Aerial photograph of Paris, 1943

5 comments to Aerial photograph of Paris, 1943

• Pr. Platypus

  October 16, 2011 at 12:10 am · Reply

  I think there is something wrong here, or at least there is something I don’t get.
  If this is Paris, then the island in the upper right corner is the island of la Cité (it can’t be Saint-Louis island according to its shape and the distance between its banks and width of the Seine around it). Which means, first, that the picture is upside down (the upper part is south) : you can see it because the narrowest part f the Seine around the island is actually south.
  But the weird thing is that the island is linked to the city by only one bridge. In 1943, all the bridges connecting la Cité and Paris today were alreday built. There are 9 of them (4 north, 4 south and 1 crossing all the way, just leaning on the western tip of the island).

  The thing that disturbed me at first, actually, is the large building that looks like an amiptheatre or a circus, in the middle of the picture, on the right side of the smoke. According to the island’s position, it should stand approximately where the Halles were. In the early 20th century, the Halles looked like this : http://www.linternaute.com/paris/magazine/diaporama/06/paris-vu-du-ciel/1950/1.shtml
  And there is nothing like that in the area…

  I wondered if this might be another island along the Seine downstream from Paris but that wouldn’t work either (check on Google maps : the Seine is much more curvy around the islands near Boulogne or Saint-Denis).

  So I’m really intrigued… I find it hard to believe that it is Paris although the island REALLY looks like la Cité. If someone can prove that it IS Paris and explain why there is only one bridge, and most of all what is this ampitheater-like building (I actually live very close to where it should have stand), I would be very happy !

• Cro

  October 17, 2011 at 8:23 pm · Reply

  I believe that the island in the photo is Ile de la Grande Jatte and the stadium (Courbevoie)is actually bordered by Rue de Colombes, BD. Astride Briand and Bd. de Verdun. The bridge on the left of the photo is d’Asnieres and the larger bridge to it’s right is a rail bridge.

  North is actually at about the 7 o’clock position as the photo is shown above.

  I gleaned the above by looking at Google Earth.

  http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Ile+de+la+Grande+Jatte&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=%C3%8Ele+de+la+Grande+Jatte&ll=48.894913,2.268205&spn=0.015828,0.032229&t=h&z=15&vpsrc=6&iwloc=A

• Cro

  October 17, 2011 at 8:26 pm · Reply

  BTW: It looks as though the intended target of the bombing raid are some rail yards near Bécon-les-Bruyères‎.

• Pr. Platypus

  October 18, 2011 at 5:48 pm · Reply

  I guess you’re right ! I must have missed that island while following the course of the Seine in the suburbs of Paris… Thanks

• lemol65

  January 27, 2012 at 11:37 am · Reply

  I think this is the strategic bombing of the Hispano Suiza factory in Bois-Colombes on December 31, 1943.