What's happening in this photo?

[jmark]

In most units, this would just be one of the guys mucking around on a Bactrian camel, but this man is a Brandenburger... perhaps a top secret recon patrol to Astrakhan!!!

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[jmark]

The company commander, a Hauptmann (whose surname I cannot decipher), talks with a Feldwebel (who is soon promoted to Leutnant).

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[jmark]

A company motorcycle...

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[jmark]

Getting ready for action. The Feldwebel - now a Leutnant - dons his Russian uniform. If I'm not mistaken, that's a Russian forage cap sitting atop the side mirror.

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[jmark]

OK, that's all for now. Any comments are welcome. I'll post some more tomorrow.

All the best,
Jason

[Todd Gylsen]

Excellent and rare photos! Thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

[R MICHAEL]

well I must say Jason, what extraordinary photos. I have to admit I was puzzled by the german boots and the fact of allowing even Hiwis next to weapons. I could tell they were Russian uniforms but beyond that I was clueless. I didn't even know the german army conducted this type of warfare outside of the movies

Mike

[F L Clemens]

Nice find. That unit symbol is shown on the bright green cover of a history of the Brandenburg units. I have the book but don't remember the author at the moment.

[Bill Murray]

Hi Jason:

Excellent photos, indeed.

Regarding the trucks, of the three clear photos on page one of this thread, they are as follows.

1. Ford V8-51, 1935-1938. One of the not so common open cab versions.
2. Ford V8 G198, 1941-1945. Standard type.
3. Ford V8 1941. I am not sure if this is an umbau (modified) German vehicle or a captured British or Australian/South African vehicle. I would suspect the latter as the Commonwealth had tons of such trucks in North Africa if this is where the photo was taken. Judging by the Camel MKIV in an earlier pic, I suspect this is the locale.
Bill

[jmark]

Thanks for all the positive comments guys. As you can imagine, I was quite pleased to add this fantastic album to my collection... and at a very reasonable price, no less! I knew there was a Brandenburger company deployed south of Stalingrad (it was attached to 24. Panzer-Division for about 3 weeks) but never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever own an album about them!

1. Ford V8-51, 1935-1938. One of the not so common open cab versions.
2. Ford V8 G198, 1941-1945. Standard type.
3. Ford V8 1941. I am not sure if this is an umbau (modified) German vehicle or a captured British or Australian/South African vehicle. I would suspect the latter as the Commonwealth had tons of such trucks in North Africa if this is where the photo was taken. Judging by the Camel MKIV in an earlier pic, I suspect this is the locale.
Bill

I really appreciate your identification of these trucks, Bill. I was going to call on you for help. There's a few more photos coming that I'd like your opinion on.

Don't let the camel fool you. All photos shown here were taken in the Kalmuck steppe (southern Russia), south of the bend in the Volga at Stalingrad.

Jason

[jmark]

Here's some more photos of the unit. What types of trucks are these? (Bill )

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[jmark]

Here's some more photos of the unit. What types of trucks are these?

And what is being towed? Is that an anti-tank gun?

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[jmark]

Deeper into the Kalmuck steppe...

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[jmark]

This one's got me baffled as to what could have happened. It's captioned "Nach dem Nachtgefecht" (After the night battle). There's loads of dead horses, cows and men (at least 30, that I can see) gathered around a large mass grave being dug by Russian POWS (or undercover Brandenburgers... just being facetious!). What type of night battle involved cows?! I think the bodies are Russian soldiers but I'm not sure. Anyone?

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[jmark]

... and a close-up of the previous photo.

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