in 1/47 scale, showing the construction of the bunker. Really nice.
Assorted stuff on display.
Another bunker, this one a shelter.
A barracks, if I remember correct.
A smaller radar.
A great museum showing something quite unique, well worth a visit.

Rest of the trip:
Part 1 – Day 1
Part 6 – Day 3 - Merville
Part 9 – Day 4 - Bocage

3 comments:

  1. I was just pondering what paint scheme to use for my 251 for the group build. Your Hetzer solved the problem. Awsome camo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Looking forward to seeing that 251. It is a striking camo.

      Delete
  2. Nice pictures. The nit-picker in me noted several things:

    The tracks on the Shermans are painted the same colour as the tanks. Me suspects a repaint. On the other hand, the churchill does not have it's tracks painted, and appears to be a spot-on match for Vallejo Russian Uniform.

    Oh, and the MG in the bunker is a french Chaterrault M/29. So I wonder if it was used by the germans, it's quite possible that garrison troops used it. Interesting nevertheless.

    ReplyDelete