world wars in your neighbourhood

[konny]

Endless lines of these tank obstacles were still to be seen on the fields around Aachen when grew up there (I suppose they are still there, but haven't visited the region for more than a decade).

[il padrino]

During World War II, German forces used the fortress for ammunition storage. On June 5, 1941, the ammunition exploded,[2][5][12] blasting through the entirety of Smederevo and reaching settlements as far as 10 kilometers away. Much of the southern wall of the fortress was destroyed, the nearby railway station, packed with people, was blown away, and most of the buildings in the city were turned into debris. Around 2,500 people died in the explosion, and every other inhabitant was injured or wounded[13] (approximately 5,500).[14] Bombing by the Allies in 1944 caused further damage.[2][5][12]

this is how Smederevo looked before the explosion







and this is how it looked after





we call it serbian hiroshima.around 70-80% of the city was destroyed.




this is how the medieval 1453 fortress looked before the explosion





and this is how it looks like now




you can't see from the picture,but some great damages are still not repaired.

[Hopit]

Found a tank shell next to my house (in finland, 1km from border, russian tank shell, there went our potatoes...)

[Aquila SPQR]

There are remains of the forts which were meant to defend Warsaw close to me (two are about 1 km from my home):





























Also a nearby forest is full of remains of the trenches. Various people were finding there German soldier's equippment including Iron Crosses. I myself found on nearby dirt road two german Mauser shells from 1935.

[Hopit]

there's a bunker near my house, wiht a cannon on it.

[Aetius]

Just in case the japs tried to sail into San Francisco bay, these once had huge coastal guns.

[Hopit]

Just in case the japs tried to sail into San Francisco bay, these once had huge coastal guns.

nnah, there's bigger ones (MUCH bigger) in England, I believe they have never used them tou

[Aquila SPQR]

nnah, there's bigger ones (MUCH bigger) in England

Like in Hel Peninsula in Poland:






And the biggest one:











It's the place where this German 406mm cannon stood:



And a tower used for fire control:

[Hopit]

same sice or bigger, don't remember, well it was english coastal gun

[Aetius]

same sice or bigger, don't remember, well it was english coastal gun

[Hopit]

oh and there was 2 or 3 of them

[Aquila SPQR]

Did they actually do anything? Because this German one was (IIRC) never used in battle It reminds me German test range in Łeba (now in Poland) where they were testing their AA rockets. They were working on them for the entire war, managed to build few at the end of the war, launched at Allied bombers but... none hit the target

[Hopit]

Did they actually do anything? Because this German one was (IIRC) never used in battle It reminds me German test range in Łeba (now in Poland) where they were testing their AA rockets. They were working on them for the entire war, managed to build few at the end of the war, launched at Allied bombers but... none hit the target

no, they were never used in battle, they are still there

[cpdwane]

no, they were never used in battle, they are still there

Wherabouts in Britain?

[Hopit]

Wherabouts in Britain?

don't remember (was some documentary that came from tv about 2 years ago)

[Tim1988]

I live just round the corner from Biggin Hill airfield, which was one of the main fighter-stations used during the Battle of Britain. Most of the original buildings are still there and there's an actual size replica Spitfire and Hurricane outside. The airport is still used today as a commercial airfield, and they run annual airshows which always include the memorial flight (Lancaster, Hurricanes, spitfires).


Also, all throughout England you'll find medieval castles, many of which are still in superb condition and are popular tourist destinations.

[Ishoss]

My town is situated at the end of a fjord. The hills are steep and the water is plentiful. Hydroelectricity is a very profitable business around here.

When the Germans invaded they realised this. The cheap electricity coupled with access to water and fjords being more difficult to raid (both by air and sea) than a flat plain, meant that they decided to construct some quite large industrial complexes in Norway. Many of them was never finished.

In my town an American company, Electrical Furnace Productions (or something like that) (owned by Union Carbide) already owned one large factory. It produced Mangan. The Germans retooled it to produce something else.

This is the factory, still in operation today.

The football fields got soil-heating. The factory use the heated water both under the footballfields and for the streets in the city-centre. Additionaly all the houses in the picture was created by EFP. In 1920 they were some of Norway's best places to live. Even had real toilets.

The Germans created another factory, for aluminium production. Sadly, for the Germans, production started just before the war finished. They also created a railway between the two factories for freight. You can see where the tracks went, there's even some parts left. The factory was transfered from Sauda to Årdal, where the Germans had created another aluminium factory. This happened after the war and it was the governments decision. If it hadn't been for the German invasion, then Norsk Hydro might never have been founded. Nowadays there are other factories on the spot, such as Saint-Gobain SI-Glass.

The factory was built with Russian slaves. They got a quite good trearment, considering they were slaves, I mean. Every now and then a slave would run off and quite a few survived in the mountains with the help of willing locals. Of course there was also NS-members here too, so they had to be very careful.

This is the factory the Germans created.



There are bunkers/caves in the area. I am not sure if they were used by Germans but I am pretty sure at least three of the ones near the factory was in use by the germans. 2 of them are quite intact with concret walls etc. I don't remember much about the 3 one. Long time since I was in there.

They also had some kind of cannons in the area I've heard. Probably AA since there'd be better places for sea batteries. The town was in the danger-zones for raids due to the industry here. We weren't bombed though

[Taxandrius]

The Battle of Gheel (also known as the Battle of Ten Aart, named after the village that is part of the city and was completely bombed down after the battle)

location:


Located at the Albert Channel, Geel was a strategic point in the advance of the allies and the structurated retreat of the German Army.

8 september 1944, the 50th Northumbrian division started an attack from the villages of Stelen and Punt (both part of the muncipality) both located at the Channel Dessel-Kwaadmechelen. Soon, bridgeheads were founded, since the Germans were already weakened. The 10th, the Nottingham Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry tank division arrives, and with their help, the 50th is able to conquer the city centre, located in the centre between the channels. Though, the German resistance is fierce, and the British are pushed back on the 12th of september. After the new Scottish 15th division took the place of the nearly wiped out 50th, the British take the city centre without difficulties. The next day, the Scots tried to cross the Channel, but the German divisions at the other side of the channel answered with heavy artillery fire and blocked any attempt to cross the channel by shells and shots. Every time the Scottish division formed a bridgehead, they were pushed back in a short time. The 21st, the Scots are pushed back over the Campine Channel by the Germans. Though, in the following night, the Germans suddenly broke up their fortifications and left fast, direction: Netherlands. Both the Scottish and Northumbrian Division suffered huge losses and are burried on the cemeteries of Geel-Kievermont and Kasterlee, a city close to Ten Aart. The 416 German soldiers who fell near Gheel (Dutch: Geel) are buried in Dessel, east of Gheel I think.

Ten Aart ("Tenoard") suffered from the fierce fighting: the entire town was bombed down, and according to my sources, there was some collateral damage. My grandparents, who live(d) in the parish of Holven, north of the centre and on the other side of ten Aart, separated by the channel, say that the bombings also hit some houses down the road.

There is also the story of a young British soldier, a member of the Nottinghamshire tank division, who drove to the centre around the 12th of september, and parked the tank right in front of a café on the corner of the Nieuwstraat and the Stationsstraat. Unfortunately, a German soldier, who was still in the cafe and who didn't realise that his division was pushed back, was armed with anti-tank weaponry and ran out of the pub and shoot the tank. Nobody knows if the german made it to his division.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Cemetary of Kasterlee

[il padrino]

Some pics of my town,Smederevo, in WW2

Germans entering the town





Their prisoners had to transport supplies,fuel and stuff




They had it all amassed in this fine castle of ours








than one day,5th June 1941,couple of communists had a "nice" idea going in their heads,and the place went BOOM

[Wallienator]

Well, in my town we still got remnants from the Atlantikwall and a port which is like 500 years old. Epic old cannons btw.