During a recent family holiday to Brittany, I managed to 'sneak in' a few trips to some of the WW2 related points of interest in the the area.

One of the places we visited was the american cemetery near the village of St James (which is actually just in to Lower Normandy). Some 4410 war dead are buried in the cemetery including two Medal of Honor recipients.

The cemeterys chapel


Interior




One of the Medal of Honor recipients


And his citation

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

Looking at the date, He was killed in action the next day.

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great quality pics. Did you make it to places like Brest Lorient and Quiberon?

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Didn't manage to get to any of the places you mention, Skipper.
Brest and Lorient were featured on my visit list but as I mentioned, this was a family trip and family matters came first ie swimming in very cold outdoor pools and paintballing with my son...after which I sufferd with aching muscles for two days.

It was a case of a teenage mind in a middle aged body!

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

On our way back from the town of Dinan, I spotted a sign for this memorial.

After a few miles of driving along a country road, I came across the memorial which is to the crew of an american B-17 bomber, named SNAFU, which was shot down over the area on 29th May 1943 as it was en route to bomb a naval storage facility in the city of Rennes.

Only one of the crew, radio operator-Sgt Herman Philbeck, survived after baling out of the stricken aircraft as it went down. He was later captured and made a POW for the remainder of the war.

Herman passed away in 1997.

The memorial


The crew of SNAFU (Herman Philbeck is No10 in the photo)


Herman Philbeck

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

okay so you were up north near St Malo . Did you see Cezembre island? I spent 2 Summer at St Briac and St Lunaire and had a great time there

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We saw the island from the ferry when sailing back to the UK.

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

Great 'excursion' pics as usual, John ! I've always fancied the look of Cezembre since it featured in After The Battle some years ago.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

On the same road that I spotted the sign for the B-17 memorial, I also noticed a small sign nailed to a tree advertising a WW2 museum in the nearby town of Lehon.

This of course got my attention and the next day we went to the tourist information centre in Dinan (Lehon lies on the outskirts of Dinan) and obtained directions to the museum.
It is sited in what appears to be a small disused quarry, and although very small, the museum was cram packed with allsorts of military items...mainly german.

My son and I spent a good few hours in the place...it was well worth the €8 entrance fee.

View of the museum from the entrance (the main building is just off shot to the left).


Some of the exterior exhibits

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

There were plenty of awards and edged weapons on display...not sure how much of it was the genuine article though.

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

They've certainly got some interesting bits and pieces in the outside display - I really like these smaller, private Continental museums.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

There were some even better exhibits inside the museum, Martin.

This tracked vehicle caught my attention...though I haven't a clue what it is?
Is that the 12th SS Panzer Division insignia stenciled on the front?

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

Don't take this as definite as it's difficult to see the details, but it looks like an Inf-Schlepper UE(f) - which was basically a captured French UE infantry carrier. Some of these were modified to carry a 3.7cm PaK.

I wonder if Waffen-SS Divisions actually used such a thing...?

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

excellant photo's John! ....i bet you enjoyed yourself

your right Martin, sometimes these small family run museums can be a pleaant surprise, with random items you wont see in other places

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All the Best,

Andy

The museum was an aladdin's cave of military items. I was most impressed with the weapons display...everything from a Walther P-38 to an StG 44 along with a few MP44s and G43s thrown in for good measure!



Scoped and non scoped K-98s


In one of the display cabinets was a german helmet and bayonet that were found in my (and Martins if I'm not mistaken) favourite area of battle...the Falaise Gap.

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

A great collection of signal flares.

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

Great pics John, as a matter of coincidence I visited the lower part of Britanny and just returned and will post pictures from that area a.s.a.p. It deals about the Lorient area. It will possibly give you a destination for a future trip

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