Hello!
I'm trying to learn a bit about an old photo my grandfather recently shared with us. He has always been extremely tight-lipped about anything from his childhood. Over the years we have worked hard to tactfully extract stories from him about memories of his family, his escape from East Germany after the war, etc. Unfortunately we have never been able to get much.
Then, out of nowhere, he sent me this picture and said that his father is the second from the left, standing next to the officer. The only other thing I know about him is that he was killed in Russia during WWII and that he was riding a horse at the time. My grandpa mentioned that he was "some sort of messenger" but didn't give any other details. His English still isn't great sometimes so he may have meant something else - I am not sure.
Literally any insight that you can offer would be SO appreciated. I'm a sucker for family history and this has always remained a dark and mysterious branch of my family tree.
I hope this sort of thing is alright to post here. If not and if it violates some of the sub rules, I apologize and mods please delete.
Thanks everybody!
Can't help much, but I'd say this photo was taken in about 1938. The helmets are still surplus First World War issue, and the pouches are leather and the tunics appear to be wool: heavy and dark. These items would soon be replaced by newer and/or cheaper items. The machine gun appears to be an MG34. These were in short supply as the Wehrmacht re-armed which makes it more likely this photo was taken close to World War II.
The boots are really interesting: lace-up but calf-height like a characteristic Nazi jackboot. Possibly an expert on Wehrmacht uniforms can enlighten us.
Sad to think that every one of those guys was probably to be dead within a short few years.
Hello there! As your question is related to looking for identification/information regarding military personnel, our Guide on Military Identification may be of use to you. It provides a number of different resources, including how to request service records from a number of national agencies around the world, as well as graphical aids to assist in deciphering rank, unit, and other forms of badges or insignia. While the users here may still be able to lend you more assistance, hopefully this will provide a good place to start!