Hi All, I was looking again at two photographs shot by LIFE photographer Bob Landry 'near Sainte Mere Eglise'. The pair are on Niels's wanted list for some time now and I am glad to be able to report the finding of a very good 'probable' location for them. Below are the elusive moments in time: There are two high resolution versions on the web if readers want to take a closer look: #1 (GIs at Pond) #2 (GIs with Half Track) [Click Images to Zoom] In off list correspondence, Niels has indicated that photo #2 is flipped due to the 50 cal showing on the wrong side of the vehicle. I have therefore flipped both images right to left in the working copies shown above. Note the GI in photo #1 is now carrying his carbine on his right shoulder - a more likely event. The location for photo #1 I now believe to be the large pond in the north east quadrant of the Les Forges crossroads as indicated on the screenshots below. First IGN cover flown in 1947: Note the now closed Blosville Cemetery in the south western quadrant of the crossroads and the dark patch of the pond inside the red rectangle next to the farmyard diagonally across the road, zoomed to below: There are two fields in shot at photo #1 and I have labelled them 'Glider Field' and 'Armour Field' for obvious reasons. My estimate of where Bob Landry was standing when he took photo #1 is indicated by the red circle. The wooden gate at left would appear to lead into the farmyard if this is correct. The high resolution extract from Bing Maps below gives the best view of the site today with the rough angle-of-view indicated by the broken purple lines: Unfortunately, as many of you will know, there is little available cover from the NCAP archives for the Les Forges crossroads and the only frame we have in the Forum Library is the ever fruitful (but very soft) NCAP_ACIU_US7GR_1857_8010 flown on the 12th June. Below is an extract showing our AoI: Image Credit: RCAHMS/www.aerial.rcahms.gov.uk The famous Les Forges aerial showing the gliders circling LZ 'W' does, just about, catch the pond on extreme right but does not help us here: Photo #2 appears to show the same hedgerow 'B' (probably not the same Sherman though) in the distance and I would wonder if we are seeing one or more of the gliders though the gap in Hedgerow 'A' over the left shoulder of the GI at left of the correctly(?) flipped version. I would also wonder if we are seeing a rubber dinghy from the Waco embedded in the other (north) side of Hedgerow 'A' Let me have your thoughts guys. Regards, Pat
Thanks Pat, good to know I'm not the only one looking at this location. It's one of those locations we need to see from the ground to be sure, but it seems the photos of the pond are playing tricks on us regarding its dept and shape. I've been unable to find a more suitable location closer to SME, which I why I keep coming back to this one. And obviously the date of 7 June and the presence of tanks would make sense as well. Captions are notoriously unreliable, but this one might be the exception. Some things seem important to notice: 1: if this is the correct location, the 'armor field' is visible on Photo 1 by looking through the gap created by Hedgerow A and the island, which severely limits the LOS (this becomes important later in this post). Position of 'HR-A' in relation to the pond and the shape of the pond seems to match. The curve in HR-A on photo 1 is exagerated by the terrain sloping down towards the pond, it should be more straight when looked at from above. 2: It is also important to determine the exact LOS looking into the Glider Field. 2a: On Photo 1 there is a small bush 'obscuring' the glider. On the aerial photo that (line of) bush(es) may seem more subtantial than it really is, and it may not have obscured the LOS in real life. The famous Les Forges photo is inconclusive about this small bush, but it shows there are trees that quickly limit the LOS towards the left. 2b: Where is the glider that seems to be resting in/against 'Hedgerow A'? Is it just a matter of the angle of the '44 Aerial photograph? Based on the LOS, it is probably much closer to the pond than the other gliders. This is a very importan reason I've not been absolutely convinced about this location so far. 3: HR-A starts with a few tall trees, followed by a gap and more tall trees. The shadows on the 12 June photo seem to match this. 4: HR-B on Photo 2 might look more substantial than it really is because the hedgerow just behind it fills in the gaps. A very detailed LOS analysis might determine the exact area visible on photo 1 [and 2] relative to the 1947 aerial photo. The 12 June photo might be useful to determine to position of the Shermans on Photo 1 relative to HR-B, by looking at the shadows from the trees.
Hi Niels, I was worried too about the apparent curve in hedgerow 'A' as seen in photo #1 but I came to the same conclusion regarding the ground sloping down to the pond. The lack of sighting for the Waco in photo #1 when viewing the extract from NCAP_ACIU_US7GR_1857_8010 does not overly concern me. I am pretty sure it is embedded far enough into the north side of hedgerow 'A' for it to be obscured from view in the aerial shot. BTW, is the white circle around the star on the front of the sherman enough to tag these vehicles as 746th TB? Regards, Pat
Another thought; Is the round steel side of the 50 cal position visible through hedgerow 'A' in photo #1? Regards, Pat