Purely out of curiosity, and without prejudicing myself, what resources do we have concerning the terrain of the Pas de Calais area and Normandy? Aerial photos and topo maps sure would be helpful. I need to see if the colors of France in summer are anything like Britain in summer.

Also, please be thinking about French airfields in 1940.

If you know of any on-line resources, or photo's that might be helpful, please post them.
Don E.

We've been thinking of them and will probably do something about them at some point. The problem is that it's a rather large task and somewhat complicated. We'll get there at some point I belive.

Well, from the various photos I have of the Liftwaffe deployed in Northern France in 1940 I'd say that the existing setup, with perhaps some German vehicles which are easy enough to make would be reasonable. They did fly from fields in real life. The infrastructure was pretty basic.

http://www.multimap.com is superb for England.
I don't have a french version though. Does anyone else?

Here is Dover for example, with map overlay.
http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?cl...&rt=overlay.htm

This is modern day, though so the town is bigger, the big roads have been built and the fields are more regular than they would have been.

Northern France would be similar, but on a grander scale. Space is not at a premium in the same way.

Need a map really..

One characteristic I have noticed from French rural scenery is the presence of long strip-like field systems. These have always been obvious in some 1940 photos featuring AASF and Luftwaffe aircraft etc.

Bader..

That multimap is cool.
HeHe! Before you posted this, I was flying around South London, checking in on your airfield changes. Hit the M key and it said "you are 5 miles North of Redhill".
OK, what's Bader's home look like? I'll fly down and have a look.
Took some pics, but could not spot the crossroads saloon where you live at, there. Hard to believe you have upgraded the airfields, but have neglected to paint your own hovel.

Mele Kalikimaka!

Bader,

The MultiMap is good. It DOES have France. All you have to do is click on the country you need and wah-la!

I had found another map site here:

http://www.mappy.com/

Also a nice site on the Normandy battlefields which have some nice aerial photos from during and after the war, such as this one:

http://www.normandybattlefields.com/img2_courseulles.htm

And some modern day photos of the Pas de Calais taken from a kite! These show modern fields and villages, but I doubt the colors have changed much from the war years.

http://membres.lycos.fr/fvieren/kap.htm

If you stumble across any more info, please let me know.

Don E.


[This message has been edited by Donnybrooke (edited 12-23-2002).]

Excellent. Shame the French haven't got aerial photos in multimap.

From the pics you posted France is quite English, but we need some better pics as you say.. Currently there is a lot of green in BoB's France. Looks rather like Russia.

Bader,

I think Old Dux is correct, and the layout of fields in France is more rectangular than what you see in England. Not to say that it's like that all over.

Being the proud owner of a new France: Michelin Tourist and Motoring Atlas, I've noted that some of the few terrain features that are on the French countryside are relatively modern. I suspect the people at Rowan used either GIS maps or some equivalent when they did the terrain. Explains the expressway lines they included.

I am now on a search for copies or reprints of Michelins old road maps from 1939.

Wish you and yours the best for the Holidays.

Don E.

On the British side they definitely did their research. I recall one of them talking about period maps for the details. The contours were taken from modern satellite information, though.

France is a different story..

Speaking of Michelin maps, last November my mother visited Normandy, and while she was there, she asked me what I would like for Christmas. I told her to get all the good maps of Northern France she could find.

I have a VERY large Michelin map folded and pinned just above me on the wall, with multicolored pushpins (with Gruppe #s penned on them) poked into it so that I have a quick reference as to where my Luftwaffe Gruppe are. Saved me time memorizing all their locations.

Mele Kalikimaka!