Tanks in Town

"KatzManDu" (KatzManDu) 07/07/2015 at 04:58 • Filed to: tanks, military history, europe, wwii

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Many people back home in the USA think that the European populace is ungrateful for the role the US played in the liberation of Europe in both major World Wars. The height of this misconception played out very loudly in 2003 during the run-up to the US invasion of Iraq and the US Capitol cafeteria renaming “French Fries” to “Freedom Fries” when the French balked at going back into Iraq.

However, nothing could be further from the truth. Almost any town in Europe that has more than a half-dozen stoplights has streets named after Patton, Roosevelt and/or Churchill, among others.

Towns have monuments for the specific units that liberated them in addition to mourn locals who perished as both military and civilian deaths. Here is a marker for the “Big Red One” in Mons, Belgium from WWII.

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I’m currently living in Mons, Belgium and annually they have a festival called “Tanks in Town” which celebrates the liberation of the town from the Nazis by allied forces. Here’s a photo showing some of the occupation:

Military enthusiasts with kit ranging from Sherman tanks to Willys Jeeps rally outside of town and follow the path of the liberating forces into the town square.

Finally the tanks demo in the town square and then rest so people can visit with them and take photos.

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My photo from last year shows how popular the event is, and you get to see and hear Sherman tanks in all their glory. Something that happens rarely, anywhere, yet here it is an annual event.

Here is a link to their site in English which includes info for this year’s event. I’ll be there for some of it and try to snag pictures.

http://www.tanksintown.be/En/Principale_…

duurtlang > KatzManDu 07/07/2015 at 05:11

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Quite a shameful part of US history imho, 2003. There’s lots of appreciation for what the Allies did during the war, and the US played a considerable part of the Allied effort here. No one has forgotten, although it shouldn’t and doesn’t protect the US from every kind of criticism. Something that certain parts of the US society didn’t seem to realize a decade ago.

Here’s a picture of a Canadian tank hit by a Panzerfaust in 1945. Without the sacrifice of those guys we’d be talking German (or Russian) right now. The picture was taken in the exact street I’m writing this oppo reply in.

davedave1111 > KatzManDu 07/07/2015 at 05:25

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“Many people back home in the USA think that the European populace is ungrateful for the role the US played in the liberation of Europe in both major World Wars.”

I’d say that may well have a lot to do with the Hollywood habit of appropriating the acts of the other Allied nations - because those who get their history from on-screen portrayals will believe the defeat of the Axis powers was 99.9% a US achievement.

Oh, and on a cheerier note, if you’re in Mons the Tour de France is passing within spitting distance today. Make sure you get down there for a couple of hours while the whole caravan goes past.

http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2015/u…

KatzManDu > duurtlang 07/07/2015 at 05:28

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The US is not infallible. People forget that. I know this is taking a military history post and making it a tad political, but this post has its genesis in a political fact and distraction within the US.

Here’s a photo I posted before, which was based upon the German occupation photo, showing where I live relative to everything with the red arrow.

Flavien Vidal > KatzManDu 07/07/2015 at 05:28

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France and french people are very grateful to all those foreigners that had nothing to do with France and that sacrificed their lives to save us!

On the hand, what we cannot stand though are idiotic americans that take credits for what their grand parents sacrificed and who think that because their grand parents fought to save Europe, THEY deserve to be respected as “saviors” of some kind, despite never going out of their computer seat :)

France will always be thankful for americans who fought the nazi tyranny and sacrificed their lives so that WE can, today, live a nice life.

But as far as Billy Bob in Mississippi is concerned, we are never going to agree with him when it comes to international policies and it’s not because his grand parents fought for us that we suddenly must agree on all foreign descisions the US makes... Especially when it comes to mixing Al Quaeda and Irak, or sending troops everywhere for no reasons other than oil :)

PS: did I mention that without Russia and the MILLIONS of solider that sacrificed their lives, Americans today might as well be speaking German?? The general humble attitude that russians have despite the millions of lives they have lost, vs the average “respect us, we saved your ass” american who think he deserves respect for what his ancesters have done is honestly quite shocking...

KatzManDu > davedave1111 07/07/2015 at 05:29

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The wife is heading out (I think) to grab freebies. I have to work.

Svend > KatzManDu 07/07/2015 at 06:00

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Many do appreciate what the U.S. did for the war but I also see very often that some U.S. people think Europe sat listening to the radio while the U.S. did all the work.

There is not a single country that could of beat the axis powers alone and that needs to be taken into mind.

What needs to be remembered is those men, women and children from many nations came together to beat a common foe.

There are so many tales and stories how people crossed borders to fight, some never being accepted back into their own communities when the war was over, some crossing sides to join allied forces knowing they would have to fire on their own countrymen and bomb the land of their birth.

RIP all those who answered the call and paid the ultimate sacrifice and to all those who survived and struggled to come to terms with what they saw and had to do for the greater good.

Khatzy > duurtlang 07/07/2015 at 06:23

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There’s actually a quite large memorial to the Canadian forces that fought in Mons in our Hotel de Ville. I’ll have to walk over and take a picture of it for you.. it’s a massive wall plaque.

georgechristensen > duurtlang 07/07/2015 at 06:46

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thebigbossyboss > Khatzy 07/07/2015 at 07:26

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Yar. Please do!!

Hot Takes Salesman > duurtlang 07/07/2015 at 12:11

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That is a good point- despite their role in the war mostly supporting English troops, the Canadian forces in the war were superb soldiers, and pretty good airmen too. Many of the war’s Spitfire aces were Canadian