D-DAY Festival 2013 program and first posters of the 70th anniversary

Three months before the 69th anniversary of the Normandy landings, the program of the D-DAY festival has just come out. In case anyone doesn't know what this is about, it is a festival celebrated each year in Normandy to commemorate the landing. The festival brings together veterans, families, offers parades, reenactments, walkings, concerts... Highly recommended for anyone interested in the D-Day.

 Official festival poster 2013

You can download the program (in French) here . The English version will be available in a few days at: http://www.bessin-normandie.com .

In addition, they are already announcing the next year's festival, which will be more spectacular as it will commemorate the 70th anniversary. They have left the first posters:

Visit and spend the night in Colditz Castle (Germany)

Colditz Castle, a former mental hospital, was used under the control of the Wehrmacht during World War II as a POW camp for Allied officers of high rank. Its official designation was Oflag IVc .

It became a high security prison because some prisoners were known for their attempts to escape. It was said that there were more guards than prisoners. Still, there were several flights but mostly failed. The punishment for attempted escape was the isolation cell.

One of the more ambitious scape plans was conducted by the pilots Bill Goldfinch and Jack Best. With the help of several prisoners they built a glider from wood scraps and stolen sleeping bags. They wanted to launch from the roof of the chapel, which was hidden from the view of the Germans. The war ended before they could carry out the plan. There is a replica of the glider at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Many of these flights are reflected in the books of the British Captain Pat Reid, who after achieving escape and reach Switzerland, wrote his memoirs spread over several volumes.

GETTING TO COLDITZ?


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The castle is located in the town of Colditz in Saxony, eastern Germany, 50 km away from Leipzig, 75 km away fron Dresden and 230 km away from Berlin. You can fly easily to any of these cities and rent a car to get Colditz. To go by train you have to get to the station Großbothen (direct trains from Leipzig) and from there take a taxi or a bus to Colditz or get to the station Grimma and there take the bus #619 in the direction of Rochlitz (check here the schedule).

For trains and times: http://www.bahn.de/p/view/index.shtml

From Leipzig, there is also a shuttle bus that runs every hour. This bus is the #690 and you can take it in the Leipzig train station but it only runs Monday to Friday . On weekends you will have to combine train and bus.

ACCOMMODATION  IN THE CASTLE

If you want to spend a night in the castle beacuse of today it houses a youth hostel: the Colditz Youth Hostel (DHJ Jugendherberge Schloss Colditz). You can stay there from 22 euros. You will have to book in advance through the official website: http://www.colditz.jugendherberge.de clicking on " Inquiries & Buchen "on the right side of the screen. It will take you to a form where you have to indicate if you're going in a group, family, or individual, if you're more or less than 26 year old and the dates. If you want a single or a double room you should make a reservation well in advance.

Click here for a pdf with all the information about the hostel (in English).

VISIT COLDITZ

Official Website: http://www.schloss-colditz.com

Opening hours:

From April to October: 10:00-17:00 (guided tours at 10:30 / 13:00 / 15:00, and at this time there on extended tours POW camp at 10:30)

From November to March: 10:00-16:00 (guided tours at 11:00 / 14:30)

Closed from 24 to 26 December, 31 December and 1 January.

Admission to the escape museum: 4 euros

Guided tour: 8 euros

Extended Tour: 15 euros

Plano.

The last years, the castle has undergone numerous restorations aimed at tourism purposes. This issue has brought controversial because many people believe it should be preserved as it was then, even if it means deterioration. It also houses a museum and a hostel. The museum collects personal belongings of prisoners, documents, recreations of rooms ... You can visit the cells of prisoners, the different rooms and the escape tunnel to get an idea of ​​the life at the camp.

Tunnel ( photo: Wikimedia Commons )

If you want to see a video gallery of the rooms of the castle you can click here .

Sources:
http://www.virtualcolditz.com/aims.html

http://www.colditz-4c.com

http://www.colditzcastle.net 

 

Iwo Jima today

The island of Iwo Jima, now called IOTO (sulfur island) was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. The U.S. Marines landed in February 1945 and fought against the Japanese Imperial forces until March, when they finally managed to conquer the island. The Japanese resistance was extreme, which led them to lose almost all his men.

On this island, at the top of Mount Suribachi, it was made the famous photo Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.

VISITING IWO JIMA

Nowadays visiting Iwo Jima is almost impossible. It belongs to the army and there is only a naval base of the forces of Japan. No civilians live there. You can only go to Iwo Jima with an organized tour that visit the island once a year. The company http://www.miltours.com organizes tours for military veterans, family members or people interested. They meet every year in Guam to commemorate the anniversary of the battle. From there, an airplane takes them to Iwo Jima. This tour departs from Los Angeles and the places are very limited because they have a single aircraft to fly to the island. The tour price  is about $3500.                                        

REMAINS OF THE BATTLE AND MEMORIALS OF IWO JIMA 

Here I show you some of the things that you can find on the island today. There are many more relics of the battle. The land is full of caves, bunkers, artillery and grenade shrapnel damage.

American Memorial Iwo Jima :

Location: here .
The memorial is situated where the American flag was raised on February 12, 1945. It commemorates the valor and sacrifice of the Marines.

 Photo: Kawetijoru

The beach landing:

Location: here .

The beach where American troops entered the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Division on February 19, 1945.

Photo: Seigo

Visiting Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941 the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. They wanted to weaken the Pacific Fleet to prevent a possible military intervention in their actions. Since this day, the United States joined the World War II. On December 8, the United States declared war on the Empire of Japan.

 Photograph taken from a Japanese aircraft at the beginning of the attack.

In the attack, deployed in two parts involving fighter jets, bombers and torpedo boats, eight American battleships were damaged, four of them came to sink. 2,402 Americans died and 1,282 were injured.

The USS Arizona burning.

GETTING TO PEARL HARBOR?

The bay of Pearl Harbor is on the island of Oahu (Hawaii) , about 15 km west of the capital Honolulu. Honolulu Airport is accessible from almost anywhere in the world, but you will only get cheap flights from America. Most tourists travel first to the West Coast or Latin America and from there they take a flight to the islands.

Honolulu.

Once in Honolulu, you can easily find a rental car to explore the island or you can get Pearl Harbor by public transport. Many hotels have shuttle buses that take their hosts to the memorial complex, as it is one of the major tourist attractions of the island. It is advisable to ask for these services.

 If you go by car there are many signs to get the place. If you stay in Waikiki Beach (one of the most turistic areas because of its paradise coast) you can reach the entrance to the Visitor Centre by bus #20 or bus #42 or by car taking the H1 highway  leaving the airport behind and taking the 15A exit which indicates "Arizona Memorial / Stadium" (not the previous one that indicates "Pearl Harbor naval base"). You will only have to follow the signs for "Pearl Harbor Historic Sites". For a Honolulu bus routes check www.thebus.org.

Once in the Visitor Centre there are shuttles that take you to the different attractions.

PEARL HARBOR VISITOR CENTRE

Location here .

Official Website: http://www.pacifichistoricparks.org/phh_park_info.php

Opening hours: 7:00 to 17:00 (the program that include a 23-minute documentary video about the attack and a boat ride to the USS Arizona runs from 8:00 to 15:00).

Closed Thanksgiving, December 25 and January 1 .

The duration of the visit to Arizona with the documentary is estimated 1h15min.

Free entrance and parking.

It's not allowed to enter any part of the historic site with luggage, bags (even the camera's bag), backpack or purse. There are lockers at the entrance where you can leave them for $ 3.

 Photo: Christ Vlahos

Your visit will have to start at this point that is where you will obtain access and passes to all the memorials and museums. Your ticket  will give you access to the 23-minute documentary video about the attack and the ship that takes you to the USS Arizona. In high season, especially in the summer months, there are long queues and be aware that the tickets are limited. Therefore, it is better to get your ticket online from this page . Although the admission is free you will be charged $ 1.50 for the cost of the service but it's worth it.

Here you can find visit several exhibitions as "Path to War" and "Attack". Also we can visit the memorials to victims.