The D-Day Collins Museum, a former headquarters that remains as it was in 1944

@ElentirENG ES 9·01·2023 · 23:26 0

Normandy is a historic region of France that is known throughout the world for the famous landings of June 6, 1944.

An excellent guide to visiting the places related to D-Day in Normandy
Maisy: the German Normandy battery that was mysteriously buried by the US

Today, that region preserves many vestiges of that stormy past and also various museums related to that battle, which have become a way to attract tourists and history lovers. One of these museums is located in a place that was very important in that battle: the Château de Franquetot, in Sainte-Mère-Église. Built in the first half of the 18th century by François de Franquetot (1670-1759), Marshal of France, during World War II it became the Headquarters of the VII Corps of the United States Army, under the command of General Joseph Lawton Collins.

Next to the door of this castle a famous photo was taken on July 3, 1944 (the one we see above these lines), in which General Collins appeared (on the right, with protective glasses on his M-1 helmet), General Omar Bradley (center) and General Dwight D. Eisenhower (left), at a meeting there.

After many years of neglect, Philippe and Céline Tanne bought the castle with the aim of turning it into a museum, in addition to set up a guest house there. The building is largely preserved as it was in 1944, so the museum still has inscriptions left there by the US military, as well as various historical objects that Philippe has collected over the years. years. This week, The History Underground posted an interesting video showing this museum:

You can see some screenshots of this video here. Here we can see the detail of some of the museum's mannequins. On the right, in the foreground, we see the mannequin of General Bradley. In the center is General Eisenhower and on the left is General Collins. The furniture is original from that time and was in the castle.

A room that contains a mannequin with a complete US Army parachutist outfit, as well as helmets, uniforms and other original objects from that time.

A room that served as an infirmary. The mannequins have been modified to give them great realism.

A room that preserves an original pool table on which the US military played in 1944 right there.

Here you can see more photos of this interesting museum, its restoration process and the process of making the mannequins. In case you want to visit it, here you can see its location on Google Maps: