Photographs of the captured enemy is traditional and usually utilised for propaganda to reflect the inferior quality of the enemy and his humiliation. Remember the scrutiny of the Germans of the captured BEF at Dunkirk..the point raised that the British were not as healthy as the Germans in dental care....bad teeth and large numbers of young British soldiers wearing dentures. The other propaganda approach by the German Propaganda Ministry was to portray French colonial troops as savages and uncivilised which has been asserted many times before, the reasons that these prisoners were not afforded,at the point of capture,the protection of Geneva Convention. While all military units of all sides had official photographers and newsreel personnel attached to them,the Germans seemed to have a high structured network of photographic and newsreel personnel attached to their front line units...all controlled by the Goebbels's Propaganda Ministry. From this,there has been a huge collection of images available to the historian, covering the span of the The Third Reich...all provoking intense interest.
The chap on the right is certainly wearing a gas brassard. I'd be inclined to think that the helmet shows signs of a unit marking being removed or overpainted (in accordance with instructions early in 1940). It is unfortunately almost impossible to identify the majority of BEF troops from their uniforms.
The first Italian POW,''marching'' at the central streets of Athens,guarding by Greek police. November 1940.
Italian POW,under British guard arrive by train. The photographs were taken at the Wadi Sarer train station in December 1940.
The insignia relates to 51st (Highland) Division....There is a short thick line under, which is therefore probably the brown marking of 7th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders (154 Brigade) . If it were red, it would be 4th Seaforths of 152 Brigade but I believe that they had a longer stripe under the cross.
From http://www.wwiireenacting.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=53181&p=666269 Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 6:48 am "What I heard as to badges within the original HD division 1939-1940 is that each Brigade had a different coloured St Andrew's cross, similar to the Great War practice. These are supposedly worn on both arms. No written sources found to confirm this, but could well be that red for senior, green for intermediate and brown for junior brigade. The battalions may have worn slip on tabs over the epaulettes, with eg BW fro Black Watch." Later advice to re-enactors on the same thread advised that they don't put up any insignia as the norm was to go 'slick-sleeved' in the BEF period, but the general consensus semed to be that there was very little solid evidence to go on.
I believe that the French 'Militaria' magazine has recently covered these markings. Certainly the photographs that we've seen over the last few years have confirmed their existence. Does your man actually have two stripes under the saltire ? If so, that alters things, of course but the 51st Division identification still holds.
Rich - I'm doing some research into the Indian Contingent/K6 in Europe in WW2. Do you know any more about these three photos? Do you know where they came from and who has them now? I'd be very grateful for any info you might have
Sorry, the negatives were on eBay back at that time. Nor really my specialist area and I try to be selective with my purchases, so I just did my best to preserve them for posterity by posting them here. It's nigh-on impossible to trace ebay buyers with their security as it now is. I used to contact successful buyers quite a lot. It's quite hilly and doesn't look like even the area south of the Somme to me. Did any Indian units go in the bag on the Saar front ?
Several, if not all Force K6 Companies were allocated to BEF Divisions. One company for example was attached to 3 Division. This was the Company that Paddy Ashdown's father was a officer in and another was attached to the 51st Division. I suspect that any PoW photo's of BEF Indian soldiers are most likely to be those attached to 51 Div.
Didn't some of 51st Division's 2nd line units head south to Switzerland ? Were some of the mule handlers captured ? Capture looks recent as he still has his belt and O/Rs usually lost their equipment straight away.
Yeah, well remembered-I tried to find out who they were but seem to recall other than them being 51 Div and around 600 IIRC I never got anywhere with it.
