Operation Dynamo battlefield tour by Axis and neutral military attachés in June 1940

Discussion in '1940' started by Christian Luyckx, Mar 21, 2023.

  1. Christian Luyckx

    Christian Luyckx Well-Known Member

    In the aftermath of Operation Dynamo, the surrounding battlegrounds and the evacuation beaches were visited by several Nazi and Axis dignitaries such as Rudolph Hess and count Ciano. As the opportunity was too good to pass up, the German Foreign Ministry also invited Axis and neutral military attachés.

    De Panne Belgien 1940.jpg

    The attached photo, seen on eBay, is featuring several military attachés inspecting the beach at La Panne in early June 1940. I am pretty sure the one at the far left is Colonel Hiroshi Ōshima, Japan’s military attaché in Berlin. I don’t have a clue though as to the identity of the others. Could anyone shed some light on this? I would expect the others be Italian, Spanish, Swiss, Slovak, Yugoslav or Romanian. By the looks of his uniform, the person of the far right seems to be an US Army officer.

    As I had to pamper a number of VIPs in my days, I’m also wondering how the practical issues (planning, transport, communications, security, lodging, catering...) were dealt with in such an environment of utter devastation. The guy in charge must have had a hell of a time…

    Kind Regards,
    Christian
     
  2. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Christian,

    It cannot be Colonel Oshima, he was not in Europe then!

    Well according to his Wiki entry (edited to key details):
    Link: Hiroshi Ōshima - Wikipedia

    Possibly not the US Military Attache (to Berlin) either, though he may not have been alone. Why?
    Link: https://www.lander.odessa.ua/lib2.pdf
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2023
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  3. Christian Luyckx

    Christian Luyckx Well-Known Member

    Hi David,

    Indeed - my mistake. Thank you for point this out.
    I should have done my homework before making that assumption :blush:

    Kind Regards,
    Christian
     
  4. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    Not into homework today but will take a guess.
    1st left German/Austrian foreground Swedish rear oddly looks like RAF.
    rear 2nd from right Russian ( lots of medals) right Argentine or American

    When did Stalin fall out with Hitler wasn't that 1941.

    Would they not be from neutral countries who the Germans would want to retain, intimidate or encourage as allies.
    I.e. South American. Perhaps someone would like to check on uniforms of all the countries NOT pink on a pre WW2 map of the world. A large percentage were British Empire (Pink)
    The RAF type uniform puzzles me. More the tunic than the hat.

    It seems that WE decided to get rid of clutter and threw my atlases away!
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2023
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  5. Christian Luyckx

    Christian Luyckx Well-Known Member

    Another one to fuel the fire. Also in De Panne (cfr. 'Hötel du Phare' on the seafront).
    Again, on the foreground, that same guy with the uniform I can't identify. Maybe Swedish or Swiss?
    The officer behind him, with the spectacles, seem Japanese to me.

    Frankreich 1940 Dünkirchen.jpg
     
  6. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    The man in the background is possibly the RAF type without his hat. He even seems to have a British hairstyle and polished boots.
    Edit could he possibly be Irish the South was neutral.
    The man in the foreground: the nearest that I could find on a quick google search was Swedish, Swiss wasn't the same style from what I could find.
    Argentine was very European and was very much leaning towards Germany. Brazil later came in with the Americans cant find much on Uruguay.
    Are you sure these aren't IRC representatives or would they wear Red Crosses.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2023
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  7. Christian Luyckx

    Christian Luyckx Well-Known Member

    At this time, after my initial cock-up with the identification of the Japanese officer, I'm not sure of anything anymore o_O
    The tread, however, proves to be challenging. I wonder what might pop-up next.
     
  8. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    The Germans from memory were quite adept with PR / information warfare. Wasn't there a propaganda magazine possibly called Signal. Would the Germans have filmed such a visit and released it? Crippling the BEF was a victory; though our legend is Dunkirk was our victory.
     
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  9. Christian Luyckx

    Christian Luyckx Well-Known Member

  10. Wg Cdr Luddite

    Wg Cdr Luddite Well-Known Member

    Could the 'RAF' uniform be Greek? Their Airforce uniform was very similar.
     
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  11. Christian Luyckx

    Christian Luyckx Well-Known Member

    It's a possibility to be considered. As to the 'RAF-type' hypothesis, I quite frankly doubt the Germans would let a PoW wondering around a delegation of foreign/neutral military attachés - especially without any armed guards. Another detail: all the military attachés are smartly dressed. The gentleman we're talking about looks casually dressed and has no headgear.

    Two other possibilities:
    1) The Belgian Aéronautique Militaire uniform was also had a resemblance to that of the RAF
    2) A lot of Dutch troops were also marooned in the neighborhood
     
  12. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    The "RAF - type" is wearing a hat in the photo on #1
     
  13. Christian Luyckx

    Christian Luyckx Well-Known Member

    You may be right, but I'm not certain if those are one and the same.

    Anyway, I tried to enhance the photos to find details that might shed a light as to the identity of these gentlemen, but this attempt left me none the wiser.

    I also consulted a series of books on ww2 uniforms and came up with an option I hadn't initially considered. It seems to me that the officer on the left of photo #2 might very well be Finnish.
     
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  14. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    Oddly enough I did the same at the start of the thread and came to the same conclusion.
    I thought that you might be the expert in this so kept quiet!

    I must be getting old, avoiding confrontation.
     
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  15. Christian Luyckx

    Christian Luyckx Well-Known Member

    It would seem this gentleman also did the axis Dunkirk battlefield tour.
    Unfortunately, I was unable to identify him. I am not even sure he is military. Perhaps someone related to the CD?

    [​IMG]
     
  16. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    First impression a Japanese diplomat (badge on his right breast) but the hat is American style for the period.
    As America was then neutral could he be Philippine.
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2024
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  17. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    I doubt he is a Philippine national. That is quite a line of decorations, although some armies do issue them rather freely today. The Philippine Armed Forces were only formed in 1935, so he would have had to have served in the US military beforehand. Somehow I doubt the US Army for example recruited locally. Given the level of interaction between the civil and military spheres in Japan he could be a seconded army officer to a diplomatic role. Are there any photos of the Japanese Embassy staff in Berlin? Just a few comments and thoughts.
     
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  18. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

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  19. Christian Luyckx

    Christian Luyckx Well-Known Member

    Quite a nice little brainteaser, isn't it?
    I tried to follow the same logic when I tried to identify this person and - of course - first thought it was Ōshima.
    Apart form the fact that It couldn't have been him, he also doesn't even resembles Ōshima.
    Even so, he must have been an important character.
     
  20. Pat Atkins

    Pat Atkins Well-Known Member

    I agree he's probably not from the Philippines; however, just for the record, the US had Filipino Scouts in WW1 (and, presumably, before and after). So technically I guess a Filipino could have amassed a fair number of medals by 1940. Personally I'm pretty lost - I did find this picture of "Japanese leaders" on a US warship, with the guy at the back sporting a fairly similar outfit.
    upload_2024-1-22_16-24-29.png
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2024
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