Veterans · 12 March 2023

Thomas , "Red" , FORAN, Baron, duc de Saint Bar. le parachutiste du 551em , radio du colonel JOERG devenu aide de camp du Roi de Yougoslavie. De racines Irlandaises, Tom FORAN est né à New Haven, Connecticut en 1922 il est le fils de John K Foran and Valerie Shannon. Un ancêtre présumé était Job Foran, un amiral de la flotte française qui a été fait baron par le roi Louis XIV en 1688. Le titre ducal de Saint Bar aurait été conféré à un autre ancêtre en 1799 par le roi de Naples...

Musée virtuel · 19 February 2023

Cette pelle Américaine modèle pliant 1943 fut retrouvée après le passage des premiers parachutistes du 517em et du 460em de la place des Arcs sur Argens par le jeune Marcel , frère du résistant René MARIUS. Venu acclamer les premiers libérateurs, il remarque que l'un d'eux abandonne sa pelle au pied d'un platane alors que l'attache de ceinturon, probablement affaiblie par le choc de son parachutage, venait de céder. Marcel conservera cette pelle toute sa vie de viticulteur. Elle porte...

Waco CG4A parts · 10 January 2023

Quand des passionnés se rencontrent : Franck DUGAS, grand amateur d'histoire connu entre autre pour ses travaux de recherches archéologiques sur la commune des Arcs et la sauvegarde du patrimoine, mais aussi pour ses nombreuses expéditions au Népal pour le compte du CNRS, fidèle de nos expositions depuis plus de 30 ans nous offres depuis 2022 ses incroyables talents de travail du bois. Après avoir construit en 2022 une splendide maquette au 1/10em d'un planeur Waco CG-4A (photo ci dessus)...

In Memoriam · 07 October 2022

Alfred G. WOLKE was born on September 23, 1924 in New York. He enlisted on February 10, 1943, and was assigned to the 30th Infantry Regiment of the famous 3rd Infantry Division, which was illustrated in France in 1918. After the hard fighting in Italy, the 3rd DI is stationed in the bay of Salerno, in preparation for the landing in the south of France. On August 9, 1944, he boarded LCI 588, commanded by Lieutenant James McMahon, and on the 12th, the division left Italy. D-Day will be August 15....

In Memoriam · 24 September 2022

Qui sont les M.O.I (Main d'Oeuvre Indigene) indochinois ? "Immigrés indochinois, ils ont quitté l’Indochine à deux reprises pour servir de main-d’œuvre de guerre lors des conflits mondiaux. Originaire des 3 Ky (Tonkin, Annam, Cochinchine), ils étaient principalement employés aux usines de guerre et d’aéronautique. Civils mais soumis à une discipline militaire, ces jeunes hommes avaient quitté leur pays de gré avec l’espoir d’un retour rapide et heureux, ou de force,...

In Memoriam · 11 September 2022

Willis Albert WOODCOCK was born in 1924, in Belleville, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada. He join the paratroops and his shipped overseas as part of the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He particpated to the Italian campaign in June 1944, and jump in southern France August 15th, 1944, in "I" Company, 3rd Battalion. On September 11, 1944, the 517th Regiment's combat team planned an attack on the Col de Braus and its surroundings, where the Germans were still very active and valiant. Company G...

In Memoriam · 10 September 2022

Joseph Mc GEEVER was born August 2, 1918, in Anaconda, Montana. He study in Montana state school and was a State college football star in the Bobcat Grid team, from 1938 to 1940. He graduated from the electrical engineering department in 1941.He enlisted in the army in February, 1942, and went overseas in May 1944, serving in Italy before the invasion.

Veterans · 01 September 2022

Cyril Peter HEYGATE, The King's Regiment, circa 1941

Histoire · 23 August 2022

Early in September, 1943, the 21st Independent Parachute Company landed with 1st Airborne Division in Italy with the objective of capturing the port of Taranto and securing a perimeter around the port. We were taken by vessels of the Royal Navy from Bizerta in Tunisia - and were treated like royalty whilst on board the cruiser, HMS Aurora- to Taranto, where we met little opposition to our landing on 9th September. Unfortunately, however, HMS Abdiel, carrying the 6th Parachute Battalion and most...

Veterans · 03 August 2022

Michael COMPTON was born in HAMBURG, on May 07, 1921, under the birth name of David HOFFMANN. German of Jewish religion, they will quickly be under pressure from the Nazi regime, which grew up in Germany in the 1930s. His parents decide to leave Germany and go to England. These German Jews will be numerous to follow this same path, they are known in the United Kingdom under the nickname "ALIEN", which is the name of a parliamentary act created to control this mass Jewish immigration at the...