Francois_Dumas Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Yesterday, 2nd day of Easter, Nina and I headed out to the War and Resistance Museum in Overloon, in the south of the country. We were promised WARM weather for several days..... and were hoping this Monday woould indeed be better than the preceding Sunday, when we also made a ride... in pretty cold weather. Unfortunately the wind was still blowing.... and by the time we covered the 200 km's Nina was shivering with cold. I didn't have too much problems, but then again, up front is the better place to be. We headed to the cafetaria forst, to try and get a bit warmer.. had some coffees and toasted bread. But while I was sweating in my too-warm motor jacket, Nina kept shivering. The museum has been called Oorlogsmuseum Overloon for as long as I can remember, but now it has been renamed in 'Liberty Park'. Here's the English language web site: http://www.oorlogsmuseum.nl/uk Since I didn't take any pictures of our ride yesterday, let me make up with a few today and share part of the motorcycle collection today..... Below is the path through the park, leading to the brand new exhibition halls and restaurant. Now, I had been to the museum when I was a kid, oh... well over forty years ago... I found a few black and white snapshots of that visit, not so long ago (yes, in a shoebox) and those had me wanting to re-visit. What I remember the only thing out there at the time was a big park with old tanks and guns and a Spitfire between the trees. All were pretty worn out at the time already (this was only 15 years or so after the war ended) from all the kids climbing all over the things. These old things are still there, and kids can still climb onto them.... here a German field gun But the rest of the museum, has changed dramatically.... at the entrance is this MP with a dignitary following in a truck... yes, bit of a strange pose.... Once past that guy we found a huge hall, filled with WW2 equipment from both sides, but also with a large collection of 'Cold War' Soviet equipment, some new(-ish) Dutch Army UN stuff and a few relics from the Vietnam war ! Here's a great old Zündapp ! Further down the hall there was an entire collection of military motorcycles... the main story of my tale. A Moto Guzzi And this must be a Harley..... (I forgot some of the names, so as to have an excuse to go back once more... I really liked it, but Nina is not so interested in these old things.... after all, they are CARS and motorcycles :-P ). Imagine having an M1 tied to your RT like that....... no more cagers preventing you from lane splitting !!! This one is newer, they are not ALL from the WW2 era.... .... and a Triumph It says Norton on the tank, so it must be a Norton..... 8-) An Indian ! I used to have a smal diecast model of it..... Cold War stuff... an old MZ ! This is why the communists sort of 'lost' in the end .... would YOU want to be seen on something like this !!?? One of the weird inventions of the 2nd WW.... this little foldable 'scooter' was designed for the British para's. Not sure they used many..... An old bridge in the park and a Valentine bridge layer on the left. By this time we were leaving, becasue we had promised Vivian, our daughter, to drop by on our way home and have dinner at her place! Of course it all went wrong again.... 2nd Easter Day, Netherlands, reasonable weather... what does that translate into !?? Exactly.... 100's of kilomters of backed up cars everwywhere. We did about 50 km of lane splitting... and I still do NOT like it a bit! But it saved us at least an hour, and we were still late for dinner. Oh, you know what ? As much as I love this old equipment...... for riding myself I prefer my comfy RT these days !!! Oh yes, I forgot.. my silly daughter always needs to goof with one thing or other.. this time it was my camera ! Here we are ready to leave..... mydelf, Menno, Vivian's friend, and Nina (on the back and finally warm again!) That was the 'motor' part of it. I'll post a separate thread with my favorite old Willy's jeeps and a few other assorted military things.... Link to comment
BeniciaRT_GT Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 As usual, AWESOME! I can't wait to see that area of the world... Link to comment
Firefight911 Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Beautiful job Francois. Looking forward to visiting some day. Link to comment
azkaisr Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Most worthy! I have not been to that museum yet but will check it out next time I am in the area! Kaisr Link to comment
SageRider Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Thanks for sharing. (and I'm glad Nina finally got warm! ) Link to comment
ESokoloff Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 Francois, well worth the wait My dad's Army buddy drove a side hack in WWII. Thanks for showing us some old pieces. Thank Nina and Vivian for us for allowing you the opportunity/time to capture these images for us Link to comment
Steve1962 Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 Francois , This post brings back great memories for me - I visited this museum in the early 70's as a child when my dad was in the army , and living in Holland for a short while before going to Germany . I distinctly remember the Spitfire , and rockets [V1 or V2 ] suspended from the ceiling . Steve Link to comment
ratfink Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 Thanks a million for this great photo essay. I can't wait to see the jeeps. Link to comment
Francois_Dumas Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share Posted April 11, 2007 Steve, I'll have the Spit for you in another post. Jeeps coming up too.... and a whole load of other ancient hardware for the enthusiasts. Later this week... in the 'other' forum Link to comment
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