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You may copy and use the photos here in your own publications as long as you give credit to the book as follows: Knights of Freedom by Lt. Col. Frederick C. Brems USAR (RET), published by Stackpole Books, Blue Ridge Summit, PA.
We were able to take in a night of Beethoven, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and a modern composer, William Alwyn, whose concerto had been written in 1943.
N13 (now E46) was the main road and was located just inland from the D-Day beaches. The route I took to the front passed through Bayeux and to Caen, where our truck convoy turned north to Rouen and eventually Liege. I ended up 450 miles from where I’d landed. Although I had no idea at the time, I was close to my future unit, the 2nd Armored Division (2ndAD), then in action to the north and east of Aachen, Germany. The map is from the Europe Road Map Series produced by the Army Map Service, U.S. Army, 1944. I received the map when I joined the 2ndAD. This was a very long ride in that 2 ½ ton truck.
Bing Crosby in 1943
(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)
Bing’s autograph on my short snorter and on the 10 Franc note I sent to Helen.
Movie poster from ‘Top Hat’ – – Fred sang the title song for us!
The insignia of the 66th Armored Regiment and the 2nd Armored Division patch.