Crumpled map solves mystery of German gun behind D-Day massacre (Amateur historian finds at a fair)

The Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | January 4, 2008

[Stoat]

Crumpled map solves mystery of German gun behind D-Day massacre

Last updated at 17:03pm on 4th January 2008

A baffling mystery of the D-Day landings was solved by an amateur historian - after he found a crumpled map at a fair in Stockport.

 

Experts have long disputed the location of the main Nazi gun battery which caused carnage on Omaha Beach, in terrible scenes which were recreated for the Hollywood film Saving Private Ryan.

 

The Germans had built a decoy gun emplacement overlooking the area while the location of the real guns which blasted the beach, where 2,000 men lost their lives, remained unclear.

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Gunning position: The location of the Nazi gun battery was long disputed

 

But Gary Sterne, a publisher and collector, stumbled on the answer as he browsed through items at a Stockport militaria fair and a piece of paper fell out of a pair of US serviceman's trousers.

 

It turned out to be an invasion map for Omaha Beach, which included an area marked Area of High Resistance he thought could be the "lost" Nazi gun emplacements.

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Amateur historian Garry Sterne tracked down the 'lost' gun emplacements after finding a tattered map

 

"It sparked my curiosity, because that area was previously thought to be just fields," he said.

 

The 43-year-old father of two from Cheadle Hulme travelled to Normandy to examine the area - and bought it.

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The headquarters of the 'lost' Nazi gun emplacements. Mr Sterne bought the site bit by bit from 32 different landowners

 

He spent thousands buying the 40-acre site bit-by-bit from 32 different landowners, and two years excavating trenches and bunkers to reveal the 'Maisy Battery'.

 

Mr Sterne believes this was responsible for the brutal bombardment of Omaha on D-Day and for days afterwards until its capture on June 9, 1944.

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Sterne spent two years excavating the trenches and bunkers at the site

 

Now Mr Sterne plans to open a museum on the site and the battery will be featured in a documentary for the BBC Timewatch programme.

 

Mr Sterne has contacted veterans of the US 5th Ranger Battalion, who confirmed taking Maisy Battery from the Germans.

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The radio room at the site, believed to be responsible for the brutal bombardment of Omaha on D-Day

 

The Timewatch documentary, Bloody Omaha, is presented by Richard Hammond on BBC2 on Sunday at 9pm.

 

What do you think? Have your say.

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Thousands of American troops were gunned down as they landed at Omaha beach on D-Day

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How the carnage was captured in Saving Private Ryan

[kalee]

good point.

[tubebender]

Why I was a mere child of 11 in May of 44 and One of my brothers had been in England for well over a year preparing for the D Day invasion. My BiL was there waiting to build the first P47 airfield behind Omaha Beach around June 12. My other brother was winging his way toward being in one of B17’s slated to support the invasion. Unfortunately his group bombed behind American lines killing several GI’s including a General. All three came home and led productive lives and raise families...

[MinuteGal]

I'm never disappointed when I'm pinged to these fascinating historical threads. Thanks to you both.

Keep 'em coming.

Leni

[bert]

Learning where to look.....

It may be that he had a map but I doubt he found it crumpled in a pair of ols pants.

[HoosierHawk]

bookmark

[taylortony]

As said the Iplayer will only allow you to download and view if in the UK or a UK resident, but does the ONLINE version not work?

That was what I was saying, here is the address to watch it on line, you can indeed go full screen on it as well and watch the show on your PC or output it to your TV if the graphics card you have allows that. Please let me know if it works OK.

Tony

Timewatch show with a little about the battery but all about the landings link below....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b008p88c.shtml?q=timewatch&start=1&scope=iplayersearch&version_pid=b008p858

[Polybius]

"No WMD in Iraq," has now achieved Urban Legend Status, just like "Al Gore's Stolen Victory."

When do you suppose Snopes will debunk this Urban Legend?

Here is a preview.

Snopes.com ........ Claim: Photographs show Iraqi fighter planes found buried in the desert. ............. Status: True. ........... a reported 30 to 40 planes, including several MiG-25 and Su-25 ground attack jets, buried more than 10 feet beneath tons of soil and covered with camouflage netting. According to the Pentagon, at least one of the MiG-25s was found because searchers spotted its twin tail fins protruding from the sand. Some of the planes had been wrapped in plastic sheeting to protect their electronics and machinery from the sand (and some had had their wings removed), but others were interred with little or no protection from the sand or the elements. The recovery teams had to use large earth-moving equipment to uncover the aircraft.

[blackie]

Great story!! :):)

[Stoat]

Thank you very much for pinging your list  :-)

[Stoat]

I'm never disappointed when I'm pinged to these fascinating historical threads. Thanks to you both.

You're quite welcome Leni; I'm delighted that you've found this to be interesting  :-)

A NOTE TO ALL:

Quite a few readers have said thankful. gracious and complimentary things pertaining to their appreciation of this thread, and I just wanted everyone to know that I appreciate their kind words very much, even if I haven't responded individually to everyone.  I hope that I haven't seemed rude by my frequent lack of response, but there have been so many GREAT posts on this thread touching on a variety of points that if I were to respond to all it would have doubled the number of pages that people have to scroll through  :-)  Please know that I've read all of your posts and just because I haven't responded doesn't mean that I haven't read your post and it doesn't mean that your post wasn't appreciated  :-)

(I'm also feeling a bit shy and overwhelmed by all of the kind words  :-) )

[Stoat]

Hello Tony and thanks again for your followup.

I apologize, it seems that I was being my usual inarticulate self in my earlier post. I actually was meaning to refer to the online player, and the new link that you so kindly provided delivers the same "only in the UK" error message that I got before.

It seems that The Beeb is blocking specific strings of IP and / or MAC addresses that correspond to computers outside of the UK, and so that includes us Yanks.

Not to worry, many of the BBC programs are eventually released on DVD here in the USA and so there's a chance that we will be able to see it here one day.

Thanks again for your kind efforts and your desire to help us :-)

Cheers!

 

[nodumbblonde]

Sure! :)

Unfortunately, as our only member, your maintenance fees are going to be un-friggin'-believable. :O

[brityank]

Yes, unfortunately we Yanks aren’t allowed access. The program is in the Sunday Evening listing, so any Brit still has six days to catch it.

Many thanks to you both, Stoat and taylortony — and I too welcome you to FR. Are you aware there is a UK site similar to ours? http://freebritannia.6.forumer.com/index.php is Free Britannia, another good group.

[brityank]

Unfortunately, I get the message “Sorry, this programme is only available to play in the UK (Why?)” posted across the screen. Many thanks for trying, though.

[SunkenCiv]

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