That got you all excited, didn't it ?

This must be the most disappointing thread ever posted on the WWII Forums, but in the interests of historical accuracy, here goes.....

'After The Battle' refer to the 'famous Trun scrapyards' in their 1975 issue about the Falaise Gap and also in 'Panzers In Normandy - Then & Now'. Driving into Trun from my holiday cottage this month, I thought a bit of waste ground looked familiar.....






This is indeed the remains of Madame Maurat's scrapyard. This was piled high with the remains of Panzer IVs, Panthers, half-tracks etc for many years after the war. In 1980, it was cleared and all the parts were removed to the French Musee des Blindees at Saumur.

Some bits and pieces of rusty metal are still visible in the undergrowth, but I felt in this case that my French wouldn't have really coped with explaining to the Gendarmerie what I was doing.

Sorry guys - I was 28 years too late.......

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

nice little story there martin i all ways wondered what happend to all the left over stuff that never went into a musee
is there any scrapyards around that you know of ??

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for thow . will be ours someday.we shall have it all
... und mear.......

Sorry, krieg - the answer's a resounding 'No!'

In France and the low countries after the war, scrap metal merchants flourished. They had to apply to the Government for a permit to remove each vehicle from the battlefield, producing a surveyors report for each one. An agent would then determine the asking price. The scrap dealer was then given one year to remove it ( although some remained in place for much longer ).

The Trun scrapyards were two of the last to remain in place in Europe. Scrayards of any kind are now a rare sight ; EU regulations concerning the environment mean that everything is now recycled.

This is not to say that odd Panzer relic isn't lying around somewhere, especially in middle- or Eastern Europe. But serious collectors and restorers such as Wheatcroft etc are always on the lookout and these once worthless relics now command very high prices indeed......

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

Looking back Martin, I wish I had taken up your suggestion of having a peek in the scrapyard when we were both there recently. I'm sure the local Gendarmerie would have understood the needs of two (crazee engleesh) battlefield relic hunters...

Although there was probably nothing left of interest, I reckon it would still have been worth a look.

I recall After The Battle claiming to have cleared the field (near Moissy ford) where we both found a number of WW2 relics, including 2cm flak shells...

There is 'stuff' still out there if you look hard enough.

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Regards
John

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

Strange that this should crop up the same day, but this link mentions a recent traveller seeing German panzer wrecks in Tunisia; near the Berber town of Tataouine-
Tunisia's not just deserts - Mirror.co.uk

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Regards,

Gordon
http://www.freewebs.com/thehistoryvault/
http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y20/Historian/

The Mirror report states that there were "eerie remains of German tanks" still in the desert.

Whatever is still out there, it is probably still in pretty good condition due to the dry desert climate.

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Regards
John

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