The Bertangles Aerodromes

[Olham 164]

Just fought down a typical winter low by putting this graphic together - the aerodromes at Bertangles,

according to the booklet "In the Footsteps of the Red Baron".

This is the aerodrome Major Lanoe Hawker started from, when he flew his last mission and met the

German ace Manfred von Richthofen.

And this was the aerodrome von Richthofen's aircraft was brought to, when he was shot down.

Enjoy!

 

[DukeIronHand 8]

Spectacular job...again.

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Thanks again, Olham! You are a treasure trove of information.

[Olham 164]

Thank you, guys!

[shredward 12]

Here is the facade of the Chateau, one of many photos I took of Bertangles on one of my journeys. It really is an imposing place, and the outbuildings, gates and farmyard are actually more interesting than the main Chateau. But talk about the pleasures of living in a simple country home!!!

Cheers,

shredward

[JFM 18]

Great shot.

[Olham 164]

Great shot indeed, Shredward. Looks like a treated photo - what did you do to make it look so special?

[shredward 12]

Nothing - it's just the vestiges of the Ancien Régime. The reason for the grainy photos at Chateau Cappy is that they were taken at last light, hand held (you can see street lights reflected on the cars) No special tricks required to make provincial France look fabulous - it just is.

 

Cheers,

shredward

 

ps if I remember right, these were shot on Fujichrome.

What is interesting about the Google aerial shot, and this applies to any aerial or landscape photo taken at the appropriate time of year, is that the land shows it's history in its shadings, patterns and colouration. In the photo you have shown us, one can clearly see where old roads have been taken out, buildings removed etc. Many times when going over the old battlegrounds, you will clearly see the pattern of the trenches, gun pits etc outlined by the lighter chalky pattern on the redder soil of the fields.

Edited February 23, 2012 by shredward

[Olham 164]

Yes, it is indeed. I MUST do that bicycle trip, before I get too old for camping.

[shredward 12]

I cheated. I did credit card bike touring. Stayed in some fabulous old villages, and to splurge, a couple of magnificent chateaux. Just having to haul cameras and clothes for three weeks was enough for me, especially in that hilly terrain in the Vosges. Plus I retrieved a fairly hefty item from the fields in front of Vimy Ridge. No way I could have survived with tent, bags, pots & pans. I roughed it by living off the land ie the boulangeries, the patisseries, and the hospitality of the local people.

One does have to make sacrifices!

Cheers,

shredward

[Olham 164]

As a researching historian you did the right thing residing in some of the Chateaus (Roucourt is one such place,

where you can dine, or even stay overnight, as far as I know) - surely a must for the chief historian of OFF.

 

The local food is often excellent surely - the French have so many specialities I never knew before.

But I must find out before, which time of year they have the most dry weather there.

[shredward 12]

May and June are nice, but take raingear - there will be showers. Early to mid September is perfect. I'd love to go, but I have a little one now. However, I am for sure going in 2017 for the centenary of Vimy Ridge.

Cheers,

shredward

[Olham 164]

Thank you, Shredward. Will remember that.

[JFM 18]

I agree, I've been twice in mid-September and overall the weather was nice. Spots of rain on some days but mostly partly cloudy, some overcast. On my last day in France the weather went downhill slowly as the day went on and around dusk it started raining when I was in Lagnicourt. Other than that, no problems.

 

Vimy Ridge, weather slowly closing:

 

 

 

Later at Lagnicourt. Can't see it but the rain had just started and it was pouring:

 

[Olham 164]

Thanks, JFM! I guess that is the acre which was the airfield at Lagnicourt?

[JFM 18]

Yeah, that's the church you see in the background of several Boelcke/Jasta 2 photos.

[Rugbyfan1972 1]

May and June are nice, but take raingear - there will be showers. Early to mid September is perfect. I'd love to go, but I have a little one now. However, I am for sure going in 2017 for the centenary of Vimy Ridge.

Cheers,

shredward

 

Shredward,

 

Vimy ridge was taken on the 9th April 1917 wasn't it?

 

What is is the weather like in late August/early September, as I am possibly going over to see the war grave of my great-great uncle who died on the 19th August 1917 at Ypres, and is buried in Brandhoek new military cemetary no 3.

 

 

[shredward 12]

Shredward,

Vimy ridge was taken on the 9th April 1917 wasn't it?

What is is the weather like in late August/early September, as I am possibly going over to see the war grave of my great-great uncle who died on the 19th August 1917 at Ypres, and is buried in Brandhoek new military cemetary no 3.

 

Generally pretty nice. There is always the chance that you will luck out and get the same weather that prevailed in the Salient in August '17, but usually it's quite nice.

Cheers,

shredward

[Olham 164]

For all, who want to travel through Flanders, I have translated this diagram for the average weather around Antwerp..

You see that the least rain is from June September with average 10 days a month.

My own experience from the 80s was less rain, but perhaps that has changed now?

 

 

[shredward 12]

For all, who want to travel through Flanders, I have translated this diagram for the average weather around Antwerp..

You see that the least rain is from June September with average 10 days a month.

My own experience from the 80s was less rain, but perhaps that has changed now?

 

 

And August '17 was one of the wettest ever. Rain and artillery shells falling out of the sky turned the whole Salient into a a vast sea of mud.

Cheers,

shredward

[Olham 164]

Yes, I have read somewhere, that they assume, that the huge amounts of gun powder, smoke and cordite etc.

might have caused much more rain - do you know if that's true, Shredder?

[shredward 12]

I suppose it's possible - that there was so much more dust,smoke and particles hanging in the air, that it caused water droplets to form much more readily. Or that it was just unusually wet.

I dunno. and I dunno if anyone else does either.

[Dej 17]

And August '17 was one of the wettest ever. Rain and artillery shells falling out of the sky turned the whole Salient into a a vast sea of mud.

Cheers,

shredward

 

And hence those memory-hooking scenes of WW1, namely Passchendaele. Yet the weather wasn't all bad, September was hot, I recall reading. Nevertheless, duckboards across a sea of sucking mud in which stand the vestiges of once-proud trees, and into which men and horses fell irredeemably to their deaths, is one of the mind-seared images of the whole conflict. Near enough a 'racial memory' for my generation.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Dej

[GMU 0]

1330090925[/url]' post='554732']

Yeah, that's the church you see in the background of several Boelcke/Jasta 2 photos.

 

Great photos Jim. So, you visited Lagnicourt as well! I have been studying this location for a while, for a future trip.

Two things: 1) The original church was destroyed. 2) The aerodrome occupied by jasta 2 in 1916 was on another side of the town! Basically the same angle as your photo but from the left side of the church.

Mike O' Connor book on aerodromes got it al wrong.

George

[foreigndevil 0]

For all, who want to travel through Flanders, I have translated this diagram for the average weather around Antwerp..

You see that the least rain is from June September with average 10 days a month.

My own experience from the 80s was less rain, but perhaps that has changed now?

 

 

 

Most of the time it's much drier these past few years in Antwerp. Climate change is noticeable.