BlueNoser352 visit Amiens (PHOTOS!)

Just yesterday flying back from Italy in the Colt I tracked just to the East of Amiens and could clearly see the rebuilt jail.
It was still a privilege to get a Mosquito pilot’s view of such a famous landmark

Moggy

Wow, that spounds like a great flight.
I’ve always said if there was a WWII mission I’d like to have gone on, it would have been that raid.

Do you…or anyone…else have aerial photos we could see to compare “then and now” ?

Julian much thanks for the great info!

Julian:

BlueNoser352 says much thanks for the great travel info you sent me & others here before my trip. It was a big help and assisted me greatly ! Darn ..wish that lovely female guard you spoke of would have come out and greeted me….. I would have said Bonjour….” Lafayette We Are Here”! But she more than likely would have looked at me ..shrugged and walked away ! So it goes !!!!!!!!!!! Julian…. will add some of your books to my collection….
Thanks again and hope all is well !

BlueNoser352!

PS… Good Luck to England in The World Cup !!!! US doing a bit better this time round..but still have a long way to go. Great players on all these countries teams !!!!

A bit about this saying …………………… but of course we still like you guys…just a little in family disagreement !

One Example of Natural Allies

WE USUALLY ASSOCIATE General John J. Pershing with the phrase, “Lafayette, we are here!” Uttered in France on the Fourth of July eighty-three years ago, those words signaled the arrival of leading elements of the U.S. Army, newly engaged in the deadly struggle of the Allies against the Central Powers in the First World War. The meaning was clear: The United States had begun to pay its debt to France for that nation’s economic and military assistance well over a century earlier. Simply put, without French aid and armed intervention following the 1776 revolution, the American colonies would not have achieved independence from Britain. The United States owed France.

LOL…Yes be yelled at by The prisoners at Amiens !

BlueNoser352 reporting in as ordered FlyPast:

Yes.. when I began to set up video camera and tripod to take pictures & video the duds in the cell windows began to yell at me & make all sorts of strange noises. Guess they are bored and need something constructive to do. Maybe like obeying the law so they wouldn’t be behind iron bars to start with might be the first thing I would recommend ! To bad I was not carrying my M-16 from days now gone past..would have enjoyed putting a nice burst up near the windows where they were yelling from ! That for sure would have put a stop to that mess. Several local residents stopped to see what I was doing and when I showed them my copy of AFTER THE BATTLE..them nodded their heads..thumbs up and smiled. My very limited French helped a bit..but I hope they had understanding as to why I came a long way to Amiens to see a place I had for years read about and we had discussed on the forum. A strange yet wonderful experience to one day be home here in my hometown and the next day be standing on French soil in Amiens after a long eight hour flight to Paris. The workers in the British War Cemetery were kind to show me the exact location of the final resting place of The Group Captain & his navigator. BlueNoser had a few words in private to these two men & offered a salute to them for their service in the fight to defeat the forces of evil that enslaved so many in WW II ! A real honor to finally make it to Amiens & see this site. For those who sent me emails with good travel advice & assistance..BlueNoser352 says thanks so much .This is a remarkable forum. The knowledge & information put here each day is a joy to read. Keep up the good works fellow FlyPast Forum members! Hope I can soon return to the UK…I hear Bodney calling my name .The BlueNoser’s from the 352nd are calling me to return !!!!! Have a good week forum members!

A salute from BlueNoser352!

82nd Airborne Division
The All Americans All The Way !
AIRBORNE!!!!!

Yes I experienced some mild “hassle” outside Amiens Prison.. totally my fault……In my feverish excitement to get footage and photos…I forgot this was a modern day penitentiary and not just an historic WW2 aviation milestone. A very attractive female Prison guard came out and informed me after some lengthy questions that I could film the wall but mustnt take shots of the wall top showing visible internal building structures. I totally complied….despite pondering for a millisecond the potential desirability of being locked up with aforementioned guard…Jules

BlueNoser….good photos!

For quite a few months I drove past the prison a couple of times a week and where you are stood with the After The Battle magazine was EXACTLY where I was “invited” by a nice Gendarme to go to Amiens Police station and explain exactly why I was taking pictures of the prison…..!!!! All very exciting. I wasn’t sure if the Resistance were about to bundle me out of the back door or else the Gestapo were about to march me out of the front door to a waiting black Citroen!

BTW, that magazine cover looks familiar. I have a sneaking feeling there was something else in that edition that was of personal interest to me……

Just yesterday flying back from Italy in the Colt I tracked just to the East of Amiens and could clearly see the rebuilt jail.

Part of me wanted to wingover and take a commemorative low pass, but the 80 knot cruise of the little Piper and the restrictions on low flying over French towns persuaded me it would neither be impressive, nor a good idea.

It was still a privilege to get a Mosquito pilot’s view of such a famous landmark

Moggy

Much appreciate you sharing this with us!