Arbeia - a Roman Fort

 

A couple of weeks ago I visited Arbeia in South Shields.  A large complex, this was mostly used as a supply base and granary for the border defences (Hadrian's Wall) and for troops making the dangerous journey further north.  Well worth a look if you're in that area.

2,000 years and still no lift...

Nice model - if only I'd brought some toy soldiers!

Nicely restored gatehouse

Heugh Battery revisited

I visited this splendid fortification back in 2012, so the need for a lunch/dog walking stop en route to northeast England recently had an obvious solution!  The battery is located on the headland at Hartlepool, which is quite a nice spot.  The exhibits are much as they had been but I figure you can never have too many photos of Chieftains or Ferrets.

From the observation post I kept a lookout for the High Seas Fleet...

The battery bears a more then passing resemblance to the Airfix Gun Emplacement.

This time I had the opportunity to visit the small arms collection - they have some interesting stuff.

The cutaway Bren was instructive.

They even have some weapons which visitors may handle.  Clad as I was in blue and red, the Lebel seemed an obvious choice!  They wouldn't let me have the bayonet though....
 

Bastogne Barracks museum

 During the recent trip to the Ardennes, Russell and I visited the Bastogne Barracks AFV collection.  I'd seen this in 2017 (see link here) when it was rather crammed into a single building.  Accommodation and visibility has considerably improved (although the lighting isn't great), with the collection spread between two buildings.  It's well worth a visit!  I'll let the photos tell the story.

Stug III

M-16

M-26

German 20mm AA

"Forward to the West!"  Russell and 'his' JS-3

Valentine

ISU-152

Staghound

Opel 'Funkwagen'.  Not a mobile disco...

Bedford QL

detail of the Sdkfz-7

Berliet recovery truck - still in use around the workshop!

Panzer IV

M-22 Locust

M-4A3E8 Sherman

AMX-VCI and M-75 APCs

The JS-3 again

M-41

Belgian 47mm AT gun

M-16 again

M-41 again

Hetzer

Humber Heavy Utility Car

Lloyd Carrier

Daimler Scout Car

Panzer IV

Sdkfz-7 with 37mm AA gun

M-32 ARV

and a Sherman.

Stasi Museum

The Stasi (Ministry for State Security) museum in Berlin is based in the former Stasi HQ.  It felt very familiar from books and TV series such as the splendid Deutschland 83.  Which I'll now have to watch again.

In the entrance foyer is this Barkas B1000.  It may look at first glance like a delivery van and I suppose that's pretty much what it was. The deliveries in question were suspect comrades being delivered for questioning.  The rear compartment is apparently fitted out with five cells (they must be tiny) and space for a guard.  The curtain is a homely touch.

 

What a great wargames table!

Minister for State Security Erich Mielke's office.  Very welcoming.

I liked this photo of a Stasi official with his collection of model aeroplanes.  I'm sure this means they were all nice chaps - right?