I am looking for a good digital file of attached photo. Attachment has been copied from a book in which it is shown over 2 pages, so quality is not that great. Although not showing up when searching the IWM files, apparently this is IWM photo B6186. Confirmation of this being correct or not and about the photographer (would like to be sure if this is an AFPU photographer) would also be of help.
Number is correct and I have 'Nr Etterville Lcpl Ellis and Driver Girling June 29th'. One of a couple of pics of 8 RB aroung June 29
Thanks! Given their names they are F Company men, the one one the right being Ellis (being Riflemen they had their rank stripes only on their right arm). And also very interesting to learn the PIAT photo is also of Riflemen (I have looked up the caption to it and they are also F Company men). Didn't know that! Do you also have the number for the lower photo. I am not aware I ever consciously saw it and certainly didn't know he was Rifle Brigade and would like to look up also the caption to that picture. If you are interested I also have the names of three F Company men in the top right photo (these are not shown in the IWM caption but I have them on the back of an original press photo).
The 2 photos are probably from a Heimdal book so would need to go through a few but the gist is SS 'Flak' POWs which would mean crews for the 12 x 8.8cm Flak guns in a Pz/Pz Grenadier Division.
Found my source book. Heimdal's La Bataille De L'Odon Amazon.fr - La bataille de l'Odon - George Bernage, Stephane Cazenave - Livres But the captions add nothing to the two pics you are interested in. The book also names the men in all the other IWM photos. There are a couple of grainy German photos of men captured on Hill 112 including 2 described as Officers if you are interested.
Certainly interested... and interested in the book itself. Although my french is a little poor I think I will manage and I have just ordered a copy. Many thanks for all the great information!
A recently uploaded IWM Film features glimpses of 8 RB at 00m:47s MEN AND VEHICLES MOVE UP TO 8TH CORPS' FRONT IN THE ODON VALLEY (PART 2) [Allocated Title] and possibly them here as well at 2m:20s MEN AND VEHICLES MOVE UP TO 8TH CORPS' FRONT IN THE ODON VALLEY (PART 1) [Allocated Title]
Michael, The pictures of the British POW’s seems a bit odd as I couldn’t find any missing 8 RB officers for this period. I don’t suppose they are mid-captioned from Villers Bocage? Regards Tom
I suppose you refer to the photos above? Looking at the "pips" they are not 8RB. 8RB officers had black on dark green rank insignia, there are whitish. Kind regards, Ronald.
I checked the Villers negatives. There are 7 photos of bodies in the ditch at VB and all were taken later than the 'action' pics. The German soldiers present are the ones messing around with the Firefly either the same day of next and there are also 'body' pics for the series of the Luftwaffe men on the Firefly. There are no soldiers in combat mode or in camo. It means the Villers dead were left lying for at least a day if not longer. There is another PK pic (which I think says it is one of 3) of the bodies being removed but again not combat soldiers. The Villers area does not have the 'bushes' seen in the ones posted here.
Why are you thinking of VB? As you say yourself in post #8 the photos come from Heimdal's La Bataille De L'Odon, which is about Epsom and Hill 112. As mentioned by me above, given the colour of the pips on their shoulders, these officers are certainly not Rifle Brigade. As you can see in attached photos their pips were very dark in colour.
I am replying to a comment in post number 12. I don't think they are the same but I can understand why the 2 sets of photos could be confused. They look similar.
It is all getting a bit confusing. In post #14 and #16 I was referring to the photos in post #10, the only post in which photos of British POWs are shown, so I suppose post #12 from Tom is also referring to those photos and those POWs. All photos in #10 come from pages 164 and 165 of Heimdal's La Bataille De L'Odon, where the officers are mistakenly captioned as being of 8th Rifle Brigade. With my reply (post #16) I just wanted to make clear they clearly are not Rifle Brigade officers, so any discussion about these officers being 8RB on Hill 112 or 1RB at Villers-Bocage doesn't make much sense... To come back to the title of this topic: always interested in any material showing the 8th Rifle Brigade, on or near Hill 112 or anywhere else in Europe!
Hi Michael and 8RB, Sorry if I led thread off topic, I was just confirming (as I think we have done) that the German photos of British dead and POW in post #10 were not of 8 RB. Regards Tom
Hello Tom, No worries. My remark about the topic was not meant to be taken too serious. And besides that: nice to have a discussion about these details! Cheers, Ronald.