In the background

[Noel Burgess]

Sapper - yes that's it, I had thought it looked like a tar boiler - but why would it be there???
Noel

[sapper740]

Originally Posted by Noel Burgess

Sapper - yes that's it, I had thought it looked like a tar boiler - but why would it be there???
Noel

You might have hit the nail on the head Noel with the tar boiler. Advance parties of the Royal Engineer's five Airfield Construction Groups landed at the British and Canadian beaches on D Day with the bulk of their plant arriving D+ 2 or 3. Getting airstrips quickly operational was a huge concern of SHAEF in order to provide close air cover over the invasion beaches. 16 Airfield Construction Group had the first Emergency Landing Strip operational June 7th. PBS (Prefabricated Bituminous Surfaces) was commonly used for runway surfaces with repairs quickly made with a mop, a bucket of molten tar, and some burlap or Hessian.


CHIMO! Derek.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Hi Alex;

Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer (NAN RED Beach - The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment & "C" Sqn, 10 CAR (FGH)). Two of the three DD tanks of "C" Sqn, 10 CAR (FGH) that were lost to enemy fire on the beach can be seen in the photo along with AVREs of 80th Assault Squadron, R.E., along with other various vehicles.

Thanks Mark. I hope we have the time to take a comparison shot, in a few days.

Alex