Photo Quest

[Brady]

Does anyone have, or have a link to a high res, as high as posable, of the original B&W photo, of this colorized picture ? :

[Maxschnauzer]

Hi Brady,
Probably not the original, not very high res, but the only B&W version I have.

[Brady]

TY Max, It’s really a great photo, at some point in the past I seem to recall having found a decent quality black-and-white photo, but somewhere along the line I seem to have lost it

[Maxschnauzer]

Here's a great one, unfortunately watermarked:

You can purchase a clean copy here but it's expensive.https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-arriv ... 95156.html

[Brady]

Thank you very much for that link, that’s exactly what I was looking for

[Maxschnauzer]

Hi Brady,
That's great! Happy to be of help.

[Brady]

Apart from the obvious, does anyone know anything about this picture, like the Unit, date, exc... Does the License plate tell anything about the truck, apart from it having been in Egypt at some point (I think).

[Poot]

I'm thinking that's Crete, with FJ soldiers in a captured British truck.

Pat

[Brady]

Yes, that’s the obvious part

[Poot]

Good. Google is your friend, then. Just look up that event and you'll find the relative date and unit deployed for the invasion.

[Brady]

Well, I was going for something more specific than that, there was an off a lot of units deployed for the invasion, I’ve seen the picture around before so I’m thinking that somebody has a book that’s got a caption or something in it that has more details I love the picture I’ve often wondered what specific unit it was In the picture and if there is a backstory on where they captured the truck.

We know the trucks towing a PAK 36, and that could help to narrow it down somewhat.

And there are 3 MP 40’s in in the truck which suggests that there is more than one section on board, or what’s left of a couple of sections.

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello, Brady

There's a caption with date in the very source of your photo:

Arrival of the paratroopers in Heraklion in Crete with captured British vehicles, 29.05.1941.

Your source also states that the initial source of the image is the SZ Photo (Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo).

And if you visit the initial source, you'll also find the original PK caption:

Heraklion nach hartem Kampf in deutscher Hand. 9 Tage​ lang durch die Ju's mit Munition und Lebensmittel versorgt. In der Frühe des 29. Mai (1941) wird durch Spähtrupps festgestellt, dass der Engländer i​n aller Stille den Flugplatz und auch die Stadt geräumt hat. Sofort rücken unsere Fallschirmjäger ein, wobei erbeutete feindliche Fahrzeuge gute Diens​te leisten.

You'll also find some additional images from the same photo session there.

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The Knight's Cross holder seen in the last image on the left should help you identify the unit: it's Major Karl-Lothar Schulz of the III Battalion, 1st Parachute Regiment, 7th Air Division.

Google "Heraklion 1941" for more info on the battle and the units involved. For more images, type the same thing in the SZ Photo search box.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Brady]

F’en A TY!

[Ivan Ž.]

And in this photo from the same series, in the upper right corner, you can see the commander of the battlegroup that captured the city - Colonel Bruno Bräuer of the 1st Parachute Regiment, 7th Air Division.

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Original PK caption:

Heraklion nach hartem Kampf in deutscher Hand. 9 Tage lang durch die Ju's mit Munition und Lebensmittel versorgt. Der K​ommandeur der bei Heraklion eingesetzten Kampfgruppe (Oberst Bräuer - mit Schirmmütze) mit Offizieren seines Stabes nach dem erfolgreichen Kampf um di​e Stadt. Die harten Anstrengungen der letzten Tage sind den Kämpfern noch deutlich vom Gesicht abzulesen.

Note: the part in the brackets, "Oberst Bräuer - mit Schirmmütze", was added by an archivist, it's not part of the original PK caption.

According to V. Kühn, Deutsche Fallschirmjäger im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Stuttgart, 1974, p. 135, Colonel Bräuer's battlegroup consisted of his own regiment (1st Parachute), II Battalion of the 2nd Parachute Regiment, 1st Company of the AA MG Battalion and the 2nd Company of the Medical Battalion. So, those are the subunits of the 7th Air Division to which the pictured troops may have belonged.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Brady]

So these are from a completely different photo archive than BA ?