Hi, I am Sig (junge1),
I was born in Dominikus- Krankenhaus in Berlin-Hermsdorf, Bezirk Reinickendorf in December 1939. Bezirk Reinickendorf was one of 20 Bezirke that made up Gross-Berlin before World War II and one of 12 Bezirke that made up former West-Berlin, the other 8 Bezirke were Russian occupied and became East-Berlin after the war. Moved from Berlin to Neurohlau (Nova Role) Sudetenland (now Czech Republic), in August 1943 (our entire block of apartment buildings was bombed out in November 1943) and returned back to Berlin in November 1945. Saw my dad the first time in my life in August/September 1946 after he returned from POW camp. Attended elementary school in Berlin-Waidmannslust, high school in Berlin-Hermsdorf, and trade school in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Was an apprentice for the trade of Klischeeaetzer (photo engraver) at Burrath & Schmidt on Friedrichstrasse between U-Bahnhof Kochstrasse (near to what later became Checkpoint Charlie) and Hallisches Tor.
While watching Allied planes supplying West-Berlin by air during the Berliner Luftbruecke in 1948-49 I developed my love for aircraft. I guess I could be considered a 'Berliner Grosschnauze", or at least I used to be.
'Wanderlust' led me to leave Berlin in summer 1960 to emigrate to Toronto, Canada and in February 1962 to move from Canada to New York City, NY, USA. In January 1963 I joined the United States Air Force, one step ahead of Uncle Sam drafting me. Became a United States citizen within 7 weeks after it became a security issue because of my military career. One day after I was sworn in as a citizen in Seattle, my entire unit left for Southeast Asia in June 1966. After nearly 5 years of active duty (extended 11 months to make it an 18 months overseas deployment) I got discharged and moved to New York City. In 1973 I moved to Phoenix, Arizona and two years later joined the Arizona Air National Guard.
Received my higher education at Arizona State University and the University of Georgia and worked for 22 years for the Arizona Department of Water Resources in various capacities. Upon military retirement in 1999 and State retirement in 2005 I looked at a number of things to keep me occupied. Traveling and joining 'renderosity' in September 2007 were a couple of them,
Sig..
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Comments (47)
alessimarco
Fantastic capture!
ysvry
great foto and story.
duncanoooo
Beautiful! That would have been good duty back in the day!!
Minda
wow !! very nice shot and great history sig...is that u on the pic??...:)
Alex_Antonov
Amazing!
auntietk
Next time you come up here we'll take you up to Fort Casey. Loads of history, and a couple of 10" guns. :) This is a wonderful image ... the patina on the gun is beautiful!
gemb1
Wonderful shot Great background. I was at the other end and have toured the bunkers on Okinawa and knowing how much it was bombarded it was amazing how little damage it suffered.
Hendesse
Very beautiful colors and light on this excellent shot. Thanks for the informations too!
icerian
Uncredible gun. An exclusive photo.
debbielove
Great history run down, Sig! Great shot.. Stunning view! Impressive, really impressive! Rob
weesel
Seven-inch seems a strange caliber. We fooled with them on some of the late predreadnought battleships, but I thought that was the end of it. Fascinating find.
eekdog
splendid capture, that is really cool.. dig how that old weapon is still there.
amanda_a42
Another most impressive capture!
Richardphotos
love the history and that is one huge cannon
danapommet
That would have made a great souvenir is you could have snuck it aboard the ship. Super POV for this shot. Dana
Huolong
Coastal defense guns in WW2 often included guns originally intended for battleships and were up to 16" with five and six inch guns were used as secondary guns. Singapore was defended with 15" guns. The design of coastal fortifications often depended on a very low silhouette instead of overhead cover. The advent of carrier borne bombin aircraft rendered this whole concept useless. The German Atlantic War tried to place the guns under adequate cover, most of which were neutralized on D-Day.
Buffalo1
Great shot of you with the coastal artillery. The composition shows why they placed this big guy on the hill.