German and Italian Troops near Tobruk

German troops, including a Paratrooper, inspects an Italian anti-aircraft position near Tobruk in 1942. The picture was taken by Kriegsberichter Rechenberg.

Source :
https://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/german-paratroopers/21535/tobruk

BMW 326 History

Luftwaffe soldiers posing in front of a BMW 326 Limousine

The BMW 326 is a medium-sized sedan produced by BMW between 1936 and 1941, and again briefly, under Soviet control, after 1945. The 326 was BMW's first four-door sedan. It had an innovative design and sold well despite its relatively high price. It also had an unusually involved afterlife.

Designed by Fritz Fiedler, the 326 featured a box-section frame that could readily be adapted for derivative models. Also innovative were the torsion bar rear suspension, inspired by the dead axle suspension of the Citroën Traction Avant, and the hydraulic braking system, the first to be used on a BMW car. Styled by Peter Schimanowski, the 326 was offered as a four-door sedan and as a two- or four-door cabriolet. The 326 sedan was the first BMW available with four doors. The BMW 320, BMW 321, BMW 327, and BMW 335 were based on the 326. The streamlined form of the body contrasted with previous relatively upright BMWs: drag was presumably reduced further by including a fixed cover over the spare wheel at the back.

The 1971 cc straight 6 engine was a version of the 319’s power plant, with the bore increased from 65 mm (2.6 in) to 66 mm (2.6 in), and an unchanged stroke of 96 mm (3.8 in) giving a displacement of 1,971 cc (120.3 cu in). In the 326 application, it was fed by twin 26 mm Solex carburetors to produce a claimed maximum output of 50 PS (37 kW) at 3750 rpm. The top speed is 115 km/h (71 mph).

The four-speed gear box was supported by freewheeling on the bottom ratios and synchromesh on the top two.

The 326 was introduced at the Berlin Motor Show in February 1936, the 326 was offered for sale from May of that year. The 326 was a success. By the time production was suspended in 1941, the Eisenach plant had produced 15,949 of them.

In 1945, Eisenach was occupied by US forces. However, the wartime allies had already agreed that Thuringia would fall within the Soviet occupation zone. The plant that BMW had originally acquired in 1929 was not fully destroyed, and it was possible for returning survivors to assemble sixteen postwar 326s. A modernised version, badged initially as the BMW 340, emerged around 1948. Despite the nomenclature, it was clear that BMW’s Eisenach plant was no longer under the control of BMW: later BMW 340s, still based on the prewar 326, were badged as EMW 340s following a protracted dispute concerning title to the BMW name. It was, perhaps, a tribute to the 326's perceived excellence, together with the skills of the workers who had struggled to revive it, that the Eisenach plant was permitted to produce the BMW design till approximately 1955, long after the Auto Union assembly facilities at nearby Zwickau had been dismantled and removed to Russia as part of the war reparations package.

The Russians were not alone in being impressed by the 326. Detailed plans of the sedan and coupé derivative models were also rescued by the British. Family connections, involving the founder of the Bristol Aeroplane Company and a Frazer-Nash director who had imported to England and adapted BMW designs in the 1930s, led to Bristol. A succession of Bristols cars introduced between 1947 and 1953 were unapologetic developments of the respected BMW design. Ten years after the war's end, Bristol’s 403 produced between 1953 and 1955 retained a BMW style front grill: under the skin the engine had been extensively upgraded, and the Bristol 403 now offered a claimed output of 100 bhp (75 kW). The engine size, at 1971 cc, was unchanged.

Source :
https://www.ebay.com/str/kriegsfotostusslamabad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_326

SS-Feldlazarett 504 Photo Album

One of the more remarkable discoveries during the last decade was the photo album of "Nurse Ida," a Norwegian nurse who served as a Red Cross volunteer in SS Field Hospital (Feldlazarett) 104/504. Her photo album, portions of which are reproduced here courtesy of the Kriegsbilder.net archive, are amazing, showing Ida and her fellow nurses at work and at leisure while serving with the corps' field hospital in Belarus, Poland and Hungary, where Gille's corps arrived at the end of December 1944. She began her service as a voluntary Red Cross Nurse on 5 August 1943 with the SS Hospital in Minsk until 28 June 1944 before being transferred to the IV SS Panzer Corps' field hospital on 8 November 1944. Shown in this selection (there are many more on the website), are some of the Waffen-SS medical personnel with whom she worked alongside. Usually, up to a dozen civilian Red Cross nurses were attached to each field hospital, with the number varying from unit to unit.  An amazing find that illustrates that there were women who also served in Gille's corps during the war.

 

The official Photo of Nurse Ida in her German Red Cross "Verwendungs" identity book.

A photo of two of her fellow nurses and two patients in the SS field hospital 504 west of Modlin, Poland.

During the rail journey from Modlin to Komorn (Komarno) in Hungary, the Red Cross nurses had to ride in unheated rail cars like most everyoneelse.

This depicts the loading of SS Feldlaz. 504, most likely carried out in Modlin during the last week of December 1944.

Another photo of SS medical personnel from SS-FeldLaz. 504.

In this photo, taken either in Modlin in December 1944 or in Hungary between January and March 1945, show a staff car of SS-Lazarett 504,, stenciled in black letters on the left front fender.

One of the hospital's medical officers eating a meal in the cab of a staff car, most likely photographed by Nurse Ida in late December 1944 in Hungary when the IV SS Panzer Corps was moved from Poland to Hungary for the relief of Budapest.



One of the SS hospital's medical personnel. The leather strap slung over his shoulder is not for a submachine gun, but for Sister Ida's camera! This was most likely taken in eastern Austria in the spring of 1945, shortly before the war's end.



The same officer, but in this photo the tactical symbol of SS-Feldlaz. 504 can be seen on the left rear passenger door.



An alpine view. This was most like taken between the end of March/April 1945 when the IV SS Pz.Korps was withdrawing into the Styrian Alps east of Graz, Austria.



Portions of the staff, including doctros, of SS-Feldlaz. 504



Sister Ida with one of her favorite doctors (unnamed) posing in the front door of their hospital somewhere in Poland or Hungary.



Additional photos of the Nurse corps of SS-Feldlaz. 504, apparently shortly after arriving in Hungary.



Some of the nurses posting with a few of their Waffen-SS patients, location unknown.



A photo of an unknown SS unit "moving up to the front" was taken near Minsk in late 1943/early 1944 before Nurse Ida was transferred to SS-Feldlaz. 504.



Another image of senior SS medical personnel loading their equipment on a train, most likely taken by Nurse Ida in the area west of Modlin where SS-Feldlaz. 504 was located.



Additional medical personnel shown here. Interestingly, the highly decorated soldier in the center, who bears no rank, wears the insignia on his right jacket collar of the infamous Dirlewanger Brigade. This photo was taken near Minsk, where Dirlewanger's unit was operating at the time, so he could be one of the unit's doctors, sharing the same medical facility as other SS units.

Source :
"From the Realm of the Dying Sun" by Douglas E. Nash., Sr.
https://www.facebook.com/Latewareasternfront/posts/121003643159742?__cft__[0]=AZULNSrDCB4QyaOtdNOprVf4eCIP_kwOqPhZlo2Efx5_RQhE_A8LBTxleKB7a3aCIobCkfDlTZdDGDaCuqsBG_QpQqB4N9x9SG1fdnhDlhB09n2KP0_qlMjI7NLtV8fd4cQjkC1zUmYOTusceK8KQfiv&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

Adolf Salie from Wiking Division

SS-Unterscharführer Adolf Salie from SS-Panzer-Nachrichten-Abteilung 5 / 5.SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking". He took some of the most dramatic photographs to survive the Cherkassy Pocket (January-February 1944).

Source :
Douglas E. Nash photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158489133169357&set=p.10158489133169357&type=3&theater

German Soldier Washes a Civilian Car Impressed into Wehrmacht Service

A German soldier in Westende, Belgium, washes a 1937 Opel Super 6 cabriolet by the coachbuilder Hebmüller, civilian car impressed into German military service. The tactical symbol for a motorized Pionier Company has been painted on the left front fender alongside a small letter "K" and above the Wehrmacht Heer prefix (WH). The right fender carries an unknown unit emblem. The car still carries the civilian license plate IZ-226285 where IZ is the prefix for the Rhine Provinz. Once officially incorporated into a German unit, the car would be assigned a military license plate. The German military and government license plate prefixes during WWII were: WH = Wehrmacht Heer (army), WM = Wehrmacht Marine (navy), WL = Wehrmacht Luftwaffe (air force), SS [runes] = Schutzstaffel, OT = Organization Todt, Pol = Polizei, DR = Deutsche Reichsbahn, and RP = Reichspost.

Source :
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=73232&p=2125953#p2125953
http://www.lonesentry.com/features/f41_german-military-car.html

SS Car Passing Russian POWs

A Kfz. 15 medium cross-country personnel carrier from the Das Reich Division move past Red Army prisoners during Operation Barbarossa, area of Smolensk in the summer of 1941. The white letter ‘G’ indicates it belongs to Panzergruppe Guderian.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/149195267632/a-kfz-15-medium-cross-country-personnel-carrier

Puppies of SS Soldier

During Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941, a Das Reich Division member makes new friends: two puppies!

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150000281492/during-operation-barbarossa-in-the-summer-of-1941

Das Reich Division On The Way to Smolensk

An advance party from the Das Reich Division en route to Smolensk pass through a Soviet village during Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941. The vehicle with the Das Reich Wolfsangel symbol and tactical sign on the front left is a Sd.Kfz.10 towing a 3.7 cm Pak 36 anti-tank gun. The division was part of Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock’s Heeresgruppe Mitte (Army Group Centre) and took part in the great encirclement battles during the first weeks of Soviet campaign.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150141395887/an-advance-party-from-the-das-reich-division-en

Totenkopf Soldiers with Civilian

The men from the Totenkopf Division giving humanitarian aid to the poor and affected people in the Baltic states, as they push towards Leningrad during Operation Barbarossa in 1941.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150930177887/the-men-from-the-totenkopf-division-giving

Gebirgs Pioneer Erecting a Bridge

A Gebirgsjäger pioneer unit are seen erecting a bridge equipment "C" across a river in Poland, 1939. Much of the wood obtained to construct these bridges were commandeered from lumber stocks and followed the advancing column into Poland.

Source :
Book "Hitler's Mountain Troops 1939-1945" by Ian Baxter

Impromptu Piano Concert in Kharkov

Three Leibstandarte troopers halt their vehicles to celebrate their entry into Kharkov with an impromptu piano concert, March 1943. They wear (from left to right) the winter insulated suit, camouflage smock, and the black panzer uniform. Note the German national flag fastened over the hood of the Kübelwagen, for ground-to-air recognition.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/145023823622/three-leibstandarte-troopers-halt-their-vehicles

Adler 3 Gd of Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 139 Towing Anti-Tank Gun

Despite the poor roads, the Germans were ready to rely on their Mittlere Kübel-Personenwagen (medium car) Kfz.12 Adler (3 Gd) "Geländewagen", a precursor to modern-day SUVs. Following up a report of the enemy in the direction of Lake Jelettijärvi, the squad from Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 139 / 3.Gebirgs-Division shown here is trying to tow a desperately needed anti-tank gun to the front near Louhi on 15 May 1942. The Finnish hinterlands were to prove a poor operating theatre for the Wehrmacht’s advanced war machinery, designed for more accessible fronts.

Source :

Book "Finland at War: The Continuation and Lapland Wars 1941-45" by Vesa Nenye, Peter Munter, Toni Wirtanen and Chris Birks

http://www.militaryimages.net/media/adler-car-of-german-gebirgsjger-regiment-139.10955/

SS Division Deutschland in Netherlands 1940

German SS soldiers of the SS-Division "Deutschland" (from 1943 onward, 2. SS-Panzer-Division "Das Reich"; previously, SS-Verfügungstruppe, or SS-VT) on motorcycles and in a Wanderer W-11 car drive down Amsterdam vaart street in Haarlem during the German invasion of the Netherlands and the beginning of the Battle of the Netherlands. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until the main Dutch forces surrendered on 15 May 1940, after the German Luftwaffe devastated the city of Rotterdam in a bombing campaign known as the Rotterdam Blitz and the subsequent threat by the Germans to begin bombing other large cities if the Dutch refused to surrender. Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch government succeeded in escaping from the Netherlands before the surrender and formed a government-in-exile in London. Haarlem, North Holland, the Netherlands. May 1940.

Source :
http://bag-of-dirt.tumblr.com/post/142034757750/german-ss-soldiers-of-the-motorized-ss-panzer

SS-Verfügungstruppe on Military Manoeuvres

Two photographs which show members of the original SS-Verfügungstruppe on military manoeuvres in Germany before the war. All wear the earth-grey clothing with the black 1918 pattern steel helmets.