11th_Europe_Report -- 10_dsc02271.jpg
More research needs to be done on this old photo, but we believe it shows German troupes ("German motorized column") during their early WWII occupation of Brest.  This photo taken just south of the US Naval Monument before it was destroyed by the Germans.  The huge cloud of smoke in the background was most likely from the burning of the fuel tanks in the "Quatre-Pompes"/"Maison Blanche" area near where the US Naval Air Station was in WWI. This fire, in June 1940, was intentionally started by British and French military to prevent the fuel's use by the invading German military. While it prevented the enemy from using the fuel, the resulting fire caused extreme devastation to that area.

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