Sepia Saturday give bloggers an opportunity to share their family history and memories through photographs.
The focus this week is on buildings, specifically hotels, and corners. One photograph immediately came to mind - it was in my father's album and shows the Alfa Hotel in Luxembourg in 1944, which Dad identifies in his writing as "Gen. Bradley's HQ".
My father John Weston served in the RAF Codes & Cphers Branch, with training at Bletchley Park and Whitehall, London. He then became part of the Special Liaison unit - a team of analysts formed to scan, digest and forward key messages to the appropriate field commands
Dad was seconded to General Bradley’s US 12th Army Group HQ. He landed at Omaha beach just after D-Day and advanced via St. Mere Eglise, Avranches, Versailles, Paris, Verdun and Luxembourg through to Wiesbaden in Germany.
In Dad's own words "We arrived in Luxembourg. General Bradley's Hotel Alpha was opposite
the badly damaged railway station. We had a good hotel at the back and were able to buy some very good cakes in the town. I became friendly with a
former member of the government [Mr Battin] and was invited to his house. He produced
champagne from his cellar and served them with lovely cakes with kirsch in them" .
Visiting the continent in more happy times, these photographs bring back memories of my own holidays in Austria and Bavaria.
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Visiting the continent in more happy times, these photographs bring back memories of my own holidays in Austria and Bavaria.
Hotel sign in St. Wolfgang, near Salzburg
Our hotel in Berchtesgarten. Bavaria, Germany
Hotel Alpenschlossel, Neusfift, near Innsbruck, Austria. (and I even managed to include a corner) .
One of the typically decorated hotels in Otztal - the gateway to the climb (by road I hasten to add) to the glacier village of Obergurgl,at 1,930 metres above sea level, one of the highest villages in Austria, attracting serious walkers and skiers.
We first heard mention of Obergurgl in an episode of the comedy "Steptoe & Son" where Harold was planning to go there on a skiing holiday. We thought it was a made up comic name, until we actually ended up there on a coach trip one mid June - when it snowed!
Just to show we can do flower boxes in Scotland too - below is Burts Hotel in the historic abbey town of Melrose, five miles from my home.
To see what other Sepia Saturday found round the corner, click HERE
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I enjoyed all the photos, especially the one of the hotel in Otzal.
ReplyDeleteWow -- close enough to rub elbows with General Bradley, eh? Impressive!
ReplyDeleteAll the hotels you visited are lovely. I half expect to see Hansel and Gretel coming out the door of the hotel in Otztal.
The Alfa Hotel is interesting because of its history and connection to your father, but I would rather stay at the other places.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the lines and perspective in the photo of the Alfa Hotel and the stories about your dad' s experiences there are added benefits. And I must say Burts Hotel is rather lovely, what with the flowers against the fresh looking white exterior. I'd for sure like to stay there.
ReplyDeleteThose alpine hotels are so picturesque. I've done some tramping in the Tirol and have seen some very similar places in the villages round about Kitzbuhl.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think Burt's Hotel did the flower thing better than the Austrian version! :)
ReplyDeleteI love the geraniums in all the window boxes :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I had some of those little cakes right now! The hotels would have given a totally different experience, looking at the surroundings. Both would be interesting in different ways.
ReplyDeleteI've done some travelling through Austria, but passed very quickly though the spectacular country west of Innsbruck, choosing instead to drive up the Zillertal. Wonderful countryside and those flower box-bedecked building fronts really are spectacular.
ReplyDeleteI like Burt's hotel best. You saved the best for last :)
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