Greets all ! anyone can tell me where and year of this interesting pic showing Fallschirm AT members on the hunt ?
My guess would be Normandy 1944 based on the terrain and I can think of actual battles where the FJ's were fighting American Shermans. I think I see an "A" type electrical power pole in the distance. It seems distinctive, like the Belgian concrete power poles in the Ardennes.
This is purely guesswork - that is an interesting photo which I haven't seen before - but I agree with Earthican. The terrain ( and indeed the telegraph pole ; also is that some kind of orchard to the right ? ) looks like France. If so, the foliage on the trees would indicate late Summer. But it would be nice if someone could positively ID the photo.............
It has popped up on a few forums and I believe (rather my Google reverse image search says) it first came from a Flicker account. It illustrates the problems involved when the 'original' (1st) poster neglects to mention where/how/when/where he got it. It seems most people are more concerned with racking up huge numbers of nice tank photos rather than connecting images to events. A pet hate of mine that causes the wheel to be reinvented time and time again. That said it screams Normandy. It appears to be a BA photo.
If you look at the upper right hand corner you can see some roofs that are very steep, which suggests Germany or somewhere else in northern Europe (heavy snow) to me. So, to confuse matters further - perhaps the Siegfried Line battles in September, or somewhere deeper in Germany or Austria in late April or early May, 45? I've never been to Normandy, but I wouldn't expect to see such architecture there. Perhaps some of our European members could comment on this? View attachment 18383
Those appear to be marks or writing over the photo. The 'writing' extends over the barrel where it meets the turret.
interesting observations my first thought upon seeing this pic was indeed the Normandy fields.....my eyes are not good at the moment but do I assume there is another knocked out Sherman in the left background and US troops surrounding it or not ? what seems to be the case next to the telephone pole on the left - destroyed wooden building or ?
Now I have to ask, is this pic taken by a war photographer or is it a posed shot by propaganda people?
If you consider the perspective of the photographer (in full view of the next Sherman), while the "stalkers" are just peeking at it, then it's clear that it's a staged photo.
It certainly has the 'feel' of a staged photo, rather like the famous photo of the US 2-man bazooka team in the Ardennes ( who are in fact facing away from the direction of the German advance )
I seem to have seen this photo over the years. I taught design and history of architecture for most of my adult life and have , luckily, gotten to travel over much of Europe. Most rural architecture in Europe during WW2 was what we call vernacular. That is built to local conditions. So climate, materials, customs local techniques lead to a kind of honest architecture. The reason many like to visit such areas. My eyes are pretty poor now but I believe I see a church in the far upper right, Churches were the town's pride, the football stadiums of that day. Chartre was very proud of it's Cathedral as was Rheins, Rouen, Amiens, etc. Much truth in the "Built to the glory of God and ta;;er was better. The spires held bells that could be heard at great distance. It you drive through Lorraine you see many Gothic era churches with modern spires as many were used as observation or sniper positions and thus were targets of many a tanker or field gun. Lesson, churches are pretty steep everywhere. Vernacular houses are different. Indeed the further you go North the steeper the roof in general but no always true. Frugal French farmers ( Could not miss a chance to be alliterative !, should say frugal European ), often built steep pitched roofs to house their families, store goods, under that roof. You see relative steep roofs with dormers and more recently added skylights. The photo could well be in Normandy or Belgium. The Swiss often build fairly low pitch roofs, well constructed, to hold snow for insulation but the Northern Swiss do favor higher pitches. but in the Mediterranean you see relatively low roofs. . One can go to Google Earth and zero in on Normandy, bocage country, etc and click on the numerous photographs that viewers post there and get good ideas what rural areas look like. . The modern world has definitely intruded but not everywhere. pre-engineered buildings are all over but second level roads offer great insight into what the world looked like in the early 40's . Google Earth photo searches as well as Flickr are great ways to study the conditions , both terrain, vegetation and buildings that were host to battles. All this is not for that particular picture, as interesting as it is, but as a means to gain insight into battle conditions in many areas
I thought the same thing. Also, if I were trying to ambush a sherman I'd be off to the side of the road, under cover and camoflaged up. If you fire one up the ones behind him tend to get a little testy.
Sorry for ressurecting an old thread but to add somewhat to this thread it is part of a series of staged photos and is in Normandy. The tank is an 11AD (UK) M4A4 so is probably in the north eastern shoulders of the Normandy battles. There is an other well known shot of the same FJ in front of a toppled Vc Firefly. Cheers Al
