St. Malo

[scotty1418]

Bombardment of the cite d'alet... There is some great footage (citing IWM sources) of planes flying over and just making pass after pass to bomb it into submission, which wasn't very successful

[scotty1418]

An island further out in the channel, which escapes me now, was just as heavily fortified as the 'cite' and was within range of the fort. So both locations coordinated artillery against each other upon attacks. The island held out much longer, until early September when a British cruiser was tasked with doing the job... This is what the terrain looked like afterwards

[scotty1418]

St. Malo after the battle. 80% of the city was completely destroyed...

[scotty1418]

A machine gun post/viewing point for the germans...the little funny slit thing is a 180 degree periscope

[scotty1418]

I think this gives a pretty good idea of how much the fort got hit...

I like this one best because you can still visibly see an exploded shell stuck in there

[scotty1418]

walking around the outside of the fort...

[scotty1418]

One of several craters that are hidden in the foliage outside the fort...

[scotty1418]

A complex facing outward...

[scotty1418]

finally, the remains of a flak emplacement right by the beach. It was rather eerie to see the reminders so ingrained in the landscape that they were part of every day life...

[Fred S]

Thanks for sharing!
By the way I have a M35 heer helmet that came out from a St Malo basement last year, it was there since 1944.

[Erwin L]

Another semi-island (Grand Be) attached to the town. Low tide it looks like this, High tide, very much an island. There were a decent amount of german constructions on it.

Hello Scotty,

This pictures reminds me on the day i was there with my girlfriend. When we went to the island while it was low tide. We made some pictures on top and sat there for a while to enjoy the vieuw. When we were going back it was getting high tide. The water reaches above our knees when we walked back trough the water. We were lucky there were some other people and they had to be picked up by a boat. Those tourist

Thanks for the pictures.

regards erwin

[scotty1418]

I noticed on the island that there is a little emergency calling box, I figured precisely for the situations when those 'stupid tourists' dont realize they missed the tides!

It's a great vacationing place aside from all the history too!

Wolhans,

If I may ask, how'd you come across the helmet? If you consider what buildings were left of the city, that's some luck!

[DaveNZ]

Great pictures and narration: thanks!

[Fred S]

Wolhans,

If I may ask, how'd you come across the helmet? If you consider what buildings were left of the city, that's some luck!

You can ask, no worries:
A guy I know up there was supposed to fix some stuff in a lady house.
The house belonged to her father, and his job was to repair radio equipments, before, during and after the war.
When my friend went to the basement, he saw the helm and ask if he could get it. The reply was yes. He traded to me later for some 1/6 figurines. Et voila!
It was full of dirt, some rust, cleaned it a bit with water to make go some moisture.
I join a picture, some more St Malo relic.

In the basement there were still a lot of vintage radios, and a big military radio in 3 different pieces...Unfortunately he didn't picture it so I can't know what it is . If he has to do some more work he'll picture it, maybe some good news to come.

[scotty1418]

Thanks for the response Wolhans. As always its the link to history that makes an item so special. I'm sure if I had that helmet after seeing what the german experience was like, I'd value it more than a para bought for a wad of cash. That's a great piece you have!

Je vous remercie
Scott