Could it be true?

[artu44]

They are selling this pic on german ebay and seller says the guy is a GI wearing a complete camo nazi dress. I really wonder why and if it's possible. Maybe are those GI gloves or simply he got a GI face?

[sgtbrown]

You might want to check the seller's feedback to look at what he/she has been buying and selling. Is the seller a militaria dealer or just someone who has a photo to sell and is simply guessing or making things up?

 

Tom

[srossio]

If he is a "GI" he could be dressed in the uniform for a variety of reasons other than "combat." I have seen photographs of GI's who "dressed up" in German uniforms not for the purpose of wearing them in combat but to show off captured items. In one case, a GI told me that he and several friends dressed up in German uniforms (while behind the lines) and marched around this French village mocking the german military. When I asked him why...he said it was to give the guys watching the show a chance to "laugh" as they hadn't had much to laugh about for a while. He also told me it came to an abrupt end when a Lt. from another unit rode in to the village saw these fake Germans and demanded to know why they were not under guard. Once everything was cleared up he and his band of Germans were advised to not do that again.

 

I also have a photograph in my personal collection of two GI's dressed in full german uniforms (top to bottom). They were part of the training for GI's in "enemy recognition."

[artu44]

I'm no more able to find this ad again but in effect the face and the stance of this guy dont recall the vicious waffenss.

[Steve B.]

Here's a photo of two GIs dressed in real German uniforms as part of an enemy equipment display for the US 3rd Armored Division in Sutton Veny, England before D-Day:



The "German" in the first photo is not Waffen-SS. The camouflage garment is the standard Wehrmacht splinter pattern shelter quarter/rain poncho, and he appears to have a camouflage net on his helmet which wasn't used much by the Waffen-SS.

Steve

[sgtbarnes44]

That guy also has a Lutwaffe belt buckle...

[J_Andrews]

In the last months of thewar, it was common for German-speaking American GIs to put on German uniform and insert themselves into POW cages. This was done for both the generalized purposes of heading off any prisoner uprisings and picking up useful info, and, especially in Apr-Jun, to get info on the "Werewolf" plans and operations. The latter saw the OSS heavily involved. I knew three from the 82nd who did this, one of them from Normandy on, ending up in Berlin -- where the prisoners elected him their delegate to the camp commandant. The same three men made a "career" of transporting Soviet defectors through Soviet lines by dressing them as German officers, wanted as war criminals. For this they dressed as US and British field grade officers.

 

BTW there was no shiortage of German-speaking GIs and they were numerous in intelligence sections (S-2 to G-2), plus in CIC Detachments, as well as many non-intel peronnel of German ancestry.

[everforward]

That guy also has a Lutwaffe belt buckle...

 

That's what I was gonna say too......Could be a soldier from the Hermann Goering Divison, perhaps...? I don't see a cuff title, though....

[siege1863]

There is no magazine in the MG and the magazine pouches also appear to be empty. Hardly one who is prepared for combat! Looks like a GI posing for a buddy.

[gwb123]

There is a lot that is out of sorts with the way this soldier is wearing this equipment and uniform. Look at the way the ammo pouches are hanging.

 

I agree.. I think this is a buddy shot... or one for the folks back home! "Dear Mom, this is what the Germans look like....."