Photos, videos and docs of John Sheldon, with the keywords: "Normandy"

Shop in Bayeux (Archive 2010)

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 11:25:26 +0000

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Bayeux, Normandy, France.

Bikes in Bayeux (Archive 2010)

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 10:47:42 +0000

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Bicycles parked near the shop and creperie at Rue de Nesmond, Bayeux, Normandy, France.

Red flowers in Bayeux (2010 archive)

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 16:16:34 +0000

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A weir and water wheel on the River Aure in Bayeux, Normandy, France.

Canon at the Conqueror's Castle in Caen

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 16:35:22 +0000

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(Archive 2010).
Picture taken atop the Castle of William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant) in Caen, Normandy, France.

Église Saint Pierre de Caen (Archive 2010)

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 16:34:52 +0000

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View from the walls of Château Guillaume Le Conquérant, in Caen, Normandy, France. The road in front of the Church is Rue Saint Pierre, Caen.

In the grounds of Château Guillaume Le Conquérant

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 16:34:41 +0000

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Small structure in the grounds of Château Guillaume Le Conquérant, Caen, Normandy, France.
(Archive 2010)

A quiet street in Chambois, Normandy

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 17:20:26 +0000

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Otherwise known as the 'Corridor of Death'. In August of 1944, many thousands of German soldiers were killed or injured in the 10 km corridor that runs from Trun to Chambois, as their retreating army became trapped in what is known as the Falaise Gap or Falaise Pocket. This had been the escape route that the German commanders had been relying on in the event of a withdrawal but when it was closed off by a pincer movement of Polish, Canadian and USA troops it became a 'killing field'. Eye witnesses still alive in Chambois still find August a difficult month every year.

When US General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived at the site he said: “The battlefield at Falaise was unquestionably one of the greatest ‘killing fields’ of any of the war areas. Forty-eight hours after the closing of the Gap I was conducted through it on foot, to encounter scenes that could be described only by Dante.”

The Polar Bear Memorial in Normandy

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 17:20:21 +0000

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Located next to the British Commonwealth War Cemetery at Fontenay-le-Pesnel in Normandy, France, this memorial honours the men of the 49th West Riding (Yorkshire) Division of the British Army for their service and sacrifices during 1944 and 1945 in the “D-Day” invasion of Normandy.

The polar bear badge motif central to this structure was adopted in 1940 when the Division was stationed in Iceland. The bear on the Memorial reflects changes to the design adopted in 1943.

There but for fortune …

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Sat, 29 Feb 2020 10:13:39 +0000

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… may go you or I. (Phil Ochs / Joan Baez.)

Adolf Süssel (September 1914 – ? 1944) seems to have spent the first few years and the last few years of his short life in a Europe at war. We can imagine that like most people, his fate was determined by the place and time in which he was born and by his responses to whatever social engineering was in fashion.

In the German Military Cemetery at La Cambe, Normandy, he shares his last resting place with more than 21,000 others, many of whose lives would have been similar; but (death being a great leveller) he also shares it with SS-Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann (a professional soldier who has commanded respect as a ‘Tiger Tank Ace’) and SS-Sturmbannführer Adolf Diekmann (who was responsible for one of the worst atrocities in the European Theatre of War).

In the German Cemetery at La Cambe

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Sat, 29 Feb 2020 10:13:31 +0000

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In the German Military Cemetery at La Cambe, Normandy. This is the largest German war cemetery in Normandy and contains the graves of more than 21,000 German servicemen. Most of them died between June and August 1944 in the fighting following the D-Day landings. The ages of the dead range from 16 to 72 but as usual in these cemeteries the majority were young men.
The sign at the entrance says: “With its melancholy rigour, it is a graveyard for soldiers not all of whom had chosen either the cause or the fight. They too have found rest in our soil of France.”

In Sainte-Mère-Eglise

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 16:13:15 +0000

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In the quite village of Sainte-Mère-Eglise, Normandy, France.
This well used votive candle stand is in the church building on whose tower an American paratrooper, John Steele, hung helplessly during the D-day invasion of Normandy in June 1944. This event was included in the 1962 film "The Longest Day".

Au Domino, Sainte-Mère-Eglise

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 16:13:11 +0000

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In the quite village of Sainte-Mère-Eglise, Normandy, France.
As depicted in the 1962 film The Longest Day, there was fierce fighting here as the D-day invasion of Normandy began and American parachutists started to land and were challenged by German occupying forces. One of the Americans, John Steele, famously got his parachute caught on the church tower and hung there in that exposed position for two hours while the battle raged below.

Les Trois Planeurs, Sainte-Mère-Eglise

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 16:13:05 +0000

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Rectangles, like flags

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 14:16:12 +0000

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Buildings near the beach (Sword Beach in the Normandy Landings of June 1944) at Colleville-Montgomery, Normandy, France. A windy day.

A visited grave

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 14:55:05 +0000

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The pebbles placed on top of this memorial stone and the candle indicate that this grave is still visited.

Remembering the Unknown

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 14:54:59 +0000

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Memorial stone for an unidentified German soldier killed in Normandy, probably in 1944. Someone has left an 'In remembrance' token. When I saw this it reminded me of this Babylonian text from 3 or 4 thousand years ago:
"You, ghost belonging to nobody, who have nobody to bury you or speak your name, whose name nobody knows ... before Shamash, Gilgamesh, the Annunaki and the ghosts of my family you hereby receive a present, you are honoured with a gift."
[Myths from Mesopotamia, Stephanie Dalley, Oxford Worlds Classics]

What War Does

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 14:54:53 +0000

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Scene at the Ranville War Cemetery in Normandy.

Gold beach, Normandy

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 10:09:04 +0000

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Family photographer on Gold Beach, Normandy.

Le jardin des plantes et botanique de Caen

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 13:52:47 +0000

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Pink splashes amongst the greenery. Caen, Normandy, France in July 2014. I usually avoid high contrast like this but it seems to fit the scene and certainly reflects the very brief period of intense sunlight on the day concerned.

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen - May 2011

nobody@ipernity.com (John Sheldon) — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 10:54:42 +0000

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