Which country?

Marcus · Post by **Marcus** » 09 Jul 2002 16:38

From which country are the non-german soldiers in these photos?

Romania and Finland?

/Marcus

Geppistoly Katona · Post by **Geppistoly Katona** » 09 Jul 2002 16:43

Well i spent 2 seconds on this so forgive me if I fail, but just judging by the landscapes, and the Number of soldiers present at one time....and the scraggly look that those unruly Rumanians had..hehe JUST KIDDING...

I would have to say #1 are the Finns and #2 are Rumanians

I suppose I might be wrong cause this was just from what I remembered from so long ago....

Geppistoly Katona · Post by **Geppistoly Katona** » 09 Jul 2002 16:44

Plus that little little guy up in the front in picture #1 Has a Magyar look too him which some finns do for obvious reasons....

Antti V · Post by **Antti V** » 09 Jul 2002 17:47

First photo: looks like Finnish soldiers. They both uses caps what Finns used, smaller one is using officer´s cap.

Second photo: Not sure. Not Finns anyway.

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 09 Jul 2002 20:13

I don't know about the soldiers in the second picture (on the page, the one with number 1 above it). The uniforms don't look like Romanian ones. Those buttons on the tunics are weird.

Geppistoly Katona · Post by **Geppistoly Katona** » 09 Jul 2002 21:25

Oops, so you dont get me wrong I mixed up the numbers

i meant pic #2 are the fins when i said pic #1 before i meant the top one

When i said pic #2 for Rumanians i meant the bottom one

'Pic #2 for the Finns

Pic #1 for the Rumanians

This has to be the right ones because in pic #1 the helmuts they are wearing cant be Finnish because from what I know they didnt have Rumanian helmets, they had MOSTLY old German helmets and Hungarian helmets....

Geppistoly Katona · Post by **Geppistoly Katona** » 09 Jul 2002 21:27

Pic #1 looks like Rumanian Soldiers under the control of German officers, note the german style helmets on the look to be the Authority figures watching the foot soldiers pass...

And the few helmets the foot soldiers seem to be wearing do not look German....

Ovidius · Post by **Ovidius** » 10 Jul 2002 00:37

The soldiers in picture #2 don't look like Royal Romanian Army soldiers;

1. The guys with field caps seems to have had German M43 Feldmütze, while the typical headgear of the Romanian enlisted man was the capela(see below):

2. The man behind him has jackboots, while the Romanian enlisted weared putties(moletiere) and ankle boots(see below: Brigadier General left, Private right):

3. The Romanian enlisted tunics had covered buttons, while the officers' tunics had just 4 buttons(see above). Those who have exposed buttons have obviously far more than four(plus they can't be all of them officers or NCOs);

4. Romanian enlisted tunics had two pockets on the chest; only some of those in the picture seem to have pockets - and they have also exposed buttons.

If they are Romanians(which I doubt), they seem to have been equipped with foreign equipment(captured? the uniforms don't look German either).

What's the source of the images?

~Regards,

Ovidius

Marcus · Post by **Marcus** » 10 Jul 2002 06:39

Ovidius wrote:What's the source of the images?

It was given to me for use on the site so I don't have any info on it apart from that its from an original photo, not scanned from a book.

/Marcus

Harri · Post by **Harri** » 10 Jul 2002 07:54

Marcus, about pic #1: For sure these soldiers are not Finns.

About pic #2: For sure those two officers not in German uniforms are Finns. A finn on the left has a light grey summer tunic and officers' peakless field cap. The colours of the Finnish uniforms varied a lot. I would say that this photo was taken in Finland. Looks like German staff officers would pose with their Finnish liaison officer and his interpreter perhaps?

The background tells me that this photo could have be taken either in Salla region (XXXVI AK) or in Kiestinki region (III Fin.AK 1941 - 1942, XVIII AK 1942 - 1944). Although to me those Germans seem to be from the mountain troops (what is that sign on the officer's sleeve?). This makes the latter direction more probable because 7. Gebirgs-Division arrived in that area in the spring - summer 1942. German officer in the middle of Finns looks somehow familiar to me but I can't remember who he is.

Octavianus · Post by **Octavianus** » 10 Jul 2002 12:07

Ave amici,

Don't want to interfer much into your discussion here, but by my humble opinion the soldiers on No. 1 are POLISH SOLDIERS marching into German captivity. Note the type of cap, helmet, expression on the face, type of hair friseur, insignias (soldier behind on the right) and the shining white buttons. By my opinion, these soldiers are Poles in September 1939.

On the second photo (No.2.) the two officers are most likely Finnish ones, as Mr Harri already pinpointed out. I agree with that.

Gratia,

Octavianus

Harri · Post by **Harri** » 10 Jul 2002 12:23

I agree with Octavianus. Soldiers in pic #1 are probably Polish.

Antti V · Post by **Antti V** » 10 Jul 2002 13:33

If they are Polish POWs why are they carrying arms?
Maybe they are Polish volunteers for Germany?

Anyway, I think they are Rumanian or Bulgarian soldiers.

Reigo · Post by **Reigo** » 10 Jul 2002 13:59

Maybe Slovaks?

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 10 Jul 2002 14:05

After browsing through countless photos of Romanian soldiers during WWII I think I can say the guys in photo #1 are not Romanians. The most obvious reason for this, aside for the tunics and boots, are the helmets. The Romanian Army in WWII had only 4 types of helmets: the all known Dutch helmet, the Adrian helmet and two German helmet types (M35 and M38-the paratroopers). Judging by the helmets, these guys look like Slovaks if you would ask me.

Anyway, just like Harri said it, there's no way these soldiers are ... Romanians (arguments like "the scraggly look that those unruly Rumanians had" aren't too solid

)

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