Any pictures of GI's wearing German gear

[Blake_E]

Found it The pictured was named a 69th soldier

 

[sgtdorango]

Heres a GI making good use of a German helmet!....mike

[Blake_E]

Hehe that's a cool photo, another i found

P38 and an mp40 i think. I know, more souvenier than gear, but i suppose i'd rather add it, than nothing

[gunbarrel]

Souvenirs!? I'll show you souvenirs! :packin heat:

 

[gunbarrel]

[Gregory]

Operation Varsity and glider pilot equipped with MP-40 magazine pouch.

[MFortney]

A picture of my Grandfather wearing a Browning 1922. He was a fairly small build so I'm guessing he liked a smaller weapon.

 

[gwb123]

Here is a pic of a GI with a German canteen.

 

 

 

This photo always makes me think of the song "Walk this Way!".

[gunbarrel]

This photo always makes me think of the song "Walk this Way!".

 

Too funny!

[Johan Willaert]

Most pictures show GIs with German gear and/or weapons....

 

Here's a GI wearing a German camo parka....

 

[OD MAN]

Great pictures, way better than I expected to see. :thumbsup:

[Gregory]

Wearing Fritz helmet could be deadly dangerous...

[Blake_E]

Another slightly skewing off the case subject, but i just found it today and interesting enough to post

Take your pick lol. Look at all those lugers!

[Gregory]

This German gadget was liked very much by all Allies both from West and East.

[carbinekid]

Here is a picture I found at local sale.

 

 

Kyle

[Plankowner]

Here is a picture I got off the Life Magazine site that was taken near Lemgo, Gremany showing two GI's armed with Panzerfausts. Staged picture............???.

[boyt44]

My Dad happened to be in the hospital in england (he was 8th AAF) when many wounded from the battle of the Bulge started arriving. He noticed that they all had German razors and blades for shaving-they told him they were much superior to the blue steel ones they normally had to use.

[Gregory]

Captured P-38 captures the Germans.

[capa]

This German gadget was liked very much by all Allies both from West and East.

 

There are a few photos of GIs with "goatee" or Van Dyke mustaches and beards. I had not seen this one before-very cool. It looks like he has been growing it for a while, too.

[Gregory]

I apologize for little off-topic.

 

In the battlefield circumstances van Dyck goatees were tolerated by the US Army. Below you have a view from Normandy.

[jgawne]

Keep in mind that most photos are taken for a reason. In most of the cases shown it seems to me the photos was taken BECAUSE the guy was holding something odd, in which case if it was a normal sight to see no one would bother photographing it.

 

Having worn both German and GI gear over long periods of time I have no idea why anyone would want to wear German stuff... however from many vets I have been told that it was a fairly common thing to shoot prisoners caught with captured items. And officers/NCO's used to caution men about carrying stuff like that as it could mean a shot to the back of the head. This is why a lot of those photos with guys carrying captured stuff are rear echelon ones.

 

However a few vets told me that one exception was a pistol which was looked upon by some differently- more as a tool and not so much a personal item.

[J_Andrews]

Re Panzerfausts: the 504th PIR (at least) of the 82nd Airborne captured a great number in Holland, then took them along to the French restcamps, then trucked up to The Bulge for widespread, active use. The book More Than Courage by Nordyke has several mentions of the 504 commonly using Panzerfausts, as late as Feb 1945, while piercing the Siegfried Line. They were used, one shot after another, against pillboxes and bunkers.

 

The GI in the pcture having a van Dyke beard and carrying an M.P. 44 is IIRC from a Tank Destroyer unit. This is consistent with a story of an old boss of mine. He was an NCO in TD Bns. He said that the TDs "adopted" M.P.44's and M.G. 42's at every opprtunity and carried them in the turrets. The turrets were open-topped, so the crewmen could just poke whatever weapon over the sides and spray in any and all directions as needed.

 

They liked to use the captured weapons for this because the M-10 and M-18 MGC's RESEMBLED German vehicles

(at least more than a Sherman did), especially in poor visibility and when loaded with sandbags, logs, pine boughs and baggage. If, in nosing forward, they elicited enemy fire, they would back out and hose the area the fire was emanating from with the guns that "spoke with a German accent", hoping to get the shooters to take pause (and not shoot AT weapons their way). My ex-boss was himself of German ancestry and would scream "Nicht schiessen, schweinhunden! Wir sind Deutscher!". They would also toss one or two WP or HC grenades out to mask their hasty withdrawal.

[Pluto]

Re Panzerfausts: the 504th PIR (at least) of the 82nd Airborne captured a great number in Holland, then took them along to the French restcamps, then trucked up to The Bulge for widespread, active use. The book More Than Courage by Nordyke has several mentions of the 504 commonly using Panzerfausts, as late as Feb 1945, while piercing the Siegfried Line. They were used, one shot after another, against pillboxes and bunkers.

 

The GI in the pcture having a van Dyke beard and carrying an M.P. 44 is IIRC from a Tank Destroyer unit. This is consistent with a story of an old boss of mine. He was an NCO in TD Bns. He said that the TDs "adopted" M.P.44's and M.G. 42's at every opprtunity and carried them in the turrets. The turrets were open-topped, so the crewmen could just poke whatever weapon over the sides and spray in any and all directions as needed.

 

They liked to use the captured weapons for this because the M-10 and M-18 MGC's RESEMBLED German vehicles

(at least more than a Sherman did), especially in poor visibility and when loaded with sandbags, logs, pine boughs and baggage. If, in nosing forward, they elicited enemy fire, they would back out and hose the area the fire was emanating from with the guns that "spoke with a German accent", hoping to get the shooters to take pause (and not shoot AT weapons their way). My ex-boss was himself of German ancestry and would scream "Nicht schiessen, schweinhunden! Wir sind Deutscher!". They would also toss one or two WP or HC grenades out to mask their hasty withdrawal.

 

 

Hello,

for your interest I attach an original 1944/45 press photo of, by contrast, a German soldier wearing US gear - This unfortunate soldier would have been one of Skorzeny's men who, fluent in English and dressed in US uniform, would have operated behind US lines during the Ardennes offensive. He is wearing HBT trousers and M-41 jacket, yet retains his aluminum German dog-tag. I don't wish to cause offense with this image, consequently it has been cropped accordingly.

[earlymb]

They liked to use the captured weapons for this because the M-10 and M-18 MGC's RESEMBLED German vehicles

(at least more than a Sherman did), especially in poor visibility and when loaded with sandbags, logs, pine boughs and baggage. If, in nosing forward, they elicited enemy fire, they would back out and hose the area the fire was emanating from with the guns that "spoke with a German accent", hoping to get the shooters to take pause (and not shoot AT weapons their way). My ex-boss was himself of German ancestry and would scream "Nicht schiessen, schweinhunden! Wir sind Deutscher!". They would also toss one or two WP or HC grenades out to mask their hasty withdrawal.

For this same reason Skorzeny's unit used some Panther tanks masked up as US M10s in their Ardennes operation:

 

 

 

 

 

Greetz

 

David

[gunbarrel]