The museum honors and remembers over 6,000 Monona County Veterans from the Mexican War through the current day, including those who have served through peacetime, the uncertain times of the Cold War, and the more perplexing War on Terror.

Outside are a number of vintage military static displays. The largest and the first that visitors see in the center of the “loop drive” is an A7-D Corsair II Fighter Bomber. In front of the building, the American flag, along with the colorful “branch flags” line the sidewalk leading to the building. Acting as a silent sentry is an M60 A3 armored tank, along with a 6,000-pound Danforth ship’s anchor and a rare 1942 M3 Diamond T Half-Track. Around back, is a 1964 vintage UH-1 Huey helicopter and an M101A1 105mm towed Howitzer. A series of walk paths around the facility, along with benches, offer a place to quietly reflect and meditate. This area also allows for an “Avenue of Flags” during special times of the year, which honor our veterans.

Inside, photographs, uniforms and other personal items and memorabilia from all the wars are on display — many being contributions made by Monona County veterans from many famous and infamous battles throughout history.
A central granite marker is reserved to honor the sacrifices made by our veterans. The pentagon-shaped blue-grey granite weighs in excess of two tons and is pierced by a bayonet affixed to an M1 Garand rifle, with a WWII-vintage helmet, replicating a battlefield grave marker. A set of dog tags and a religious cross hang from the rifle’s trigger mechanism. Inscribed on bronze plaques on each side of the memorial are the names of Monona County KIAs, MIAs, combat wounded, POWs and the names of those who died in non-battle situations while serving their country.

Continuing on, a 1917 machine gun and ammunition cart (Caison) and a 1942 Ford GPW Jeep with a .30-caliber Browning sit across from one another in stark contrast. There are many weapons on display (including war souvenirs) — M1 Carbine, Browning (BAR), Thompson sub-machinegun, M-60 machinegun, M-16, WWI Springfield rifle, WWI Colt pistol, Japanese Arisaka rifles, German MP 40 machinegun, Lugers and more.
Adding to the ambiance, soft background music plays patriotic marches, ballads and period-news broadcasts relating to the world at war.

Opened to the public on Memorial Day in 2000, the museum expanded in 2006 to include an extensive military library and multi-media center. The new addition was dedicated to those serving through Desert Storm, 911 and the current War on Terror.
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The MONONA COUNTY VETERAN’S MEMORIAL MUSEUM (203 12th Street, Onawa, IA 51040; 712/423-3780) is open Saturday and Sunday from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend from 1-4 p.m., and by appointment any other time of the year. For more information, contact museum organizer/curator William Wonder at 712/423-2411.

The legacy of ships named Hornet extends all the way back to the birth of the U.S. Navy during the Revolutionary War. Hornet (CV-12) is the eighth ship of its name in the American fleet. Her immediate predecessor, Hornet (CV-8) launched the daring Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, fought at the decisive Battle of Midway and helped turn back Japanese expansion during the Battle of Guadalcanal. In October 1942, almost one year to the day from her commissioning, she was lost to a ferocious enemy air attack at the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands.

One of the legendary Essex-class aircraft carriers, Hornet (CV-12) was commissioned in November 1943 and entered the Pacific fray in March 1944. For the ensuing 15 months she never tied up at a pier, until being put out of service by a typhoon during the battle of Okinawa. The ship was a marvel of technology for her era — and a big one too. She is three football fields long, originally displaced 27,000 tons and the top of her mast stands 190 feet above the water. She could carry up to 100 aircraft and as many as 3,500 men. During WWII, her pilots and crew destroyed over 1,400 enemy planes and sank 73 enemy ships, both U.S. Navy records. Her reputation for being a lucky ship derives from having been attacked 59 times but suffering only minor damage and casualties. Hornet is one of the most decorated ships of WWII, having participated in nearly every major action in the latter-stage of Pacific combat operations.

Designed specifically to sweep the Pacific islands, skies and seas clear of Japanese combat forces, 24 Essex-class carriers were built during WWII. With the introduction of jet-powered aircraft into the fleet during the Korean War, the Essex-class ships were superseded by even larger carriers. In the late 1950s, Hornet was extensively modified to engage in an anti-submarine warfare mission and its designation was changed to CVS-12. After her Viet Nam service was over, Hornet was selected to recover the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. On 24 July 1969, Neil Armstrong’s first steps back on Earth were taken in Hornet’s hangar bay with President Nixon in attendance. After recovering the all-Navy astronaut crew of Apollo 12 four months later, Hornet was decommissioned and mothballed in Bremerton, WA, for 25 years.

A living museum
Hornet was nearly scrapped in 1995 until some of its former crew and other volunteers banded together to preserve this key piece of America’s heritage as a living museum. The museum personnel have always been passionate about “bridging” the values of the World War II generation to the youth of today. The museum receives no financial support from any government organization. Basic operations are supported by revenue gained from daily visitors, tour groups and private functions. The creation of new exhibits and major events relies on the generosity of corporate sponsors and private benefactors. While there are four other aircraft carrier museums in the U.S., the Hornet is unique due to the extensive “period” restoration and education activities performed by its staff and volunteers.

Many years ago, kamikazes screamed overhead trying desperately to plunge their aircraft into the flight deck. Urgent voices on the loudspeakers boomed, “All hands, man your battle-stations.” The sound of gunfire reverberated throughout the entire ship, as sailors fought off attack after attack. Today, only seagulls shriek and wheel over the flight deck. Those same loudspeakers now primarily announce the next engine room or bridge tour. The main sounds echoing throughout the cavernous hangar bays are the voices of laughing children.

All principal operational spaces have been restored including the Captain’s bridge, crew’s berthing quarters, torpedo room, engine room, flight control center, combat information center and infirmary. Educational displays are located throughout the ship, many with videos the whole family will enjoy. The museum has 12 aircraft on display, ranging from a vintage WWII TBM bomber to an F-14 Tomcat used as recently as operational Desert Storm. There are some unique Apollo artifacts, including the Mobile Quarantine Facility (trailer) used by Apollo 14 astronauts upon their return from the moon in 1971 and an Apollo spacecraft that flew an unmanned test mission in 1966 (and was recovered by Hornet) and the SH-3 Sea King helicopter used in the highly acclaimed 1995 movie “Apollo 13.”

The public is welcome to tour much of the ship on their own, or take docent-guided tours into special locations, any day of the week. Many of the docents served aboard aircraft carriers, some even on the USS Hornet. They have an infectious attitude, wanting to share their knowledge with all visitors, tall or small. Many have great sea stories they are willing to share with your family. More than just a museum, the ship is a floating repository of memories, of courage in times of great danger, of honor in times of sacrifice.

One Saturday a month (usually the third) is designated Living Ship Day, giving visitors significant insight into a sailor’s life at sea. Radar antennas sweep the horizon, loudspeakers blare out various personnel commands, and airplanes are tugged around the hangar bay by “mules.” The carrier’s huge aircraft elevator whisks airplanes — and people — between the flight deck and the hangar bay in a few seconds, as it did during combat operations.

Since the museum opening in 1998, over 100,000 children have spent a night onboard the ship. Many Friday and Saturday nights, 350 lucky children participate in the Liveaboard encampment program. They sleep in the same berths, shower in the same lavatories, and eat in the same mess hall as the original sailors did. A privileged few scouts also get to attend one of the merit badge classes on Saturday, whose topics include radio, aviation and space exploration.

Over the years, the museum has also earned a special reputation in the Bay Area entertainment field. Its Big Band dances, held twice a year, have gained a dedicated group of swing dance aficionados who dress up in WWII period costumes and cut a mean rug! All or part of the Hornet is also available to be rented for private functions such as corporate dinner parties, group meetings or military reunions. Several movies and TV documentaries have also been filmed onboard.

In today’s school environment, children can only read a brief overview of major events such as WWII or the space race of the 1960s. At the Hornet Museum, they can touch it, providing a unique opportunity to actually step into history!
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USS HORNET MUSEUM (Pier 3, Alameda Point, P.O. Box 460, Alameda, CA 94501; phone 510/521-8448 x282, www.uss-hornet.org) is open daily from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s). Adult admission, $15; $12 seniors, students and military, $6 ages 5-17. There is ample free parking at the head of Pier 3 by the museum.

Bob Fish is the author of “Hornet Plus Three,” the first book to reveal the eyewitness story of the recovery of Apollo 11 in 1969.

Only 92 miles from Brussels, Bastogne was a busy, picturesque little Belgian town at the center of an open plain, surrounded by birch- and pine-covered hills of the Ardennes. Sitting on the major road junction in the area, its crossroads were vital to allow the German forces to move through the area on to Liege.

The ground conditions were too muddy to allow mass movement of German armored vehicles across the countryside, so Bastogne had to be taken. If held by the Americans it would hinder German communications to the rear and threaten the flank of the 5th Panzer Army.
As history recalls, 743 officers and 10,386 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division, plus 276 officers and 3,781 soldiers of other units attached to the 101st at that time, held out against overwhelming German odds from 19-26 Dec 44.

This heroic stand by the 101st Airborne Division and the conglomeration of other hastily scraped together American forces halted the German forces long enough for the Allied armies to plan and launch a counterattack. The 101st’s appalling casualty figures of 500 killed, 2,500 wounded, and 400 missing or captured give some idea of the ferocity of the fighting around Bastogne.

The fighting took place in the small villages (often only a few small cottages), and fields and woods encircling Bastogne, which by the end of the battle was almost in total ruins from the heavy shelling.

Visiting Bastogne
The thousands of Americans visiting Bastogne each year find themselves warmly welcomed by the townspeople. Several annual events, parades and exhibitions commemorate the fighting in the Ardennes and Bastogne.

For a full day, self-guided tour of Bastogne, the surrounding area, monuments and museums that commemorate the siege, it’s best to have a rental car, as most visitors come from Brussels. The town and sites are so close together and easy to find that it’s easily done in your own vehicle. Here are some “must-see” sights for Americans in Bastogne.

Place McAuliffe
Your first stop is the paved-stone square in the town center, now a parking lot. Surrounded on two sides by two-story shops and busy streets on the other sides, it’s hard to imagine what this square looked like in 1944. Old photographs show devastated ruins of shattered, snow-covered buildings, and crumbled piles of red bricks when it was the epicenter of the battle.

An olive drab Sherman tank proudly stands guard in one corner. Visitors can read about the tank’s history in a book found in the Information Center. Look for the holes punched in the rear and left side of the tank, evidence of close combat.

The square is now called Place McAuliffe after the 101st Airborne acting divisional commander, Brigadier-General Anthony C. McAuliffe, who led the resolute defense of the town. A bronze bust of McAuliffe with the 101st Airborne crest is mounted on a concrete stand near the tank. Nearby, several bronze plaques list the various units that fought here. One plaque states “In honor of the valiant men of the 10th US Armored Division who gave their lives for freedom in the 1944-1945 Ardennes Campaign and in the Bastogne area.”

Another interesting site in the square is a Liberty Way marker, a four-foot-tall, white concrete obelisk, with a red flaming torch. These markers start at Utah Beach, Normandy, and are found every kilometer along the 899-mile route of Patton’s 3rd Army to Bastogne.

Fifty meters from the tank a circular, glass-sided tourist information center stands on one side of the square; a small, green, fold-out tourist map of Bastogne is available there.

Take some time to browse the books in the Information Center, several of which, written by local historians who lived through the battle, are found nowhere else.

Au Pays d’Ardenne Museum
A three-minute walk across the square is the Musee Au Pays d’Ardennes, or Museum of the Ardennes Countryside (20 rue de Neufchateau), a great warm-up for your tour. Outside is a uniformed model of an American soldier. Flags hang down above the en-trance and the narrow entry hall has dozens of genuine WWII memorabilia for sale.

The small room downstairs is crammed with an amazing variety of military artifacts and weapons picked up from the battlefields around Bastogne or donated by the locals. Other memorabilia graphically tell the “Bulge” story: a shredded American helmet, German helmets riddled with bullet holes, a carved wooden bust of Hitler, Nazi flags, German officers’ hats and soldiers’ caps, medical supplies and battle dressings, cigarette packets, playing cards and more paraphernalia that will bring back memories to veterans of WWII
The historical photos are rarities, and you won’t see them in the books.

Patton Monument
From the museum, take the second road on the right and walk a few hundred meters down the hill until you come to a con-crete wall with the engraving of General George S. Patton’s face, unveiled in 1963 by Patton’s grandson.

Heading out of town, toward the Bastogne Historical center, is the turret of a Sherman tank mounted on a two-foot-high stone platform on the roadside, gun facing away from the town. This denotes the defensive perimeter of the besieged town, a lot closer than you’d think.

Bastogne Historical Center
This irregular wooden shingle- sided museum exhibits professionally designed exhibits and a comprehensive range of Ger-man and allied uniforms, weapons and equipment. Outside sits a Sherman tank and other military vehicles and artillery pieces.

Inside are concentric rings of displays; give yourself at least an hour to walk through this fascinating museum. A self-guided audio tour accompanies the exhibits. Lifelike uniformed wax models of Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton (with Ivory-handled revolvers) and models of almost every allied and German service involved in the Battle of the Bulge are arranged in long curved rows of glass cases.

U.S. uniforms on display include those of a Red Cross nurse, an American tank driver, a GI with anti-tank weapon, an Army mortar man with mortar and ammunition, a machine gunner with weapon and fully loaded ammunition belt, airmen, and soldiers in snow camouflage,
German soldiers are likewise posed in uniform: a grenadier, the standard field gray Wermacht uniform, SS, Fallschirmjager paratroop, a German mortar man, a tank captain, a signals officer, a field marshal, a Luftwaffe pilot and others.

The authentic Bastogne road sign, pitted with bullet holes, is displayed. A comprehensive collection of allied and German weapons includes hand grenades, German and American bazookas and anti-tank rockets, etc.

Other display cases show all sorts of rusted personal items and equipment; eating utensils, pocket knives, dishes, gas masks, soap, a water canteen shredded with bullet holes, US Army Field Ration K Dinner Units, ID tags for wounded soldiers, com-passes, and other artifacts. Lastly, a small theater shows a 30-minute documentary about the Battle of Bastogne.

The museum’s outer walls contain dioramas of painted battle scenes with lifelike model soldiers, tanks, American and German military vehicles.

The Mardasson Monument
A few hundred meters from the Historical Center is the enormous five-pointed-star-shaped concrete monument to the 76,890 U.S. casualties from the Ardennes campaign. Forty feet high and 260 feet across, it looks like an immense temple — a clear indicator of how Belgians honor the sacrifices made by the U.S. forces here.

From the rooftop, reached via a winding staircase, is a great view of Bastogne, only a couple of miles away — the same view had by the German artillery battery that set up on a field just below.

A memorial plaque in the central circle of the monument reads, “The Belgian people remember their American Liberators.” A crypt lies beneath the memorial.

Foy
Going back toward Bastogne, turn right up the N30 at the crossroads and drive a short distance to the small town of Foy (pronounced fwa). There, the 101st Airborne stopped the German forces cold, taking severe losses, before retreating back a few kilometers to the positions they held for the remainder of the siege.

German military cemetery, Recogne
Before you return to Bastogne from Foy, turn right along the N30 then left down a side road signposted “Cimitiere Allemand,” following it a short way to the German military cemetery.

The rough-hewn gray lime-sandstone crosses are roughly aligned, three soldiers buried at each gravesite and three others buried on the other side of each headstone, six to each plot. A total of 6,807 Germans are buried there.

Some poignant sights include inscriptions that simply say “Ein Deutscher Soldat,” (a German soldier). The crosses have birth dates and dates of the soldier’s death written on them. Grenadier Otto Koller, 5.10.26-20.12.44, sadly records an 18-year-old’s demise; the oldest soldier buried there was 52. The headstones with recurring dates indicate several soldiers were killed; days of hard battle with high losses.
On the way to the cemetery is a memorial plaque on the roadside marking where the original American temporary cemetery at Foy was located from 1945-1948. The bodies were repatriated to the U.S. or interred in the two American Military cemeteries in the Ardennes.
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A visit to Bastogne gives you a different perspective of the Battle of the Bulge. There’s nothing like visiting the town and countryside to bring history to life. There are a number of hotels in Bastogne (for hotel listings visit www.logis.be or www.bastogne.be).

When I first got involved with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the most visited memorial in our nation’s capitol, our goal was to honor the 58,241 names of the men and women killed in Viet-Nam. We were determined that the names should not be forgotten, nor lost, in American history as the most lasting sacrifice of a tumultuous war that divided our nation. At the dedication of the memorial in 1982, the healing process truly began as the Wall brought honor and dignity to all who died and served our country. Each soldier killed has his or her name equally displayed without rank or date of birth. All were soldiers who went “above and beyond” and gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Aside from Washington, D.C., the soldiers names engraved on the memorial are permanently honored in only one other location. The “Above and Beyond” exhibit, unveiled in 2001 at the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago, is comprised of dog tags, one for each serviceman and woman killed. Suspended from a fine line, each dog tag sits exactly one inch apart, allowing them to move “like a living thing with shifts in the air current.”

Hung from the ceiling in a two-story atrium, the design including all 58,241 names is haunting, breathtaking and memorable. As people enter, the breeze waves the metal dog tags creating the faintest sound of chimes, evoking a sudden silence, spiritually and unspoken dignity within the space.

The museum has been visited by thousands of people and provides one other place for family and friends to honor and re-member. This award-winning design has become an instrument to educate people about sacrifice in war. As one observer noted, visiting students “snap to silence and their jaws drop” stunned by the power of the exhibit. The museum has become a unique and important place for veterans of all wars to display poignant and healing art. However, the museum has lost its lease and needs to relocate. As a result, the soldiers’ dog tags may be boxed up and placed in storage “until further notice.” Such action would be unfortunate for our veterans and our nation, for it is still about the names.

As George Washington cautioned after our war for independence, “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war… shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive veterans of earlier wars are treated and appreciated by our nation.”

As the country engages in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many more have made the ultimate sacrifice. While there will be efforts to permanently honor the names of the more than 5,000 soldiers killed in these conflicts, we must continue to respect service to country and take care of our troops returning home. As a nation, we must not sink into the amnesia for which it may long, as reflected upon by Philip Caputo in “A Rumor of War.” Indeed, our country does need public displays and memorials so that we never forget the names of those veterans who have gone “above and beyond” for our nation.

For further information e-mail gibbsron@msn.com or visit www.nvam.org

Entrance to Parola Tank Museum with anti-tank artillery everywhere

On the day I visited, as I walked down the steep driveway I saw a dense billowing cloud of smoke and heard the clatter and screech of metal treads. My timing was impeccable. As I turned the corner I saw a rampaging Russian ATS-59 medium artillery tractor from the Cold War-era rolling vigorously over a mid-sized car as it made loud crunching, cracking and popping sounds.
When the hapless car was well and truly flattened, the artillery tractor crew jumped out laughing, patted each other on the back for a job well done, and adjourned to the museum restaurant — leaving the artillery tractor on top of the crushed vehicle.

The museum
The indoor tank museum was opened in 1961 and about two dozen tanks are crammed into its medium-size rooms. The front and turret armor of a Finnish (formerly Soviet) T-54 is cut away for training purposes, revealing its machinery. Soviet BA-10 and BA-20M armored cars stand next to each other — booty captured from the Soviets that was used by the Finns for patrols during the Winter War and eventually used by the Army and Police forces until 1959.

The oldest tank in the museum, a Finnish Renault FT-1917, was acquired in 1919. Obsolete by the early 1930s, it was used as a fixed-gun emplacement. Amongst the other tanks inside are a Soviet T-20, T-26, T-54 and a German Stu 49 Ausf G. A British Comet Mk I Model B stands against one wall, next to a Soviet T-34/85, and a Swedish Landsverk Anti II-AA-tank with Bofors 40mm auto-cannon.

This perfectly arranged line-up of tanks is a typical scene at Parola Tank Museum

There’s the ubiquitous M4A1 Sherman tank, of course, and modern Soviet manufactured BMP-1 armored personnel carrier standing just outside the museum. Nearby is a Finnish AMV (Armored Modular Vehicle) 8×8 AMOS (Advanced Mortar System) wheeled vehicle looking like it just rolled off the production line.

The Soviet tank collection is especially impressive: T-26, T-28, KV-1E, T-34, T-34/85, T-50, T-60, T-70, ISU-152, and sometimes more than one model of each. Most were captured from the Soviets during the Winter War or during WWII and used against their former owners. The Soviet ISU-152, for example, was one of two captured in Portinhoikka in June 1944. Other tanks captured by the Finns and used against their former owners include a Soviet KV-1, KV-1E, (both captured in 1942), a T-35/85 (captured in 1944), and a Soviet T-26C (captured during the Winter War).

Some of these tanks still bear nasty gouges from direct hits on their front armor, front plate and turret.

The German Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf. J has an interesting history. During the summer of 1944 Finland bought 15 of these tanks, and was supposed to have purchased more. However, Finland’s reversal of allies by suddenly declaring war against Germany led to the Lapland War against them. Naturally the Germans ended further deliveries. Ironically, the 15 Panzerkampfwagen IVs were used against their German suppliers.

The two German Sturmgeschutz 40 Ausf. G were bought by Finland in 1943. They took part in the decisive battles in the Karelian Isthmus in 1944, destroying several enemy tanks during the summer battles. The sand-colored Stu III is restored to its original color scheme and markings.

At the top of the hill, the Finnish Armored Train stretches for 100 meters between two rows of tall thin pine trees. This awesome sight is the museum’s centerpiece — I’ve been to a tank museum or three, and this is one of the most impressive displays I’ve seen. Modified after being captured from the Russians in 1918, it served as a mobile artillery platform during the Winter War. It’s a fearsome sight, with gun carriages protected by thick steel plates and muzzles protruding from gun ports. Lethal looking turrets bristle with cannon and ma-chine guns atop the cars. The camouflage completes the authentic effect.

The Parola Tank Museum is superb, all the more appealing because of its park-like setting with trees spread around the grounds. The museum’s mission is “to gather and exhibit the history of the Finnish armored and anti-tank defense forces and illustrate the development of armored fighting vehicles from 1917 on.” I’d say it delivers, and then some.
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The PAROLA TANK MUSEUM (Hattulantie 334, POB 31, 13721 Parola, Finland; phone [040] 5681 186, www.panssarimuseo.fi/kehys-e.html) is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily from May to Sept. 30; and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily from October through March (closed on June 25 and during Christmas week).

Admission for adults is €6; seniors, €5.50; children (6-15 years), €3, and families (two adults and children of the family) €13. Please check the website for the most up to date information.

A mixture of reader boards and display cases give the general history of military communications. Runners provided the first form of long-distance signaling, followed by fire signals, signal towers and beacons — all early warning methods of impending invasion. The Duke of Wellington organized regular mounted messengers that evolved into motorcycle dispatch riders in the 20th century. A beautifully restored Triumph motorcycle is on display.

Two years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, the U.S. Army began using telephones, and several early telephones are on exhibit, including the 18-pound C Mark 1 Ericsson portable military telephone. Invented in 1916, the Fullerphone had anti-eavesdropping capability and was used up to the 1950s.

A number of WWI and WWII displays show how the Royal Signals Corps expanded and developed. As the telephone became the prime means of communications, the Royal Engineer Signal Service grew in WWII to 8,518 officers and 142,472 soldiers; however, 4,362 were killed in action.

Phantom units & spies

In 1940 the purpose of the General HQ “Phantom” Liaison unit was to keep allied air forces and artillery aware of where the front lines of Belgian and British troops were on the ground. Using armored cars, motorcycles and radio sets, this group performed ground reconnaissance to locate the enemy forces.
After the evacuation of allied forces from Europe, the Phantom unit of 48 officers and 479 soldiers were tasked with the mission of observing possible seaborne landing areas in southern England and give an early warning of the anticipated German invasion. On display are some of the No. 11 wireless sets they used.

Another unusual clandestine group were the Auxillary Units, a special group of radio operators who were to remain behind in occupied Britain if the Germans invaded. Their job was to support resistance groups; their long-term chances of survival were slim. The sites and much information about this operation were kept secret until 1970.

As the Royal Signals reorganized and retrained in WWII, their equipment became more compact, lightweight and easier to operate as they geared up for a more mobile type of warfare. Indispensable to all of the allied services, they worked with the Royal Navy as Beach Signals Units, or trained as parachutists to provide communications for commandos or Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents.

The SOE gallery explains the history and adventures of this brave group of spies; many were caught and executed by the Germans. A brainchild of Churchill’s, their mission was “to coordinate all action by way of subversion and sabotage against the enemy overseas.” By 1944 it had grown to 10,000 men and 3,200 women; 5,000 of whom were field agents overseas in France, Germany and Holland.

SOE agents worked closely with the resistance forces, and used all manner of James Bond-type secret agent equipment including plastic explosives, limpet mines and the Mark III suitcase radio set.

Polish technicians proved particularly adept at designing “suitcase sets,” drawing from their pre-war experience. Despite the size and weight reductions, the early A Mark II radio was made up of three metal boxes, all of which fit neatly into a suitcase. Still weighing 22 pounds, it proved difficult for female agents to carry at speed over long distances. The next model, the A Mark III, weighed just under nine pounds with a range of 500 miles.

The WWII Wireless Sets display explains how military wireless sets had to operate a number of interference-free channels, have good ranges, be robust, easy to operate, simple to maintain and portable. The 1943 Wireless Station No. 10 is an example of such equipment, using radar techniques to beam eight telephone channels over a duplex radio path between land links, being used after the D-Day landings. The station was contained in a 4-wheel 2-ton trailer, one of which stands on exhibit. This was the technological wonder of its time, using new and innovative techniques.

The “Deception” exhibit shows how special signals units simulated radio traffic of whole army groups to deceive the Germans. Their illusion convinced the Germans that the U.S. 3rd Army was in one area when they were 150 miles away in Cheshire. Code-named OPERATION FORTITUDE, the operation was so effective the Germans held several of their divisions back around the Pas de Calais area for several weeks after D-Day.

Royal Signals were involved in every phase of OPERATION OVERLORD and every aspect of the D-Day landings. Amongst their tasks were creating signals communications for the combined headquarters, communications for the assembly of troops for embarkation, creating fake radio traffic to deceive the enemy of the whereabouts of the landings, preparing cross-channel communications links, providing beach signals for the landings, allocating radio frequencies to ensure there was no unintentional jamming, and reestablishing telephone and telegraph lines once they had been captured and repaired.
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The ROYAL SIGNALS MUSEUM (Tarrant Monkton, Blandford Forum, Dorset DT11 8RH, UK; within the boundaries of Blandford Army Camp) is easy to reach by car, although it can be reached by bus from Salisbury (30 minute ride) or Weymouth. The museum is open Monday-Friday (all year), 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays (12 Feb to 31 Oct), 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is closed for Christmas from 14 December 2010 to 4 January 2011. Admission for adults, £7.50, senior citizens, £6.50 and children aged 5-16, £5.50. Because this is an active military base, visitors will need some form of identification (driving license, passport etc.). Allow about two to three hours.

Although dedicated to the general history of British army aviation from 1878 to present day, the museum has enough WWII displays and exhibits to qualify as a solid WWII museum in its own right, receiving 25,000 visitors each year.

Starting with a chronological history of Army flying in peace and war, there are hundreds of interesting artifacts and objects in display cases. Army aviation started in the 1880s with gas-filled balloons, evolving with the use of airships, autogiros, gliders and airplanes, and, today, remote-piloted aircraft.

The first hall features Royal Flying Corps aircraft, observer/spotter and other light aircraft of the 1940s and 1950s, in addition to helicopters.

The WWII European Operations section features dioramas of a German field kitchen, and British pilots in a waiting room during the Battle of Britain. Nearby are the remains of a crashed aircraft engine. A chart shows the defensive areas of southern England during the Battle of Britain and photos of the devastation from air raids.

The large glider display hall illustrates how WWII glider operations were risky ventures, with many of operations amounting to little more than suicide missions. Fragile gliders, poor planning and new equipment, often untested in battle conditions, caused horrifying casualties on both British and German sides — far more than would be acceptable today. Glidermen must surely rate amongst the unsung heroes of WWII.

A comprehensive collection of authentic allied gliders includes a Horsa, Hamilcar, Hotspur and Waco.

The Operation Market Garden display features a diorama of the airborne soldiers at Arnhem with various artifacts including maps, uniforms, daggers, captured Nazi flags and pieces of glider equipment. Alongside, visitors can enter a Hamilcar glider. Unique photos of the Arnhem landings complete a great gallery.

The well-presented Operation Overlord D-Day display features an open Horsa glider, with battlefield objects such as parachutes, packs and weapons. Newspaper headlines and rare photos of the glider formations on the ground in England show commandos training, being inspected by King George VI, on a ship on the way to Normandy, debarking on a DUKW amphibious transport, and crossing Pegasus Bridge.

Looking down over the WWII Glider Hall is the Glider Gallery telling the story of the glider pilots and describing British glider operations.

D-Day exhibition
Great exhibits include a small parachute dummy that was dropped over German territory to confuse the Germans on D-Day. Other artifacts include maps, medals, towropes and allied money for the occupation of France, a Horsa glider, and memorabilia from the highly successful Pegasus Bridge glider landings.

A description of the Arnhem glider landings and the nine days of fighting that followed have a large-scale map diorama of the landing zones. The appalling, long odds of survival from glider operations are never better highlighted than from this operation. Of the 10,000 British Airborne troops over 7,600 men were killed, wounded or missing.

There is a section on Operation Varsity — the crossing of the Rhine in March 1945 — the largest single airlift airborne operation of WWII. An interesting recreation of a 1940s house, complete with a bomb shelter, is packed with authentic household goods from the era.

There is a lot to take in at this fine museum and for those who linger, there is a cafeteria. There is also a gift shop and bookstore with a variety of books about Army aviation. The pleasant staff is helpful and enthusiastic about their museum.
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The MUSEUM OF ARMY FLYING (Middle Wallop, Stockbridge SO20 8DY, United Kingdom; phone 01264 784 421, www.armyflying.com) is not situated near any major cities, but is well worth a visit, especially if you have an interest in Airborne forces, paratroopers and the aircraft and gliders that transport them. To visit, it is recommend that travelers take the train to Andover, then a taxi from to Middle Wallop, about 5 miles.

The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission, adults, £7.50; children aged 5-16, £5, and senior citizens/students, £5.50. Allow at least two hours for your visit.

Armed with four 75mm Skoda field guns, the Merville Battery would have wreaked havoc with the invasion ships in the sea-lane that had to pass by Ouistreham to reach the invasion beaches. Because the battery endangered the British D-Day Sword landing beaches, the task of eliminating the battery fell to the 9th Battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway of the British 6th Airborne Division. Their task was to land by glider and parachute a mile away, move quietly on the battery, and then storm it.

The battery was formidable. It contained 130 men, 15 to 20 weapons pits, each with four machine guns and some 20mm anti-aircraft guns. Four reinforced concrete casemates six feet thick, two of which were covered over by 12 feet of earth provided almost unassailable mini-fortresses. On two sides of the battery, anti-tank ditch stretched 400 yards, 15 feet wide and 10 feet deep. Two belts of barbed wire surrounded the entire battery, one, six feet wide by ten feet deep. And minefields. The battery was considered impregnable by the Germans.

Due to the usual misdrops and mislandings, only 150 of the anticipated 750 airborne troops were assembled by 0250 hours. With a deadline of 0500 hours to capture the battery, they had to hurry — an offshore cruiser, HMS Arethusa was scheduled to begin its bombardment of the battery unless they heard from the commandos.

The advance party quietly cleared two narrow lanes through the minefield and wire barriers, marking it by leaving scuffmarks on the ground with their boots. Otway’s team, without heavy weapons or mortars, attacked just after 0400 after a German machinegun post opened fire on them, alerting the whole battery.

The assault parties split up once through the wire. While some attacked the weapons pits, others attacked the casemates, all the while under fire from all sides. Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand. In 20 intense minutes of battle, at 0445, they had cleared the gun battery and taken 20 prisoners. The cost was heavy — at the end of the assault only 75 paratroopers were still standing. Many of the German defenders surrendered once they realized that tough paratroopers were attacking. The cry “Fallschirmjagers” went up, and resistance quickly fizzled out.

The museum
Today the open air and indoor MUSEE DE LA BATTERIE MERVILLE (Museum of the Merville Battery), makes an interesting tour. Inside the first casemate you’ll see documents and maps, weapons and other artifacts that describe the assault. If you’re lucky you’ll meet some Airborne veterans there.

As you wander around the four casemates and smaller concrete weapons pits, now covered by earth, long grass and trees, you’ll get a good idea of how concentrated this battery is in such a small area. The assault must have been very violent in such small confines. A bronze bust of Colonel Otway stands in the grounds, close by a memorial to the 9th Parachute Battalion. There’s also a British artillery piece guarding the museum. A small gift shop is just inside the museum.
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MUSÉE DE LA BATTERIE DE MERVILLE (Place du 9ème Bataillon, 14810 Merville, France; phone/fax 02 31 91 47 53, visit www.batterie-merville.com) is open from March 15 to May 31 and Sept. 1 to Nov. 15, daily 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and June through August, daily from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The museum is open during the winter by reservation only. Coach parking, handicapped access, WC. Admission for adults, €5; students, €3, and children under 6 are free. The Museum takes part in operation PASS.

American and British Airborne soldiers were to attack and hold a series of bridges along a 60-mile road from Eindhoven to Arnhem to enable the following infantry and tanks to cross and pierce Germany in a lightning strike that would catch the Germans unprepared. The stately, white painted Museum Hartenstein tells the story of these battles.

The museum is located in the former Hartenstein Hotel, headquarters of the British Divisional commander, Major-General Urquhart during the fighting. The events in this battle unfold, starting with the air landings, the march to the bridge, the fighting at Arnhem and Oosterbeek, and the eventual retreat across the river to the allied lines.

Battle of Arnhem
Meeting with early success, the American paratroopers managed to hold their objectives. However, the 1st British Airborne troopers, dropped in to secure the Rhine Bridge at Arnhem, the furthermost point, became victims of “a bridge too far.” After their drop on 17 Sep 44, 600 British paratroopers held out for four days at the north entrance to the bridge at Arnhem. Meanwhile, at nearby Oosterbeek, other British paratroopers held out for another four days against overwhelming odds. They were never relieved and of 10,000 British and Polish Airborne troops, only 2,293 made it across the Rhine River in a daring night withdrawal on 25 Sep.

Exhibits and photos
Exhibits include British and German arms, helmets, ammunition and equipment, some of which were dug up from the battlefield. Authentic films, slide shows, photographs, maps, unit armbands and models in uniform illustrate this dramatic battle. You won’t see any of the striking, unique photographs in books about the battle. Reader board captions in English and Dutch explain the scenes. Historic photos show allied paratroopers loading into their C-47s in England, and the battle from the German perspective, their troops looking as battle shocked from the hard fighting as the British.

Local inhabitants are shown marching in long lines to safety, often caught in the crossfire of these highly fluid battles. Scenes of house-to-house street fighting show German tanks hunting British soldiers. Some photographs show jubilant allied soldiers being liberated from POW camps at the end of the war.

Amongst the memorabilia is Polish paratroop commanding officer Stanislaw Sosabowski’s Army ID book. An excellent scale model of Arnhem and the Rhine River Bridge is displayed, along with radio equipment, pistols, unit banners and flags.

Dioramas
Lifelike dioramas depict scenes from the battle — one showing a street scene in Oosterbeek as British soldiers liberate it on 17 April 1945. The first aid post diorama was reconstructed with the help of medical officers who were at the Hartenstein Hotel — all items displayed are authentic. Another diorama shows the radio signals post in the cellar.

The Dutch resistance
A little known fact about this battle is that Dutch resistance fighters helped many British paratroopers escape across the river while Dutch civilians sheltered another 500 allied paratroopers around Arnhem and Oosterbeek, at the risk of being shot if they were caught. A gallery is dedicated to this aspect of the battle.

Outside the museum stands a Sherman tank and an artillery piece. In a small park across the road, a tall stone memorial to the fallen soldiers in this battle has been erected by the townspeople. Every year the Dutch hold a memorial march (Airborne Wandeltoch) in which tens of thousands of people march to commemorate this battle. A 10-minute walk from the museum is the Airborne Cemetery where a number of the paratroopers lie. You can get a map showing the cemetery’s location in the museum giftshop, along with books and souvenirs.
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AIRBORNE MUSEUM HARTENSTEIN (www.airbornemuseum.org) is open from April through October, Monday-Saturday from 10-5, Sunday and holidays, 12-5; from November through March, Monday-Saturday from 11-5, Sunday and holidays, 12-5. Closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day. Admission for adults, €8; OAPs, students, €7; youths, aged 13-18, €5, and children aged 6-12, €3.50.

The different-looking structure houses the National Museum of the Marine Corps, opened to the public in November 2006, and boasting more than 1.5 million visitors as of October 2009.

The museum is on a 135-acre site off of US Highway 1 South, adjacent to Marine Corps Base Quantico. The structure, which will cover 200,000 square feet when completed, was paid for mainly by private donations and some help from public funds.

Legislation to authorize its construction was passed in September 2001. In September 2003 ground was broken, and construction started in April 2004. It was officially dedicated on November 10, 2006, the 231st birthday of the Marine Corps, and was open to the public on Nov. 13th.

The U.S. Marine Corps funded the design, exhibitions and start-up, and now provides overall management, operations and staffing. The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation funded the construction, and now manages revenue-generating activities and is an active partner and supporter of the museum.

The museum, a lasting tribute to all Marines, contributes to the recruitment, training, education and retention of Marines through its exhibitions and other public programs; preserves and exhibits the Marine Corps’ material history; and honors the commitment, accomplishments, and sacrifices of Marines past, present, and future. It also provides an understanding of what it takes to “make a Marine.”

When visitors walk into the museum, they are greeted by Marines at the front desk and a spacious central gallery which includes WWII and Korean War exhibits and several vintage aircraft hanging from the ceiling. From there, they can go to other period galleries or to the second floor where a cafeteria and Tun Tavern Restaurant are located.

The best way to start a visit is by going to the theater where a 14-minute film on what it means to be a Marine is shown every 24 minutes; this pretty much sets the stage for what you’re going to see throughout the museum.

The galleries include “Making of a Marine,” featuring boot camp; “Uncommon Valor,” the WWII gallery; “Send In the Marines,” which covers from 1946 to 1953 including the Korean War; and “In the Air, on Land and Sea,” an exhibit depicting from 1954 to 1975 and the Vietnam War.

“An interesting display is the Iwo Jima ‘immersion’,” said Jim Kyser, a retired Marine master gunnery sergeant and docent at the museum. In this exhibit, visitors listen to a briefing that was given to Marines the night before the landing, followed by actual film footage shot the day of the landing. “If you were getting wet by sea spray,” Jim continues, “you would think you were actually making the landing.” The movie is shown on a surround screen above a mock-up of a Higgins boat, the landing craft used during the invasion.

Throughout the museum there are aircraft, uniforms, weapons and land equipment displayed dating back to the beginning of the Corps. There is also the “Legacy Wall,” which displays artifacts, information and lists events that occurred in the world and in the Marine Corps from 1775 to 2006.

The next construction phase is now underway and will include galleries highlighting the 20th and 21st centuries; an art gallery, studios, storage and a large format theater; and “From the Halls of Montezuma” (1775-1865); “First to Fight” (1866-1914); “Every Marine a Rifleman” (1915-18), and “The Marines Have Landed” (1919-40).

Supporting exhibits in the planning stage include the contributions and sacrifices of the Navy-Marine Corps team in the late 20th and early 21st centuries; significant post-Viet-Nam events including Beirut (1982-84), Grenada (1983), Panama (1989), Desert Shield/Storm (early 1990s), and Operations Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Iraqi Freedom. Completion of these galleries is scheduled for summer 2010.

“We try to accommodate everyone,” said Patrick Mooney, Manager of Docent and Visitor Services, and a Marine veteran. “We have plenty of free parking, wheelchairs, audio tours and a museum store where visitors can get patches, pins, stickers and other mementos.”
The museum is open daily, except Christmas, from 9 to 5; admission is free. For more info, visit www.usmcmuseum.com.