Battle of the bulge museum !

[Jos L C]

Hello Des,
I've made most pictures standing on my wife's shoulders,so the glass wouldn't reflect the flashlight...
Seriously though,there's a second floor in the museum and I made the pics hanging over the fence.
Nice you like them !

Jos.

[Luftm40]

Hi, I just returned from a very busy trip to Stuttgart. We did manage to dash over to Bastogne and the surrounding area though. The museum in Diekirk (sp?) Belgium (or Luxembourg, I can't remember) is a sight to behold. Dozens of life size dioramas using real stuff, German and US. Thousands of items, and I was hard pressed to spot any fillers or fakes. I mean remarkable. In particular, there was an FJ diorama with probably close to $.5M dollars worth of stuff in it, by the time you added up the helmets, weapons, smocks etc. That was just one. I asked about the displays on my way out, and was told that the museum was run more or less by collectors. That explained the incredible attention to detail. Also of interest, we made it a point to travel to Foy, right out side of Bastogne. This is where E co, Band of Brothers, were dug in and had a memorable battle. The attack on Foy was where their replacement CO freaked out, and the other guy saved the day. Anyway, we walked back into the woods, and to my amazement found the old fighting positions. regulation fox holes dug at regular intervals, now 3/4 full of pine needles and dirt. I was kicking around in one of the holes, and lifted up what I thought was a stick. It turned out to be a solid shot spent German tank round. After realizing what a dumb a** I was being for digging around where there might be unexploded ordnance, I left. It was strange, there were bits of Jerry cans and other debris just laying on the surface, and even a wrecked US 1/2 track pulled back into the woods. There had obviously been people thru there with metal detectors though.

[Simon O.]

I hope the museum has good security and insurance. If the wrong people put 2 and 2 together and realised there was so much of value there......well you get the idea.
Sad to read that it was obvious metal detectorists had been through the area of Foy, gives the hobby a bad name. You're supposed to leave an area in the same condition or better in which you found it.


Simon

[Ralph A]

Radio post

Where's the Enigma?

Wanted:

One early model three-rotor Heer Enigma. Will take in trade for militaria or....awww....forget it.

Can dream though, eh?

[Simon O.]

Ralph
The local museum here has a three rotor enigma. The place got broken into a couple of years back, the thieves ignored the enigma and went for a bunch of KM cloth insignia instead!


regards

Simon

[David S]

Great photos

Thanx for the tour

[Jürg]

Museum Decembre 1944 in La Gleize

Hi all

well this is a great museum to visit. It's a privat collection and I have been there already twice I plan to go for a third time next year. About the Kingtiger it was the tank of Obersturmführer Dollinger who was hit in the Gun barrel and was left behind.

If you go to the Ardennes there are several more museums to pay attention: for example the one in La Roche-en-Ardenne or in my opinion the Diekirch military museum in Diekirch/Luxembourg

Check this links: http://www.december44.com/english/index_fr.html

http://www.nat-military-museum.lu/m-index.html

cheers from Switzerland