The Final Push, 70 years of Liberation

[Peter Pick-Up]

More than 100 militairy trucks, along the same route the Allieds went 70 years ago to defeat the Germans in my hometown Groningen....!!!

 

[The Beard]

My late Father-in-Law finished his combat role in the Nederlands, somewhere east of Groningen. His unit, part of the 50th Northumbrian Division was withdrawn and returned to the UK prior to being sent to the Far East to fight the Japanese. The war in Europe ended as he was passing through the Bay of Biscay and he saw out the rest of his service, until he was demobbed in Italy.

He joined either (not sure which at the moment) the Durham Light Infantry or the Green Howards. He was sent to North Africa and took part in a number of engagements before moving on to Sicily and from there up the leg of Italy before being returned to Britain in preparation for D-Day.

From there he landed on Gold Beach and after eventually moving north was in the XXX Corps follow up to Operation Market Garden and ended his D-Day adventure on the Dutch-German border.

During his time in the army in northern Europe he was in The Green Howards, Durham Light Infantry, machine gun section of The Manchester Regiment, The Cheshire Regiment, and The East Yorkshire Regiment. It's possible he spent time with the Essex Regiment as he once mentioned being with "a load of Southerners". He also seems to have served in two different anti-tank batteries. All this was due to the high casualty rate the division took and companies were often merged with others. We took my in-laws to France on a number of occasions and I noticed that he became very thoughtful at certain points in the holiday. I often wondered what, or who he was thinking about.

 

[aussiepanda]

Thanks for the post and the video Peter. Great stuff.

I'm not sure the modern police bikes had a place though, they being BMWs

These were all American vehicles whereas I'd have thought the Brits would have liberated your home town. Can you clarify? (yes, I expect my history to be wrong, the ground war isn't covered all that well and I'm an air nut anyway)

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

The Canadians liberated the northern part of The Netherlands, as far as I know...
But don't take these parades to seriously, all makes and sorts of military vehicles can join in...as long as they are made in the correct period...

 

[aussiepanda]

The Canadians liberated the northern part of The Netherlands, as far as I know...
But don't take these parades to seriously, all makes and sorts of military vehicles can join in...as long as they are made in the correct period...

You are so lucky to have them at all... as far as vehicles and the like go. You're not so lucky to have been in the thick of it (I wouldn't wish that on anyone).

We have our annual ANZAC parade which commemorates all Australians who have fought, but when it comes to vehicular parades, we only get historic/vintage/classic car parades where the military vehicles are just a small part of them. Although our soldiers/airmen/sailors played a major part in the world wars, our country was lucky enough not to have been invaded although the Japanese had a damned good try and numerous bombing raids hit the northern parts of Australia. Then there have been the conflicts since. As a species, homo-sapien really does have to find a better way of resolving conflict.

We do have historic military vehicle groups here, I'm now going to have to chase them up and see how they operate. It's funny that my interest in Land Rovers started with my time in the Army Reserve and the military Landy's but the one I'm restoring is a Series 1 which our armed forces didn't use (it's very much a farm truck)

I'm enough of a history buff to enjoy it, but sadly not enough of one to know the fine details. I'd be jumping up and down on the sidelines if a parade like this came to town, just like I am every year when we have the Bay to Birdwood historic/classic car parade.

Tell me, do you have historic air shows? That'd REALLY have me jealous.

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

Yes we do have historical airshows, in fact, it's very near where I live, and it's held every two years..

http://www.oostwold-airshow.nl/

 

[aussiepanda]

Starting with a Spitfire is pure evil Peter
And there were Tiger Moths later on.
Then that aerobatic glider (something I've yet to see in real life dammit).

Great display. Those wing walkers are seriously brave.

It's been a few years since I've been able to get to an air display, but I'm pretty sure we don't get quite that variety except in the eastern states. You are soooo lucky.

One thing I've been pleased to see on recent internet videos are the German WW2 fighters. Yes, I know the Germans were the 'baddies' but that's no reason to ignore the machines they gave to the world's history.

Land or air (sea is a bit problematic I guess, not many people restoring battleships or U-boats), I think it's appropriate to restore and remember the kit that was used, by all sides.

That's not to ignore the behaviour of some of the people involved - some were heroes, some were pure evil, there's no need to laud evil. The machines themselves are different and allow us to reach across political divides.

Ironically, as I type this, there's a show on telebox about the Christmas football matches on the Western Front in 2014 where soldiers on both sides defied their superiors, met on no-man's land and played football (the Germans won apparently).

But point me at an aeroplane and I get all sooky. I'm marginally better when it comes to Ferraris or (sorry) MGs. Learning to love Fiats again. I owned a 128 Sport in the 80s and one of our trips included a Siamese cat and a trip from Adelaide to Sydney to Brisbane and back to Adelaide again - said Siamese used to lie across the dashboard with the heater blowing onto his tummy with his head hanging over the edge where he could watch the speedo needle flicking (because a steady needle was a thing of fantasy).