Cliched but couldn't resist it - even the sun was shining !



The fountain has been shortened and shifted, and the shrapnel mark has been repaired, but it's the same one....it's still a bit high to rest your foot on !

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

Great one Martin, where in Falaise is it?
Only been there the once.

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Indeed, nice one Martin.

It looks like the current version of the fountain is set a full foot or so taller than the previous one, no wonder you are having so much trouble getting your foot up!

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"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance." Socrates

Good work! Nice then and now.

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Eine Lichtung im Walde wo die Sonne scheint.
Eingeschlossen durch Bäume sind wir gefangen,
in dieser Lichtung Gottes...

Absolutely fabulous!

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Yes, looks like the added foundation is new. Good find Martin.

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American by birth, TEXAN by the grace of GOD!

It's in the square by the cathedral, at the opposite end of the main shopping street to the Castle. During the war it was actually in the square, now it's right outside a wine shop. Post-war, it was dismantled and re-sited. It features in many wartime photos, including one of a Canadian Bren-gunner using it as an MG position.....

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

It looks like they put it on a cement block. If you look at the top picture and compare it to the 2nd one, looking from top down, you can clearly see the block of cement they put it on, which is why its taller.

Nonetheless, good work and good find!

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Very nice!! Keep them coming Martin!!

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Members of the Dutch Resistance with 101st AB, Eindhoven. Operation Market Garden.

Scott

Here's the other Falaise 'war relic' which I was determined to find on this visit.

This is the Girls' School which was literally defended to the death by remnants of 'Panzer' Meyer's 12th SS Hitlerjugend Division. All accounts of the fighting in Falaise refer to this building which is actually not easy to find ; it's away from the town centre. When I found it, its choice as a defensive location made sense ; it overlooks the town toward the direction from which the Canadians were advancing, and the fields of fire from the higher windows perfectly cover all approaches to the start of the Falaise/Trun road, down which the last German forces were retreating toward the Gap.

50-60 Hitlerjugend defended the school, and only 6 ( or 8, depending on which account you read ) emerged alive at the end of the battle.

It was originally L-shaped, but one wing was too badly damaged in the fighting to repair.

Front view : -




And rear : -

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