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

Luftwaffe Prisoners Taken in a Jeep

 Two German Luftwaffe Unteroffizieren (Corporals) are photographed on the hood of an American-made Willys MB jeep after being taken as POWs by Dutch soldiers of the Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade (Prinses Irene Brigade) in neighboring Belgium. Near Beringen, Limburg, Belgium. September 1944.

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http://bag-of-dirt.tumblr.com/post/131443691765/two-german-luftwaffe-unteroffizieren-corporals

Member of a Flemish SS Unit at Fort Breendonk Prison Camp

Portrait of a member of a Flemish Schutzstaffel (SS) unit who served as a prison guard at Fort Breendonk prison camp, now interred at the same camp following its liberation by Allied forces. Shortly after the Belgians surrendered to the Germans, the Germans transformed Fort Breendonk into a prison camp. On 20 September 1940 the first prisoners arrived. Initially, the prisoners were petty criminals, people deemed anti-social, or violators of the new race laws. Later on, resistance fighters, political prisoners and innocent hostages were detained as well. Another section of the camp was used as a transit camp for Jews being sent to death camps in the east such as Auschwitz. After the camp’s liberation by the British in late 1944, it was briefly used as an internment camp for Belgian collaborators with the Nazi occupiers. This period of Breendonk’s existence is known as “Breendonk II”. The internees were later moved to Dossin Barracks in Mechelen on 10 October 1944. Fort Breendonk, Breendonk, Province of Antwerp, Belgium. September 1944. Image taken by George Rodger.  

Source :
http://bag-of-dirt.tumblr.com/post/133033064175/portrait-of-a-member-of-a-flemish

German Prisoner and US Soldier at the Battle of the Bulge

A U.S. Army soldier takes a German soldier as a POW during the Battle of the Bulge; a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg. The surprise attack by the Germans caught the Allied forces completely off guard. The U.S. forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties for any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany’s armored forces on the western front, rendering Germany largely unable to replace them as the Soviets launched an offensive days earlier in the East. Near Bastogne, Luxembourg Province, Belgium. 23-26 December 1944. Image taken by Robert Capa.

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