Elaine Matthews

Åben Hede: Pop! Boom! Pow!

The Danish Artillery Regiment and the Danish Royal Army were on full display Sunday for Åben Hede, which translates to open heath, near Blåvand. Tanks, guns and an F-16 flyover along the open, sandy ground near the coast. It gets every boy, young and old, excited!

He doesn’t look excited, but he is thrilled to be here! He was grinning ear to ear as we were walking up. 🙂

During the event, there were hoards of Danish and German spectators walking about the displays, climbing on top of a coastal bunker to get a better view, poking around tanks and watching the tank demonstration. There were at least 10 tanks lined up aiming at targets. It was so loud, it shook my organs!

Danish and UN tanks were on display for the demonstration. I must admit, it was pretty neat to see. Everyone had earplugs … thank goodness!

Kids having a blast climbing all over the machinery.
The Russians got in on the action with a canon demonstration. It quickly required the firefighters to put out the scrub brush on the sand dunes. I liked their outfits.
There wasn’t much in English during this event, but the signs surrounding this military practice range were translated in English and German. In summary, if our red signals are up, which were big red balls on a metal pole they raised up and down, keep back. We are blowing some stuff up.

One comment

Leave a comment