Hi All, This thread is opened in order to facilitate discussion on Doc Lage and his medics from 2/502 PIR during their time in Normandy. This is the building which I wondered might be a match for the location in the photos in Mark Bando's book '101st Airborne - The Screaming Eagles at Normandy' showing an aid station behind a group of Doc Lage's medics from 2/502 PIR: The first photo appears on page 84 of the 2001 edition and the second on page 87. Its the lean-to shed at the back of the house which has caught my eye. However, the big fly in the ointment is that the present day house is a two storey building as seen in this GM 'street view', while the 1944 house is clearly a single storey as seen in a third photo on page 90 and captioned as being possibly in Saint Come du Mont! However, last time I looked, I could find no good candidate in that village. Also, as far as I can make out, this house I am looking at here is Building No. 2 in the Summers action. For the benefit of all visitors to the area, the buildings in the 'XYZ' complex at Les Mezieres are private property. I know there has been some issues in the past caused by individuals not respecting this fact. Regards, Pat
Copied reply from John in the original 'WXYZ Complex, D-Day Afternoon' thread (that post now deleted).
Copied reply from myself in the original 'WXYZ Complex, D-Day Afternoon' thread (that post now deleted).
Copied reply from John in the original 'WXYZ Complex, D-Day Afternoon' thread (that post now deleted).
Copied reply from Yuri in the original 'WXYZ Complex, D-Day Afternoon' thread (that post now deleted).
Hi Yuri, Yes, I have seen the photo and its without doubt taken at the same location as the other two. John has been in touch with Mark via email regarding this location, so I'll let him post before I comment further. Regards, Pat
[align=left]Hi All, I had some discussion with Mark Bando in where he believed that the photos initially where from Doc Lage's 2nd aid station at St Come du Mont, but now Mark is strongly considering that they were taken at the 3rd aid station at Liesville. I had hoped to obtain a better quality photo from Mark so we can do comparisons but for now this is the best I can do from his book. [/URL][/img] John
Hi John, Yesterday I had a good look at available IGN cover flown post war right up to the 1970s and failed to see a conclusive match to Mark’s ground photos. However I should qualify this by stating that the definition within these frames was not good enough to rule out Liesville sur Douve as a location. A few things to ponder: Could the object over the left shoulder of the Frenchman at left in the photo you posted above be the outside pier of the church gateway? Are the two gables closest to the camera offset from each other? Is the trooper at right in the above photo sitting on a right angle corner of the wall? The village is caught on the extreme western edge of frame 8010, sortie US7GR/1857 flown on the 12th June. However, the definition here is far worse than the post war IGN cover. I also checked for old post cards of the village, but again, no luck…so far Regards, Pat
Hi All, Ok I agree, but can someone tell me how we know so I don't feel like a fool. I deleted my earlier poor assumption... John
Hi John, After looking at Patrick's location today, I must confess I too completely missed it, despite looking in that hamlet only last night on GE 'street view' :s Looking at it now, I have no doubt but that its the correct location: The all important shed at right angles to the house, seen in the two other photos on pages 84 and 87 in Mark's book '101st Airborne - The Screaming Eagles in Normandy', is also visible on IGN cover flown in 1955: Below is the first of the two shed photos; this one being from page 84: Beyond doubt in my view - thanks Patrick Regards, Pat
Hi All, Thanks to John's efforts in contacting Mark Bando on this quest, Mark has kindly agreed to let us use the original colour version of the road group here: Being an original, uncropped and unpublished, I have heavily watermarked it, but nonetheless, it shows remarkable clarity over the B&W version published in the book on page 90. Note how we can now clearly see the trooper third from right is looking down into a camera viewfinder while smoking a cigarette. The Frenchman is also now much clearer and my 'church gate pier' appears to be this end wall! A fantastic photo - thank you Mark for sharing it Regards, Pat
Hi All, I am in complete agreement! I contacted Mark Bando today and he believes that this is the correct place and that he had identified it about 15 years ago on his only trip into that area. Mark does seem to have some interest in getting back into this area in the future and I'll quote his email here: " You might know that the daily overseas reports for the 502 were burned in a bonfire after VE day in 1945, and NARA has almost ZERO about that regiment during the Normandy campaign. What interests me more about the Liesville area, is where the 2/502 dug a foxhole line as they were part of the generally west-facing MLR of the 101st division around 8-9 June, 1944. The daily map overlays and situation reports which would've given us those coordinates no longer seem to exist. I am similarly puzzled about precisely where 1st Bn 506th had their MLR during the same time period. As I mentioned to you before, C Co. of the 506th was facing south near la Croix (w/of St Come du Mont) and the C-47 which crashed near the RR bridge over the Merderet was in front of their foxholes. This definitely bears more investigation and permission is probably needed to explore the property from the owners of Rampan Manor." Maybe something else for all of us to look into? John