Shoulderboard marking a moment in time

[Schulterklappen]

Trun is a French town that lies at the mouth of the Falaise Pocket.

[novedvory]

Trun is a famous small town located in the Falaise Gap !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falaise_pocket

[Stepdale]

Nice one Glen, or should I refer to you by your formal title of "Herr Glen Schulterklappen?"
Dale

[OSS]

Definitely interesting to know where a souvenir or war trophy was picked up.

[Waffenreich]

I suspect the absence of the tongue probably means this board was ripped or cut right off the tunic.

Very nice piece!

vr

Bob

[Schulterklappen]

Name

Nice one Glen, or should I refer to you by your formal title of "Herr Glen Schulterklappen?"
Dale

I found that "Hey You" and around here "Hey Buddy" works pretty good too!

[Schulterklappen]

The Canadians

My mother was a Canadian war bride who married my dad from Alabama; talk about culture shock! so, I have a whole side of my family that I have little contact with. On of my Uncle's, Andy, served with the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, 13th Field Artillery. He died in 1980 and I never got to meet him; but, I believe he landed at Juno Beach and fought on to the end of the war.

With the 70th anniversary of the landings, I have been thinking a a lot about the Canadian role in the Normandy campaign. The 3rd Canadian locked in epic struggles with the 12. SS Panzer in the earlier part of the campaign. I am sure that no quarter was given by either side at points in the campaign.

The most shocking thing that I have learned about the campaign was the fight for Verrières Ridge. This was a key defensive position outside of Caen. Amongst the defenders, 1. & 2. SS Panzer Divisions, 272. Infanterie Division, 116. Panzer, and 101. Schwere Panzer Abteilung. Between July 19-25 the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division launched a series of attacks with the South Saskatchewan and Essex Scottish suffering 582 casualties on the 20th. A murderous crescendo was reached on the 25th when the Black Watch Regiment assembled 325 men for an attack; of those, only 15 made it back, the rest were killed, wounded or captured.

Later, after Falaise Pocket was closed, Eisenhower toured the battlefield and said, "The battlefield at Falaise was unquestionably one of the greatest "killing fields" of any of the war areas. Forty-eight hours after the closing of the gap I was conducted through it on foot, to encounter scenes that could be described only by Dante. It was literally possible to walk for hundreds of yards at a time, stepping on nothing but dead and decaying flesh."

May all the dead in Normandy, both sides, rest in peace.

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