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Thread: D-Day Garands in lower Normandy!!!

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  1. #1
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    D-Day Garands in lower Normandy!!!

    I have just returned from a 3 week trip to Europe where I had the opportunity to tour the American D-Day Landing Sites including Utah and Omaha Beach as well as Pointe du Hoc and Sainte-Mère-Église where there is a nice little Airborne Museum (housing several Garands). Now I don't where the Museum sourced these Garands from, but all are date correct and could have come ashore during the invasion...

    -Serial # 534299 has the original lockbar sights and equipped with a grenade launcher
    -Serial # 1438086 also with lockbars
    -Serial #957764, lockbars and "Betty" engraged in stock

    I actually took a full day tour and of course have a ton of pics, here's as small sampling. For anyone traveling in Franceicon, if you're near Paris, it's only 2 hours and change by train to Bayeux and the D-Day Beaches.
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    Last edited by seanl; 08-02-2010 at 07:24 PM.

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    Nice photos! Looks like it was a great trip!

    The US left tons and tons of equipment in France after WWII, and lots of Frenchicon people picked up both US & Germanicon weapons and gear in the field after battles and squirreled them away in attics & basements. As that generation passed on, their heirs either sold off or gave away those WWII relics.

    I was stationed near Chateauroux in central France in 1966. There was a small war museum nearby that contained lots of weapons (like your photos) and had a US M8 armored car sitting outside. Turns out there were many small WWII museums scattered around the countryside. All you had to do was look for the WWII vehicles parked out front.

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    I'll add those S/N's to the Garandicon S/N list I'm working on at the CMPicon forums. What was the S/N on the heel of that Garand in the middle of your pictures, looks like 218X322, can't make out the middle number. Who knows, someone may own the next S/N up/down here in the states.

    Mike D

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    Quote Originally Posted by mdoerner View Post
    I'll add those S/N's to the Garandicon S/N list I'm working on at the CMPicon forums. What was the S/N on the heel of that Garand in the middle of your pictures, looks like 218X322, can't make out the middle number. Who knows, someone may own the next S/N up/down here in the states.

    Mike D
    I didn't think that SN was fully readable, but I super zoomed my hi-res pic and it is 2130322

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    In the September issue of Automobile Magazine, a Frenchicon WWII reenactor states: "There are still 20,000 WWII Jeeps in France, and about 12,000 GMC and Dodge trucks."

    No wonder you can see so many WWII US vehicles on the road in Normandy around June 6th.

    BTW- In case you weren't aware, the "deal" the goverment made with the vehicle manufacturers back in the day was: If a vehicle is shipped overseas, it cannot be brought back into the US after the war. The car manufacturers were scared-to-death that too many surplus Jeeps & trucks would flood the market and ruin new car sales.

    Makes me wonder how many WWII weapons are still hidden away over there?
    Last edited by Rick Cummelin; 08-03-2010 at 11:41 AM.

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    Cool! I'll add it to my list. Thanks!

    Mike D

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick Cummelin View Post
    No wonder you can see so many WWII US vehicles on the road in Normandy around June 6th.
    Yup. They actually offer Jeep rentals allowing one to tour Normandy "1944" style. I went with a more structured "Battlebus Tour", but the Jeeps were everywhere.

    Attachment 14639Attachment 14640

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    Great picture Sean. Thanks. Feel free to post more pictures.
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    Items for Sale?

    It was funny to me, the one photo shows the U.S. weapons (Thompson and the M-1 carbine, plus accessories) with what look like UPC Bar codes! I have worked museums for 15 years and accession numbers are part and parcel for artifact tracking and record keeping. The standard is to make them very small and very inconspicuous. Many times, the number goes right on the artifact, or a small tag, attached to the artifact, but tucked out of view. I guess this museum has a bar code tracking system. The only part that worries me would be that they appear to be stickers, and that isn't the greatest way to I.D. an artifact, with glue residue and such. Do you recall if they looked as though they were stickers applied to each artifact? They are so prominent, they look like sale stickers! Just curious.
    Last edited by AmEngRifles; 08-09-2010 at 11:03 PM.

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    Yes, each artifact had a bar coded sticker for inventory purposes, neither small nor inconspicuous.

    Attachment 14800

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