“Local roads were not made for military convoys” write Bob Hannings, 65th Fighter Squadron’s Aircraft Maintenance Officer, 57th Fighter Group, USAAF, Aircraft Maintenance Officer as comment to this picture from him taken during a transfer by road from a base to another in Southern Italy, Autumn 1943. In effect the narrow and full hairpin bend mountains roads of the Apennines, and many times dirt and not paved roads, was a bad surprise for the Allied motorized convoys. The hard winter conditions of 1943/44 and 1944/45, two of worst winter of XX century with many roads just about impracticable because heavy snowfall, strong winds and severe ice conditions, worsened the mobility’s situation of the Allied troops all the good of the fierce German resistance. Victor Sierra

Not for military convoys

This photo shows the Place Foche ,almost dead center of Leuven,after the 12 and 13th of may 1944 airraids.With the exception of 1 house all the rset were destroyed or damaged.My dad,going on 11 at the time,had a schoolfriend living there.As almost everybogy in Leuven the boy and his family had taken shelter in their vaulted cellar.The house came down upon them but thanks to the strong vaulted building of the cellar they survived the bomb.Sadly enough the water mains had been broken and water filtered into the cellars,slowly flooding them.The rescue efforts were too slow and the family drowned.

The large building with the tower you see on the right side is the University Library that got hit by the artillery duel between British and German forces in may 1940.The building started to burn and 900.000 books were lost.
greetz,brummbar

Place Foche,Leuven 1944

Member of the French resistance  setting an explosive charge on a railway line.
