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WW2 History and Fall Colours


Francois_Dumas

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Francois_Dumas

Oh boy, this time the annual German Flightsim Conference coincided with my birthday. Last year I was in Florida. Must be a trend !

 

Anyway, Nina and I traveled to Germany in Vivian's (ex-Nina) Fiat Punto because bad weather was forecast for Sunday. And Nina doesn't want to ride in cold(er) weather.....

 

We had an early start and a good drive to Paderbirn, south of Hannover in northern Germany. The FS 'show' wasn't too interesting (it is rather small) and since the weather was still fine we decided to do a little recce of the surrounding area.

 

On our way east I had noted signs referring to the Möhne Stausee, and since this is a well-known place for WW2 buffs, I had to visit it !

 

But first we meandered through the Fall Colors in the German countryside.... follow us trough the pictures....

 

 

We decided to drive to Paderborn (the town) first, which is some 15 km from the airfield where our hotel was.

 

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But the city wasn't much fun on a Satruday afternoon, in a car, so we headed out again without making pictures. We love the countryside better anyway.

 

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We even found a little road with a hairpin.....

 

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As always, when I see a sign with 'castle' on it, or spot an old tower sticking out somewhere, THAT's where I'm heading!

 

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What I didn't know at the time, and only discovered after returning home and doing some research, was that this castle was bought by Heinrich Himmler in 1934 with the intention to make it a cadre school for the SS !

 

There's a lot of interesting information on it in Wikipedia and on various websites.

 

The church close by

 

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View from the castle grounds over the terrain towards the north...

 

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Castle garden.... nice and quiet...

 

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One of the THREE towers... oddly this castle is triangular, where most are square.

 

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I am also a fan of anything with an engine..... and this is a good excuse to show a German farm yard.......

 

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Our GPS insisted that this was the shortest route back to the highway..... it probably was. Good thing we had the little Fiat !

 

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View from below on the main tower. The one that was destroyed just twp days before the US Army got there ! The castle is beautifuly restored.

 

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Some artistic liberty.......

 

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The German roads with the familiar military transport signs I have seen my entire life.....

 

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Almost Dutch....... except for them hills over yonder....

 

 

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Ah, here we are at the Möhne Stausee (artificial lake, formed by a dam at tthe end). I read somewhere that it provides electricity and drinking water for some 6 million people in the area.

 

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Our little car parked by the wayside.

 

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Gotta come back here on TWO wheels !!!

 

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One of the bridges crossing the lake....

 

 

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This guy didn't even SEE the 'marbles' strewn in his path. The next one did and got a scare !!!

 

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And THIS is what I came for.. the famous Möhne Dam, destroyed during the war with a dashing raid by the RAF, using a very special sort of bomb.

 

I googled it for you, and here are some links:

 

http://www.dambusters.org.uk/dams.htm

 

http://www.bomber-command.info/mohnedam2003.htm

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6hne_Reservoir

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/17/newsid_3623000/3623223.stm

 

 

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Hope you enjoyed that. I am still (re)-reading the stuff I found. There is no end to WW2 stories, medieval history and other interesting facts about all the things around us.

 

 

 

 

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I love it! Wish I could spend a month there sightseeing. I did finally make it to Europe for the first time ever last year. A week in Paris and then London via the chunnel. The only country side I got to see was on that high speed train before going under the English Channel.

 

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Anyway, Nina and I traveled to Germany in Vivian's (ex-Nina) Fiat Punto because bad weather was forecast for Sunday.
Great post Francois. I've gotta ask... What does "(ex-Nina)" mean? I'm assuming Vivian isn't Nina's ex... Was the Fiat formerly Nina's perhaps?

 

I do wish I'd thought/known about that last time I was in Hannover, but I didn't have much spare time anyway...

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Those post bring back some memories for me Francois. My Father was in the army and we lived in Hamelin, not so far from the Mohne dam (sorry no umlaut on my keyboard) I terrified my mother by climbing up on the wall opposite the water and running along it!

 

I must go back someday and relive just a little of my childhood - I'll keep to the roadway over the dam next time though.

 

Andy

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Thanks Francois. I love seeing pictures of home.

 

If everything works out I will be returning to Germany in the summer of 2010. I'm hoping to make it to the Normandy coast then.

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Speaking of WW2 history. My company is recreating a full scale version of the Horten HO-229 flying wing for radar testing purposes. It appears that German engineering back in the 1940's was nothing shy of stealthy. The HO-229 looks like it would have been invisible to Allied radar. The war dramatically changed before they went into production. I'll post the radar findings when we finish the testing sequence. It is quite beautiful to see the shape of this unique German design that is somewhere around 65 years old. I love WW2 aviation history

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horten_Ho_229

http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/ho229.html

 

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Francois_Dumas

Yes, ex-Nina means that Nina owned the Fiat for many years... but didn't use it much. She's not a 'driver'. When Vivian moved out to Amsterdam, we gave her the car. Unfortunately it seems we are still paying for its maintenance .... :grin::grin::grin:

 

Anyone planning on going to Normandy : give me a shout ahead of time !

 

Hog-man: that sig gave me a huge chuckle :grin:

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just got home from work and saw your beautiful pics. thanks Francoise. If you ever get to belgium, let me know. I have a good friend there that has been working for doctors without borders in the congo. She is married in belgium now and you might like to meet her and her family.

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It doesn't look like the Fiat has a sun roof, did ya stick your head out the window to drive it or did ya lay down and let Nina drive.

 

No way did you fit in that toy.

 

:wave:

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Francois_Dumas

Whip, it works just fine. I did the same as with our Mini Cooper 35 years ago... took out the front seat and drive it from the back bench !

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Whip, it works just fine. I did the same as with our Mini Cooper 35 years ago... took out the front seat and drive it from the back bench !

 

Sorry....I shoulda been able to figure that out.

 

:grin:

 

 

BTW....Nice pix!!!!!!

 

 

 

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