My grandfather gave me a shoebox of his WW2 "souvenirs" he called them. Some patches, coat buttons, the medal everyone got after the war, and some more American army trinkets. I've been watching Band of Brothers, and was amazed at the costumes/sets. Which reminded me of these photos that were in the box.
I believe they were taken from abandoned buildings they "ransacked" etc. He's been gone for quite a while, but I swear as a kid he said he just grabbed things after the cities were cleared out. Or maybe he was censoring it. I don't know what his role was, where he fought (other than Europe) or anything else.
I have these photographs, and a few film negatives I've scanned and inverted. I am wondering if a WW2 historian could identify some of the things that are in the photos.
What is in here is
LINK: http://imgur.com/a/3KlgO
If anyone can provide any insight or identification of what these pictures are of, other than my super obvious bullet list above, that would be nice to hear.
The photos are early wartime. In the training picture with the machine gun, many soldiers wear helmets left over from the First World War (well, the old design), and the machine gun is, if I'm not mistaken, an MG15, an aircraft machine gun pressed into service because in the late 30s there were not enough of the standard squad weapon, the MG34, to go around. The uniforms are also characteristic of the more expensive and elaborate early period, lots of jackboots rather than ankle boots, and contrasting collars.
The sedan looks quite a lot like a Ford (which were produced in Germany) but I cannot be sure.
The Archen sign and countryside are typical of the Western front area, where the Germans stationed units not involved in the attack on Poland, as defence against any Allied intervention from France. This goes with the 'second-line unit' equipment and training scenes. This is exactly the territory where US troops were engaged in heavy fighting five years later.
Since it's winter, one would assume it's 1938-39 or, more likely, 1939-40.
is it acceptable to call all Germans Nazis?
hi! you've forgotten to give us a link to the photos :)
The machine gun looks to be an MG30, an adaptation of the MG15 used as defensive armament in bombers and transports earlier in the war.
From the relaxed posture of the people in the photo, this was almost certainly taken on a firing range.
Do any or these photos have dates?