Hi. I'm planning a diorama showing a D-Day scene with some soldiers sitting around resting.

I've made a few nice looking apples since Normandy is well known for its apple orchards and was wondering if the soldiers would have had access to apples on D-Day (June) considering that the harvest time for apples in Normandy is autumn?

I realise that in the 1940s they didn't have the cold storage capabilities we have today so would an apple have been something a soldier would likely have had in June in Normandy?

I know there are some guys on here lucky enough to live in Normandy so hope you can provide some guidance. Thanks!

I don't think so. Unless they were stored from the last harvest.

Hello there

There are stories of soldiers having apples in June 1944. If they were the previous year's they'd be a bit mushy... I think sometimes D-Day and Normandy get conflated both in veterans' memories and in current narratives.
I'll see if I can dig out some examples to vérifier.

I'm not a horticulturalist so I don't know if things have changed in 76 years but apples in early June are very small, about an inch in diameter (2,54cm for the metric types)
The later in the campaign you leave it, the bigger the apples.

Hope this is of some help

Cheers

Sean

There are plenty of accounts of crews being bombarded with them when driving tanks through orchards as they were knocked off the trees and could make the turret harder to traverse. They would have been hard and small in June though.

By the time they broke out in August, you’d be on safer ground. How about Belgium?

At least cider was available



H.P.

Apples stored in wooden straw-filled boxes, or cider, or Calvados

MiniArt Cognac crates

MiniArt Cognac crates

Barrels & Crates

Fruit Shop

Thanks guys! I thought as much, oh well.

I remember stopping at a motorway service station in Normandy going toward Calais near the Pont de Normandie one September and there were tiny apples on the trees around the service station, about as big as Sean50 mentioned. And that was late in the summer so in June I'm sure they would be tiny.

This is a great photo! I love the idea of the bren gunner stopping mid burst for a refreshing drink of cider.

Ah, no better combo than alcohol and live ammo!

Still, if it was me there in the face of German gunfire I'd probably need more than just one cider to get through it...

I've got to say, I think when most people use the phrase 'attention to detail' about our hobby they don't give us enough credit... It's not just nuts and bolts, camo schemes and markings that we care about! But these things are important!

I agree, apples in June sound a little sharp, but we are always seeing pictures of soldiers drinking - so why not have them just enjoying the local wine, etc?

Sounds like a "good ol' boys" party!

You just described our family reunions and with the addition of several sticks of 40% 'stump remover' things can get a little loud.

Much like North America, apples in Normandy are harvested from September to November, with October being the heaviest month. Trees are planted about fifteen feet apart. The soil is chalky, and not useful for grapes; that's why they grow apples and pears. Of course, they make cider and brandy too. This is a list of varieties grown in that region:

Bittersweet varieties:
Bisquet 
•  Binet rouge
•  Frequin
•  Douce Moën
•  Mettais
•  Noël des champs

Sweet varieties:
•  Rouge duret
•  Douce Coetligné

Acid varieties:
•  Petit jaune
•  Rambault
•  Cidor

Bitter varieties:  
•  Judor
•  Avrolles

You could use "last year's" crop which are stored in open crates called "pallox".

HTH

That is just fantastic. Brave lady!

Please excuse the pedantry but this isn't strictly true.
There used to be vineyards in Normandy but a combination of cold winters, floods and infestations more or less wiped them out. Other factors contributed too. There are currently a few local small scale producers but the industry has never really recovered.

The soil is also quite varied, from chalk to clay and a lot more besides.

Cheers

Sean

Apologies for the very delayed reply, but thank you so much for all your replies and the information you all shared. It is much appreciated.

If MIG doesn't have a paint set for Normandy Apples, did they exist?

Hahaha!