Normandy 1994

Photos from the Normandy "50th Jubilee", June 1994

In early 1994, Math Driessen invited Brown Beezer and me to accompany him on a trip from his home in Lanaken Belgium to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the WWII Normandy beach landings. Math was taking along a Command Car carrying a SCR-506, a CCKW carrying a SCR-399 radio set & towing a 5kW genset, and a modern wrecker - accompanying his Belgian MV club in their convoy from Belgium to Normandy.

Math had recently finished restoring the CCKW and the Command Car, the wrecker was to go along with us just as he had received it. The HO-17 shelter for the SCR-399 radio set had already seen extensive cosmetic restoration work but the BC-610 and the receivers in the SCR-399 were electrically 'as-is'.

Cast of characters includes Math Driessen ON8PO, Clement & Simone Meesters, Roget Kicheleer, Bob (my apologies Bob, as I have forgotten your last name), Brown Beezer W1NZR, and myself David Ross N7EPI. Plans were to convoy from Lanaken Belgium to our prearranged campsite in Amblie (near Creully) in Normandy - the trip would take two days in each direction with about 7 days spent at the campsite in Amblie.

All these photos are links - click on the thumbnail and a much larger photo will open in a new window.

Vehicles in Math's shop	More...	A TSC-60(V)2 in a 2 1/2 ton truck
High-speed tractor behind a TLQ-15 jammer shelter	Simone & Daisy & Math doing refinish work on antenna mast sections	Preparation & loading up for the convoy
View inside the restored HO-17 shelter on the CCKW	CCKW & SCR-399 ready to go	the 5kW genset on it's trailer
Roget in the Command Car	Large beam on portable mast, miscellaneous shelter, MAN truck & shelter, DAF 6x6	More of the portable mast & beam
The "Gulf War I" vintage wrecker	detail view inside the SCR-399	More HO-17 detail inside the SCR-399
BC-610 transmitter & BC-939 antenna tuner inside the SCR-399	Bilingual of course	Command Car towing the genset
Last minute preparations on the morning of departure	More fussing about what was packed where
		Brown astride his BMW he served as traffic control for the convoy
At last - ready to go!!	The convoy forms up in town	So many good-lookin' vehicles
The convoy leaving town, I am driving the CCKW	Math as vehicle commander in the CCKW	Convoy at a fuel stop in France
One of many Allied cemeteries we saw	Convoy at a rest stop	Dinnertime on the road, Math & Clement & Bob
Simone & Roget with Math hiding	Our convoy arriving in Creully	More Creully traffic
Utter chaos in Creully (but certainly not as bad as the real thing was)	Monument in Creully square	Jubilee official at our Amblie campsite
2nd Armored Division liberated their part of Belgium so the "Hell on Wheels" pennant is very popular with Math's club	CCKW with SCR-399 & Command Car at our campsite in Amblie	Many nice vehicles...
View from the CCKW while on the road	View from the CCKW while on the road	Parking & assembly area near Sword Beach
Roget & Clement & Bob near the assembly area		Clement & Simone
Brown operating the SCR-506 in the Command Car		Math & Simone & Clement & onlooker at the assembly point
Wyoming jeep	WLA Harley-Davidson & sidecar
Another wrecker	Priest antitank gun, other vehicles at the assembly point in a sea of mud	Massive diesel engine in the British tank transporter which brought in the Priest
David Ross, Bob, Simone Meesters, Roget Kicheleer, Brown Beezer, Clement Meesters, Math Driessen	Clement puzzled by possible Austin	Brown unintimidated by possible halftrack
Lunchtime for the crew	Beachfront bungalows on the Normandy shore	Brown & Bob & Simone & CCKW on the shore
Command Car on the beach	CCKW & Command Car with Normandy beachfront in the background	New radio in an old jeep
Math & Roget & Bob with Mulberry remains in the background	DUKW in Navy livery	DUKW with Normandy civilization in the background
Math & Clement with bemedalled Frenchman	Math's Command Car draws a crowd On the beach	Brown explaining the "Guerre de Gulf" wrecker to some of the locals
Math's 'mini-convoy' on the beach	DUKWs frolicking in the Normandy surf	Angry antipodean DUKW & more Mulberry debris
Normandy falsework set up for speech from U.S. President	Wrecker & CCKW & Command Car viewed from above the beach	This WLA & owner rode in from Czechoslovakia
Brown's 'tender persuasion', getting the SCR-399 to perform tricks	View of CCKW & the rest of our campsite, taken from our outdoor 'facilities'	View of our campsite and the "Hell on Wheels" pennant, looking toward Amblie
Brown at the SCR-399 controls	Brown did many 'field expedient' repairs to the BC-610 to get it on the air	Brown & Math in the SCR-399, the Coke bottle is full of bootleg Calvados
Ceremony at the "Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial" at Colleville-sur-Mer	Markers at the "Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial" at Colleville-sur-Mer	"Here Rests in Honored Glory a Comrade in Arms Known But to God"
Nice Matchless 350cc "DR" bike with rigid frame (DR = Dispatch Rider)	Quad .50CAL machine gun mount in a halftrack	Math attacking Clement's steak with a Leatherman tool
		Indian 45" V-twin
Bob and the BAR, background shows the biggest military swapmeet in the world		Math & Brown in front of Château de Creully, the first WWII BBC studio in liberated France, on 6/12/44 Churchill visited Montgomery here
SCR-187 with operating gasoline genset inside the "Musée de la Radio" at Château de Creully	SCR-187 detail of BC-191 & chests	Musée de la Radio proprietor displaying the radio he built as a teenager for the French Resistance
	Miscellaneous vehicles on the road
Wounded captive being carried to the rear for extended interrogation