Unknown Group - possibly Serbian

[Mil-Archive]

Hello

I am wondering if anyone can shed any light on this picture ?

Whereabouts it was likely taken and who the unit are ?

The seller labelled it as possibly Serbian.

At first I thought Czech auxilliary or something along those lines but not sure.

The vegetation seems from a warmer climate but the clothes on the civilians appear european.

Other photos from the group the seller was trading included a Kossack /Chetnick with Orpo and an anti-partisan unit with Fez.



The right hand side of the helmet has an insignia, also left shoulder patch :



The helmet itself looks a bit Czech and similar to ones Police Auxilliaries would wear.



Thanks for checking.

[byterock]

Slovakia maybe but the men lack putties. Not Hungarian that is for sure.

Looks like a round up of you know who.

The 2nd div was a security division in 41 in the Ukraine and there was one Slovak unit that followed the Germans into the Caucasus Region.

Would be a very rare photo if this is a Slovak unit involved in a Einsatz operation.

[Mil-Archive]

Slovakia maybe but the men lack putties. Not Hungarian that is for sure.

Looks like a round up of you know who.

The 2nd div was a security division in 41 in the Ukraine and there was one Slovak unit that followed the Germans into the Caucasus Region.

Would be a very rare photo if this is a Slovak unit involved in a Einsatz operation.

Thanks for the information. I agree the helmets do bear similarities to Slovak design. I might try over in Axis Hisory to see if anyon there can clarify. Thanks again !

[byterock]

Had a quick look at some books I have and there where Slovak units involved in Einsatz operations in the Odessa area and like a said this might be one of the only photos of those events that have surfaced.

Have you acquired this photo?

Is there anything on the back or accompanying photos in the grouping?

I would like to pass this along to some academic friends of mine and see what they have to say.

[Mil-Archive]

Had a quick look at some books I have and there where Slovak units involved in Einsatz operations in the Odessa area and like a said this might be one of the only photos of those events that have surfaced.

Have you acquired this photo?

Is there anything on the back or accompanying photos in the grouping?

I would like to pass this along to some academic friends of mine and see what they have to say.

Hello Byterock,

Thanks for your reply. Yes I acquired the picture. It came with 2 other pictures but I am not 100% convinced that the 3x pictures are directly connected. It's possible but I am not sure. All 3x pictures are 6x9 Agfa marked (Agfa brovira and Agfa Lupex). There is no writing on the backs on any.

The other 2 pictures in this group were ;
a)
1x Chetnik with 4x ordnungspolizei unknown location. Stick grenade through bullet belts on the Chetnik, Fur cap badged but difficult to read etc.
b)
13 x man Anti-Partisan patrol of Orpo including one member wearing a fez (no badge on Fez), rifles and heavy machine guns etc

I have posted the picture on Axis History after here

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=213256

and the verdict was that it was possibly Croat Home army. On closer inspection it does appear like a Croat Shield at an angle on the helmet in the clearest part of the picture (on the nearest person with their back to the camera).

I also think this image possibly shows a warcrime in progress.

If it is Croat Home Army then it's possible the civilians are Serbs who were massively ethnically cleansed by Ustasha and Croat army.

I have been going through 'Foreign legions of the Third reich vol 3' and also 'Axis Forces in Yugoslavia 1941-45 [Osprey men At Arms Series]' but can not find exact matches uniform wise. The Czech style helmet with Croat shield on the right side and also the belts, etc.

Cheers,
Gerard

[klasterix71]

here is same uniform,seller think is croatian
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Orig-Farbdiap...item5670131581

[byterock]

I think the Croat Home army would be correct then.

The side emblem dose look like a checker-board rather than the double cross found on Slovak helmets,

[klasterix71]

[Der_Stahlhelm]

Very interesting!

[Larry Davis]

If they were involved in anti-partisan activity, would they be working in conjunction with SS Volunteer Karstwehr Battalion?

Waffen-Gebirgs-(Karstjäger)Brigade der SS.

""The designation “Karstjäger” – which is, in fact, not an honor title – refers to the “Karstwehr” battalions from which the division was built. Karst is the German name of the largely treeless and desolate chalk high plains in the northwest of Yugoslavia known as the Carso, an area from which a large part of the division’s original personnel was recruited.""

http://www.axishistory.com/axis-nati...ivision-der-ss

Here is an article about their activities against partisans with some rather graphic images.

http://serbianna.com/blogs/savich/archives/2622


Could be old ethnic grievances being played out. Some things are just timeless.

[Larry Davis]

Which was very likely in response to this :

24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Karstjäger

"During March 1944, the battalion was involved in a rapid series of named operations, including Zypresse (Cypress), Märzveilchen (Violet), Maulwurf (Mole) and Hellblau (Light Blue), resulting in significant guerilla casualties, as well as executions of captured partisans. In March and April, Operation Osterglocke (Daffodil) was conducted over 12 days, followed by Operation Liane in late May, and the long-running Operation Annemarie which covered the period 7 May to 16 July 1944.[11] In June 1944, a patrol from the battalion failed to return from a task in the vicinity of Cividale del Friuli. Two days later, they were located with their torsos stripped naked and their severed heads impaled on bayonets.[9] The unit became known for shooting suspected partisans.[3] While engaged in anti-partisan work, the battalion grew to a strength of around 1,000.[2]"

Which was as far as I recall, not mentioned in the Serbianna article. But I might have missed the reference.

[Mil-Archive]

Thanks all for the contributions. I agree with klasterix71 (post 8) this plate figure 3 is the same helmet.

That image is on the cover of Osprey's 'Axis Forces in Yugoslavia 1941-1945'. On page 6 of that book shows a Chetnik who is wearing the same uniform as one of the Chetnik pictures in this group (sans shoulder badge) so it's possible the 3x images may be connected. After going through the rest of that book I can not identify anything uniform wise except for the Croatian Helmet with checked shield on the side.

I am not seeing anything to indicate SS involvement here. These personnel with red dot show different uniforms but they are possibly figure 2 from the above colour Plate :





The overall unit appears to be Croat Home army.

There is a grim article here about the genocide of Serbs during this period (this article refers to Ustasha and excludes Croat Home Army) :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_W...ution_of_Serbs

[klasterix71]

serbian volounteer corps wearing czech helmets too

[Mil-Archive]

That's excellent thanks - I hadn't seen that one before.