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Owned by the Austrian Army till 1969 - bought by a garage and converted to a snowplow - working till 1983 - retired and put in a shack - I bought the wreck in summer 1991 ! Completly deconstructed and put together again, piece by piece and bolt by bolt - most parts could be saved! 21.12.2007 - Back from Jeep´s heaven! This Willys-Overland Jeep took part in the Operation Overlord and landed on the beaches of the Normandy Coast in June 1944. Since his affiliation to a unit is still unclear, he was assigned to the 116 Infantry Regiment of the 29th US Infantry Division. 70 years later, to honor these man, this Jeep went the same way the 116th Infantry Regiment went during World War II, but in the different direction. Starting point for the Commemoration-Tour was Mönchengladbach which was liberated in March 1945 by the 29ers. The way leaded us through the former battle zones to the town of Jülich to cross the river Rur and further to Teveren and Geilenkirchen. We visited Aachen, Maastricht, Liege and went to Paris, took a city round, visited the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Trocadero and Notre Dame and had a rest in on of the bars at Champs Elysees like the soldiers did after the liberation in 1944. Next citys to visit were Le Mans and Rennes to get to the Atlantik Coast and the city of Brest, which was a large german U-boat and battleship base from 1940 to 1944. The city was heavily defended by the Germans and therefore also referred as "Brest Fortress". Then we went back east, made a stop-over at Mont Saint Michel and got to Tinchebray. From there on the most important part of the tour started and leaded us to town like Vire, Saint Lo, La Cambe, Isigny-sur-Mer, Grandcamp Maisy and finally Saint Laurent-sur-Mer at Omaha Beach; the 29ers called this area the „Hedgerow Hell“. We arrived there on the 2nd of june, so we took part at the official celebrations on the Normandy coast. Look at "Back to Hedgerow Hell" on FB. November 2016: changed the Motor from MB541643 (13-01-45) to MB287682 (08-04-1943) June 2019: Another fantastic time on the Normandy coast to attend the 75th commemoration.
