Marion, please send my heartfelt thanks to Karl... I knew it had to be German because of the architecture.. it's nice to be able to know some of the places my grandfather travelled through. I know he arrived in Iceland Jan 25, 1942, was in Reykjvik at first, was in Akurarie on the northern coast of Iceland in August of '42, in Dec '43 he was at Cambler (or Gambler) Pass with the 556th Signal Corps. In his own words, "Left Iceland on the "Emperess of Russia" on May 22, 1944. Landed in Scotland on June 1, 1944. Traveled by rail to Preston England, then to South Hampton and Warminster (sp?). Left England in LCT July 15, 1944, landed on Omaha Beach."

I've got pictures he took in Versailles, St Lo, St Michele, Paris, Courtiles, and near Mortefontaine on the Maginot line. "Left Paris on Nov 5, 1945 in a C-47, landed on Oxford England. Left England from Liverpool on the SS Louis Pasteur on Nov 15, 1945. Landed Brooklyn Nov 25, 1945, reported to Ft Dix, NJ on Nov 26, 1945." He remained stateside until his discharge in 1946.

All of that is from notations he made in his photo albums.

I sent Karl this link, so he will be able to read it himself. Karl is a great friend and has done so much for me, too. Here's to Karl!

back to the mystery object

Judging by the men in the photo, i`d say its about a 5ft x 6ft oval, looks to be cast concrete.

My guesses:

1. some kind of decoritive mottif that got blown off a building

2. a well cover

3. they discovered the secret entrance to a Foo - Fighter base and they lassooed a FOO.

:pdt12:

I found Larry's link to this thread today and see Jean already missed me

Here http://www.63rdinfdi...torypage10.html another picture probably from the same point as Karl's Heidelberg_corr.jpg, but with the destroyed Bridge!

Christoph

P.S. Has anybodey else the same problems with the Enter key in this forum? It doesn't work in the WYSIWYG mode, but only in text mode since a few days or weeks.

My first ideas about the mystery Thing: The lines look like Jugendstil ornamentations. If it is, the object would be made at the turn of the century and not Military, perhaps a decoration of a public building, a station? And if it is a Jugendstil object, it might have been in France or Germany, but probably not in Iceland. Christoph

Oh I know it wasn't in Iceland... it was in his European photo box.. one of the loose photos he never got into an album or did descriptions of

I have deskewed the photo, but...

The Thing in the middle could be a hand grenade, a horn of plenty or a bread in the oven?

Christoph

My friend from Germany had another thought...

dear marion

here is a comment to the other photo on the website. it appearce to me as a base plate of a mortar,however i can not identify its origin. there was an american motar with a caliber of 81 mmm during ww II but it looked a little differnt to me since the photo is also very blur its hard to determine. more heidelberg photos to come

cheers

karl

P.S. Has anybody else the same problems with the Enter key in this forum? It doesn't work in the WYSIWYG mode, but only in text mode since a few days or weeks.

No, not here. Use the entry key all the time and it simply takes me to next line.

quote: "It doesn't work in the WYSIWYG mode"

Neither do i

but enter key works just fine

Definitely not a mortar base, it`s way to big. If you look close at the first pic, at the top center there is a soldier crouching down and another guy standing to the left. Like i said in previous post it`s about 6 feet in diameter. The angle of the photo problably made it look oval. I think it`s a building or garden ornament.

The mystery thing shows the sign of the French Maginot line. A member of another forum found the solution (the same forum who found the church in Manila). As this sign is found very often I cannot believe we'll also find the exact place where it was, but in France.

Christoph

Edit: Should read before writing: If he was at Mortefontaine near the Magionot line, maybe we will find the place.

Larry,

I dug around in both Scott's and Taggart's AAR's through their divisional histories and even my 30th regimental history... yet not one word about the bridge or ever going to Heidelburg. According to the maps showing their axis of advance, Heidelburg was WAY outside of it. WAY south of their line of advance by, I'd guess 20 to 40 miles... something like that.

The 3rd advanced across the Rhine at Worms, Germany, on the 15th of March, and arrived at Worth, Germany on the evening of the 29th advancing through Heppenheim.

The 3rd at the time was assigned to the XV Corps. 6th Army Group. They moved in the direction of Wurzburg, Germany. VI Corps. containing the 14th Armored, 36th ID and 70th ID... moved through the Heidelburg area around the 29th of March. The 3rd was with the VI Corps. for the majority of the war but, not at the time of the Rhine Crossing and their drive into Germany.

Regards,

MARNE

Mystery Thing again: Is it possible it was not Mortefontaine but Morfontaine? It seems as if there are three Mortefontaines in France, but all in the Center and not near the Maginot line. Then it may have been at the Camp de Morfontaine of the 139e Régiment d'Infanterie de Forteresse / Colonel Ritter. You'll find some Pictures of Morfontaine and the Maginot line here http://lostimagesofww2.com/photos/places/morfontaine.php , both today and in 1944.

Christoph

I didn't know the Maginot line had signs. People say the ML didn't work but it did. The Germans didn't put a lot of effort into breeching it - they just went around it. Unfortunately for the French, they didn't think the Germans would go through Belgium (again).

Incidentally, what is the translation of "On ne passe pas"? Google translate said "We do not pass", but that made less sense than something like "They will not pass".