Death of a Sniper – The Gothic Line in Italy

[TWS]

The picture is probably from 1941, wearing an M40 tunic and transitional helmet To date this better notice his Romanian Eastern Front
“Crusade Against Communism” Medal which was instituted in 1941.

I thought I saw a 1944 date written on the back of the photo, but I could be mistaken.

[InfanterieSammler]

The picture is probably from 1941, wearing an M40 tunic and transitional helmet To date this better notice his Romanian Eastern Front
“Crusade Against Communism” Medal which was instituted in 1941.

The photo is dated 1943 in the front left corner and then signed on the reverse in 1944.


Given his advanced age, I would suspect that he spent most of his time during the early war years in rear area or reserve units, where they were given whatever equipment was left over - i.e. older/transitional helmets. As losses grew and there were less young men to fill the ranks, older soldiers like Herr Wagner were pushed into front line combat roles.



Regards,
John

[Gran Sasso]

The photo is dated 1943 in the front left corner and then signed on the reverse in 1944.

The 1944 date on top is not date when he signed, he was already dead by then.
Could not read the last word, could be a message to / from a photostudio, as the 5x8 could be a wanted size from the family.

[Simon H]

Always good to expand on the story of our items by looking into the person and the circumstances of their demise. Thank you Pietro for the clear maps too!

[sniper11]

Interesting post thank you for sharing.
As previously stated due to the terrain its more likely he was killed whilst his unit was withdrawing and he was deployed to delay an enemy advance,buying his unit valuable time to take up defensive positions elsewhere.
Troy

[InfanterieSammler]

The 1944 date on top is not date when he signed, he was already dead by then.
Could not read the last word, could be a message to / from a photostudio, as the 5x8 could be a wanted size from the family.

Thanks for correcting, I should have clarified. Not signed by Wagner, rather written on by who(?). I tend to agree on the photo studio theory though, it seems like a generic type text almost like one would find when ordering something " Wagner, Martin 5x8."

Regards,
John