"Is Paris burning?" ... asked Hitler of the city's commander, General von Choltitz.
I suppose ol' A-dolf - aka "the greatest field commander of all time" (self appointed) wanted to create another wasteland to prove a point.
Thank God, that on this occasion his wish was not granted.
General Eisenhower himself was not too keen in taking the metropolis. His reasons were, that it had no tactical or strategic advantage plus the cold mathematical fact, that street fighting normally brings within it's shroud a very heavy 'butchers bill'.
De Gaulle however saw this as a political opportunity and pressed for it's capture by French forces. After four years of Nazi occupation and more than two months of severe fighting, France was in need of a 'lift'- to say the least.
An uprising (from various factions) started within it's walls on the 19th and with the parallel horror of an isolated Warsaw in mind, the dye was cast and battle commenced on the 24th and as 'lady luck' would have it casualties were mercyfully low. German forces surrendered on the 25th.
For my version of the events, I have chosen an M-10 TD from the rather colourfull Régiment Blindé de Fusiliers Marins (RBFM), the Tank Destroyer battalion of the French 2e Division Blindée (2nd Armoured Division).
This rather well documented unit included within it's ranks some 'stars' of that time:
Ensign Philippe de Gaulle, son of the French leader and actor Jean Gabin. Being formed from naval infantry, they named their TD's after French ships ...
I just could'nt resist misusing one for my cheeky title.
This Dio, I admit, is a bit ..er .. LOUD, CRAZY & FAR-FETCHED ... but looking at the old photo's and newsreels of these extraordinary couple of days, I reckon it's not too far off the mark. Another thing is, I've allways wanted to make a Dio with a crowd of 'civvies' in it as I feel, they are a very important (and oft neglected) part in millitary modeling.
It's a pity there are not many good examples of them in 1/35 at the moment, so I've just done my best at 'figure-bashing ' with what I could lay my mitts on here.
With this particular scene I have tried to concentrate on the general atmosphere and not so much on the heavy and sometimes dry world of rivert counting 'perfection'.
As to what is actually going on in this particular 360° of mine ... well, this time I think I'll sit back and say nothing ... Yeah, I hear you, I hear you ... but this 'un was hard enough
So therefore dear reader, at least with this chapter in history, I'll leave the detective work up to you.
As I started this years D-Day/Normandy events with the Alpha (Driftwood) I thought, it would be logical to end the campaign with the Omega ... La Liberation de Paris.
So then I'll just raise my glass of 'vin rouge' and say 'Au Revoir' from the 'City of Light' and wish you 'Bonne Chance' in puzzleing it all out !!
One last thing ... If the question was: "Is Paris burning?", what was the answer?
I can't help but thinking it was ... " Ja my Führer !!, ... well ... er .......
..... more or less !! "
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