My dad passed away recently and I was tasked with going through his photos. Came across these, which were taken in France in the summer/fall of 1945. None of the photos had captions, so I used the great and powerful Google to see if I could discover their location.
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| V2 Rocket on display |
The only way to identify the location is the name of the business seen in the background, left. It is "Pompes Funèbres A. Galichet Fils". It is a funeral home in Reims, France, and still exists almost 70 years after the photo was taken. If this photo was taken in the U.S., I believe it would be unlikely that the business and area would remain as unchanged as it did in this case. Europe has a better appreciation for its history. The placard at the lower left states that it is a V2 Standard.
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| V2 Rocket on display |
Here is another view of the V2 with funeral home in the background.
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| Pompes Funebres Galichet, today |
Funeral home, today. Image courtesy of Google Maps. Note the architectural details, especially the windows on the roof.
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| Reims Town Hall, 1945 |
Once I knew that the photos were in Reims, I was able to identify this photo as the Town Hall. The US Army was displaying its might, and its war trophies. This photo has a M4 Sherman, left background, a 155 mm towed howitzer, left front, a German mini-sub, 'Biber', right front, and a 75 mm pack gun next to the sub. Displayed along the front of the building are placards showing the branches of the US Army.
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| Biber on display in Reims, 1945 |
Another view of the Town Hall with a better view of the Biber. Also visible is the rear section of a V1 rocket or "buzz bomb".
Reims Town Hall, today.
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| Reims, 1945 |
Street view of Reims. I was able to locate the intersection from the restaurant sign partially visible to the right of the monument.
Same intersection, with the monument restored (the top has either been replaced or added since 1945). The building to the right is the same in both photos.
Dad, right, and his buddy on the left at Chateau de Compaigne. I couldn't find a modern photo showing this flower bed, but notice the planters for the trees on the right.
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| Chateua de Compaigne |
The architecture, and the style of the planters, match the photo from 1945
2 comments:
Hello Sir,
Are you still active on this blog, i have a question about these pictures in Reims but can not find any contact information.
Kind regards,
Olivier
Thanks for these pictures. I have a photo of a V-2 in Reims and thanks to your website I was able to identify its location in front of the Town Hall.
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