Places of Interest

[Cav Dog]

Unfortunately the weather kept us from exploring too many other sites but you are right, there is a lot to see. We drove by Baraque D Fraiture, AKA Parker's Crossroads, which has a monument to that fight and is currently a ski resort. The town of Houffilize has a gorgeous Panther in the town square. There are also numerous museums that are not to be missed but as we discovered aren't open in the winter!

There is a nice game/hobby shop about a block off the main square in Bastogne, but it was closed for the holidays.
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Definitely going back in the warmer seasons, assuming my wife gets a trip to jewelry store in Brussels.

[redleg]

I had a chance to visit a museum yesterday that I have driven past many times but never visited. It is literally in the middle of nowhere and it’s only open on weekdays, so it was difficult to find an opportunity to visit. But yesterday my work took me to Blythe, CA, so I used my superior time management skills to make a visit happen.

The General Patton Memorial Museum is located in Chiriaco Summit, CA – a piece of dirt between the cities of Blythe and Indio. Yes, it is absolutely in the middle of nowhere. The museum is here because this is the site of the Desert Training Center, where armored units trained prior to deploying to North Africa in WW2. According to the plaque, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th Armored Divisions passed through the Desert Training Center, along with other cavalry and artillery units.




The inside of the museum is nice. Lots of exhibits with photos, uniforms, weapons, and stuff like that.




The Tank Pavilion and Tank Yard are where the cool stuff is. In the pavilion there is an M60 tank with separate hull and turret so you can sit in the driver’s seat and peek into the turret. There I also an M59 APC that you can crawl around in. I didn’t realize this thing was so big. I’m a little annoyed now that I bounced around in the back of a little M113 for so many years.
















The Tank yard has a lot of tanks and trucks, but many of them are in poor shape. The back corner looks kinda like a junkyard with track-less tanks and rusting support vehicles. It was cool to see the different camo patterns on the tanks, but a little disappointing to see these beauties just sitting in the dirt in their current condition. There are a few well maintained M60 tanks though.








If you are driving between Southern California and Arizona, this museum is a nice opportunity to get out and stretch your legs (on a weekday), but I wouldn’t go out of my way to come out into the middle of the desert for a visit.

[chrisswim]

Thank you for sharing these pictures. I appreciate seeing these.

[panzergator]

Those last two pics are so sad...

[redleg]

There was a lot of sadness there. I was hoping they were in the process of being restored and they weren't finished yet, but I didn't see any indication that they were being worked on, or that there were any plans to work on them.

I noticed that the little bulbous part on the side of the turret was removed in almost all the tanks. It left a small round hole near the top, close to the commander's cupola in that last picture. Do you know what part was there?

[panzergator]

On A1s, they were housing for the rangefinder lenses. On A3, one was a lenses (on turret left) and laser rangefinder ( on turret right). The laser rangefinder had a small door cover on it.

[redleg]

Thanks for the info, PG!

[redleg]

Once again, I came to London and did not visit the Imperial War Museum. If anyone has been there, please post some pics and feedback. One of these days….

I did get to visit HMS Belfast though, and it was fantastic! She was a light cruiser in WW2 – modified Town class, Scharnhorst hunter, D-Day veteran, Korean War combatant. The ship is beautifully preserved, and you can climb around on 9 different decks to see what life on the ship was like. And lots of 6 inch (155mm) rounds to illustrate how the magazines and ammo hoists worked!

She is moored in the River Thames right next to Tower Bridge, so if you are in London doing tourist stuff there is no excuse not to visit this fine ship! This is a must see!

Fortunately, GHQ makes a 1/2400 scale model of HMS Belfast. I think I will be taking another stab at some WW2 micronauts!

[chrisswim]

Great pics, thank you.

I need to share from my 10 day, Historical Trip.

[redleg]

I'm looking forward seeing your pics Chris!