In the course of developing your interest in military history, what battlefields have you visited? Which one of these are your favorite?
Living in Northern Virginia provides me ample opportunity to roam several well preserved Civil War battlefields. The one that stands out most in my recollection is Antietam in Maryland. Superbly preserved battle area, well worth the visit. I enjoy going to Europe and walking that terrain and would have to say in Europe the most memorable one for me is Normandy. There are many second place ones, but Normandy is outstanding.
Looking forward to what you have seen.
DJ
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Favorite battlefield
210cav
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Posted: Monday, January 22, 2007 - 11:05 PM UTC
A-Train
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Posted: Monday, January 22, 2007 - 11:11 PM UTC
I'd have to say normandy, The bunkers on the beaches are a chill reminder of the lives lost that day.
Although, i was once in bastogne, only for an hour or so as i was on a school trip, but being there was great, and i hope to return one day.
Although, i was once in bastogne, only for an hour or so as i was on a school trip, but being there was great, and i hope to return one day.
Halfyank
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Posted: Monday, January 22, 2007 - 11:15 PM UTC
It's easy to say my favorite, since I've only been able to get to one, Shiloh in Tennessee. Seeing the "bloody pond" was quite chilling. The park rangers who guided tours, gave presentations, and answered questions were truly great. My great prayer is that I live long enough to visit some of the fields in Europe, with Waterloo, Normandy, and Bastogne being tops on the list.
Cob
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 12:01 AM UTC
I have visited the Custer Battlefield in South eastern Montana several times. Great visitor center and guides. It doesn't appear to have changed at all since 1876. Not hard to imagine what it looked like.
I also enjoyed Shiloh. Got to spend a day there without my wife and kids bugging me to go 30 minutes after I got there :-). Two of my ancesters served in the 19th Illinois. I always wondered how they survived. While there I found a memorial placard near the river. It seems their regiment spent the battle guarding supply wagons.
The third battlefield I really enjoyed was Guam. Some of the Japanese beach fortifications (Tunnels, caves and beach obstacles) have been preserved in a couple of parks. Once again, other than the city of Agana, many parts of the island seem to have changed little since WWII. There are signs of the battle in out of the way places. For instance, on top of a ridge on the road leading to a Navy Housing area, I found a site that was used as a field hospital by the Japanese.
Cob
I also enjoyed Shiloh. Got to spend a day there without my wife and kids bugging me to go 30 minutes after I got there :-). Two of my ancesters served in the 19th Illinois. I always wondered how they survived. While there I found a memorial placard near the river. It seems their regiment spent the battle guarding supply wagons.
The third battlefield I really enjoyed was Guam. Some of the Japanese beach fortifications (Tunnels, caves and beach obstacles) have been preserved in a couple of parks. Once again, other than the city of Agana, many parts of the island seem to have changed little since WWII. There are signs of the battle in out of the way places. For instance, on top of a ridge on the road leading to a Navy Housing area, I found a site that was used as a field hospital by the Japanese.
Cob
hogarth
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 12:03 AM UTC
I live in Baltimore but have not visited Antietam for some years. It is really nice, well kept, etc., and not nearly so commercialized as Gettysburg. My family lives in G'burg, and that's also nice, much larger than most battlefields of its era.
I've also visited some Revolutionary War battlefields here in the USA, but not many.
Hard to say what I like the best. Gettysburg is the one I know best as it's where I went to college and where my parents retired to, so I guess it's my favorite.
I've also visited some Revolutionary War battlefields here in the USA, but not many.
Hard to say what I like the best. Gettysburg is the one I know best as it's where I went to college and where my parents retired to, so I guess it's my favorite.
210cav
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 12:21 AM UTC
The Revolutionary Battlefields I can only bring to mind: Saratoga in New York, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and Yorktown, Virginia. There must be others in Vermont (Bennington?) and New Hampshire(Green Mountain Boys?). Your mention of it certainly figures foremost in my "forgotten battlefields" of America list.
Davester444
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 12:58 AM UTC
Normandy has to be the most memorable one for me, largely because of all the intact and partially destroyed bunkers and walls. Pointe du Hoc especially is a great place to see. Second and third would be Bastogne, and Vimy Ridge, with the huge Canadian memorial.
Dave
Dave
210cav
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 01:00 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Normandy has to be the most memorable one for me, largely because of all the intact and partially destroyed bunkers and walls. Pointe du Hoc especially is a great place to see. Second and third would be Bastogne, and Vimy Ridge, with the huge Canadian memorial.
Dave
Dave -- Vimy Ridge? World War I or II? What's there besides the monument?
thanks
DJ
erichvon
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 02:38 AM UTC
Vimys an incredible site. Preserved trenches, preserved tunnels which were used for the purposes of bringing fresh troops and evacuating wounded.In fact I saw some pics somewhere on the web of Hitler visiting it!
I don't have a favourite battlefield as such as they're all as poignant as the next. I've been fortunate enough to have visited Normandy (all of the beaches, Merville, Pegasus Bridge,Pointe Du Hoc and Ste Mere Eglise), Dieppe, the Ardennes area. I've also visited the Somme (reduced me to tears), Ypres, Passchendale, Messines, Vimy Ridge form WW1.
It's true what they say about history repeating itself. I got stuck inside a PanzerIV at Pourville when visiting Dieppe aged 12 then got stuck inside the Sherman in Bastognes town square at 35. Its only natural. See a tank you can get into, noones looking and voila...stuck :-) . Moral in that is don't climb into knackered tanks unless you're not bothered about getting covered in filth and rust..Mind you I got soaked at Omaha taking pics
I don't have a favourite battlefield as such as they're all as poignant as the next. I've been fortunate enough to have visited Normandy (all of the beaches, Merville, Pegasus Bridge,Pointe Du Hoc and Ste Mere Eglise), Dieppe, the Ardennes area. I've also visited the Somme (reduced me to tears), Ypres, Passchendale, Messines, Vimy Ridge form WW1.
It's true what they say about history repeating itself. I got stuck inside a PanzerIV at Pourville when visiting Dieppe aged 12 then got stuck inside the Sherman in Bastognes town square at 35. Its only natural. See a tank you can get into, noones looking and voila...stuck :-) . Moral in that is don't climb into knackered tanks unless you're not bothered about getting covered in filth and rust..Mind you I got soaked at Omaha taking pics
Davester444
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 03:09 AM UTC
Vimy is great, the trenches there are preserved brilliantly with concrete 'sandbags' along the walls. It's amazing to see how close the two lines were, 25 or 30 yards in some places. You don't realise just how close they were until you stand in one trench and look over at the other.
Dave
Dave
erichvon
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 03:20 AM UTC
This is the pic I got soaked taking.I'm pretty sure it's Dog Green on Omaha. This was about 4 in the afternoon so its quite a way from the sealine to the seawall
erichvon
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 03:25 AM UTC
Possibly the most memorable visit was Beaumont Hamel on the Somme. The trenches are still intact albeit a lot of them have filled up but there was such an aura of gloom all over the site and a really musty smell. I've never forgotten that. Was quite surreal. I went off on my own to have a look around and it always felt that someone was behind me. Very odd feeling.
Airchalenged
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 03:59 AM UTC
I have only been able to visit a few battlefields in my 18 yrs. As a reenactor I have not actually been to the real sites (ie Manasass was fought about an hour westish of the real place.) I have been to the real Manasass battlefield (wide open plain with some statues/monuments and cannons), Gettysburg, and Bentonville. I have also been to Forts Macon and ANderson on the NC coast where breif skirmishes occured. I have also been able to visit numerous small skirmish locations throughout NC as well as Benett Place in Durham.
Apparently Gettysburg is gettysburg is getting a historical over haul since a wealth of land deeds and documents from 1863 have been found in the Penn archives. I will have to see how the new facade looks in August.
Matt
Apparently Gettysburg is gettysburg is getting a historical over haul since a wealth of land deeds and documents from 1863 have been found in the Penn archives. I will have to see how the new facade looks in August.
Matt
andy007
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 05:15 AM UTC
I Haven't visited many battlefields, But for me it would have to be Berlin, I think its not for what has been preserved but how it has incorporated Modernlife AROUND History, But being able to see Shrapnel and Bullet damage everywhere and Russian graffiti on the Reichstag was an amazing experience for me.
DD-393
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 05:49 AM UTC
Most of the battlefields that I've visited are from the American Civil War. I've been to Shiloh, Vicksburg, Murfreesboro and Nashville from the Western Theatre of Operations; Bull's Run, Gainesville, South Mountain, Antietam and Gettysburg from the Eastern Theatre of Operations. We care for the 2nd Wisconsin grave markers at Antietam, and have done quite a bit of Adopt-A-Position work at Gettysburg, where we've adopted the 2nd & 7th Wisconsin Monuments at McPherson's Ridge, and the 2nd Wisconsin and Belle City Rifles markers at Culp's Hill.
I've also been to the Little Bighorn National Battlefield Monument twice, and will get out for the third time this August.
Gainesville is my favorite site. It's not really developed, and at sunset, you can almost feel the presence of the troops.
Charlie
I've also been to the Little Bighorn National Battlefield Monument twice, and will get out for the third time this August.
Gainesville is my favorite site. It's not really developed, and at sunset, you can almost feel the presence of the troops.
Charlie
210cav
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 05:48 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Vimy is great, the trenches there are preserved brilliantly with concrete 'sandbags' along the walls. It's amazing to see how close the two lines were, 25 or 30 yards in some places. You don't realise just how close they were until you stand in one trench and look over at the other.
Dave
Dave based on Karl's comments and your remarks, I have to put that on my list of places to visit. I plan on going to Europe in '07 to visit my Son who is stationed over there. We toured Normandy in November and it was beautiful we returned the next year in May and it was a weather nightmare. Cold, wet, windy and then sun. Then back to rain and wind. Must have been a heck of a day weather wise on 6 June 1944. Back to Vimy, I assume the British government maintains the site. Is this correct?
DJ
Drader
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 06:08 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Dave based on Karl's comments and your remarks, I have to put that on my list of places to visit. I plan on going to Europe in '07 to visit my Son who is stationed over there. We toured Normandy in November and it was beautiful we returned the next year in May and it was a weather nightmare. Cold, wet, windy and then sun. Then back to rain and wind. Must have been a heck of a day weather wise on 6 June 1944. Back to Vimy, I assume the British government maintains the site. Is this correct?
DJ
Vimy Ridge is, appropriately, a Canadian Memorial
Vimy Ridge Memorial
I'm pretty sure my grandfather was involved there, serving with the Canadian Railway Troops.
You should try the area around Ypres too, I stayed there over the Remembrance Day weekend in about 1979. We were put up at the Toc H at Poperinge and I have never spent a colder night! We also went to the huge cemetery at Tyne Cot (with around 12000 graves), which is where my great uncle is commemorated, though I didn't know that at the time.
While I was working in France we got the chance to go to Alesia and the thought of slogging over the roads in full Roman military kit gave me something to think about while we were sitting in our minibus...
David
210cav
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 06:26 PM UTC
Dave-- Definitely have those sites on my itinerary for the upcoming visit. When we were at Pointe du Hoc last May, I was amazed at the cliff deterioration. The previous visit we had been able to get some photos from the Ranger memorial near the furthest bunker on the cliff. Completely blocked off this time. Too bad. That is a great area to visit and the museums are impressive. I am reading Martin Gilbert's latest book entitled Somme. It is eye opening as to the massive effort and casualties suffered. I have to hit that one also. Have you been to the Maginot Line? If so, what is it like?
thanks
DJ
thanks
DJ
garthbender
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 07:15 PM UTC
In the US it's Gettysburg. My parents used to take me there when I was a pup and it always amazed me. When I was a consultant a few years back I was working on a project in Lancaster and would go to Gettysburg every so often for dinner and to look around.
One of our stops during our honeymoon last year was Normandy. We stayed in Bayeux for four day and I had plenty of time to wanted around.
I took a ton of pictures and they are posted here: D-Day Photos. We really had a great time on the trip. One of my favorite pictures is from Utah beach. It was early morning and everything was nice and calm. I spent a lot of time there just reflecting on life in general. Here is the pic:
I have my uncles diary from WWI and someday I would like to follow the course he took through France and see where my family is from in Alsace. Maybe in a few years.
~ Garth
One of our stops during our honeymoon last year was Normandy. We stayed in Bayeux for four day and I had plenty of time to wanted around.
I took a ton of pictures and they are posted here: D-Day Photos. We really had a great time on the trip. One of my favorite pictures is from Utah beach. It was early morning and everything was nice and calm. I spent a lot of time there just reflecting on life in general. Here is the pic:
I have my uncles diary from WWI and someday I would like to follow the course he took through France and see where my family is from in Alsace. Maybe in a few years.
~ Garth
Drader
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 08:01 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Dave-- Have you been to the Maginot Line? If so, what is it like?
thanks
DJ
The Maginot Line was a little too far for us to get to from where we were working, which was at Mont Beuvray, southwest of Dijon. It was only after I'd worked there that I discovered that the SAS operated pretty intensively in the Morvan and had raided both Autun (the nearest town) and Chatillion-sur-Seine where we went to see the Vix treasure. Coincidentally the Eurostar train line which took us to Paris to get the TGV down to Le Creusot runs across part of the Somme and gave a real impression of how flat and open the terrain is.
This site gives a good impression of one of the Alsace forts
Maginot Line
David
210cav
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 08:36 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Quoted TextDave-- Have you been to the Maginot Line? If so, what is it like?
thanks
DJ
This site gives a good impression of one of the Alsace forts
Maginot Line
David
David-- the shots of the firtresses are truly impressive. The interior shot remind me of the bunker at Ouistream. Preety cool and not a dent on them!
We had a contributor from the Philippines who psoted some great shots of a trip he took to Corregidor. Another monument to the "stupidity of man." I have to dig out the photos I took of Normandy to compare notes. Do you recall the name of the name of the German battery located behind either Sword or Juno manned by German Naval cadets firing weapons taken from their inoperable battleships? My camera crapped out when we were at that section.
thanks
DJ
Drader
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 08:53 PM UTC
Merville perhaps?
I'm waiting for the fourth volume of the Histoire et Collections series on the Maginot Line to appear.
David
I'm waiting for the fourth volume of the Histoire et Collections series on the Maginot Line to appear.
David
210cav
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Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 10:09 PM UTC
No, it was a naval battery. When you go up to the site, pieces of the cannon are embedded in the ground. Let me do a search and see if I can come up with the name. They maybe the Longues battery, but I am not sure.
Davester444
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Posted: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - 12:47 AM UTC
The three most famous batteries in Normandy (in the D-Day landing area anyway) are Merville, Longues, and Azeville. Merville is near Ouistreham, and Sword and Juno beach, Longues is towards the western end of Gold IIRC, and Azeville is near Utah Beach. Some or all of them may have been naval batteries, and all three were fought over. Merville was captured by British paratroopers on the night of D-Day, it's an interesting story, the unit had to attack with a fraction of their intended force due to gliders landing in the wrong place. All three batteries have been developed for visitors to an extent, and they're interesting to have a look around.
Also, further up the coast towards the Pas de Calais, is what's left of the Todt Battery. At least two of the enormous casemates are still completely intact, one has been turned into a museum, which has outside it one of the two remaining Leopold railway guns. The bunkers really are huge, they are a truly impressive sight.
Dave
Also, further up the coast towards the Pas de Calais, is what's left of the Todt Battery. At least two of the enormous casemates are still completely intact, one has been turned into a museum, which has outside it one of the two remaining Leopold railway guns. The bunkers really are huge, they are a truly impressive sight.
Dave
210cav
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Posted: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - 01:17 AM UTC
Quoted Text
The three most famous batteries in Normandy (in the D-Day landing area anyway) are Merville, Longues, and Azeville. Merville is near Ouistreham, and Sword and Juno beach, Longues is towards the western end of Gold IIRC, and Azeville is near Utah Beach. Some or all of them may have been naval batteries, and all three were fought over. Merville was captured by British paratroopers on the night of D-Day, it's an interesting story, the unit had to attack with a fraction of their intended force due to gliders landing in the wrong place. All three batteries have been developed for visitors to an extent, and they're interesting to have a look around.
Also, further up the coast towards the Pas de Calais, is what's left of the Todt Battery. At least two of the enormous casemates are still completely intact, one has been turned into a museum, which has outside it one of the two remaining Leopold railway guns. The bunkers really are huge, they are a truly impressive sight.
Dave
Dave-- it has to be Longues. Do you have photos of that position?
DJ
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