human story's behind LLG1

[Stijn David]

Hello,


We are all in love with the wartime won awards, etc .. and the fantastic ( or sow e think ) warmachines, etc .. but i have in my humble collection a photseries that shows a more human aspect of the soldierslive during winter 1941 ( Christmas period ) from the LLG 1 .

During the period before Christmas 1941 there was a little contest created among the personel of the LLG 1 ( 2 e Gruppe at Halberstadt ) , the contest consisted in making TOYS . THese toys where given as a Christmas present towards the children of KIA soldiers . To make it more interesting the leading officers rewarded prizes towards the winners of the toy game ,

1 e prize was a holliday leave towards home for the Christmas period

2 nd & 3 third prize where liberation of garing dutiy's etc .. during this period .

and here we see the first picture out of the serie => a couple of LW man bussy with wood .

[Stijn David]

more advanced stadium

Hello,


The second picture shows a more advanced stadium in building 2 Toys, painting, etc ...


Enjoy + many more to follow

[Stijn David]

picture 3 : Toys Toys .......

Hello,


Here we have a general overvieuw of the fine work from our LLG 1 friends .


Cordial Greetings + more to follow

[Stijn David]

pic. 4 : a few close ups

Hello,


Then we encounter a whole lot of close ups => look at those lovely horses, etc ...


More to follow

[Stijn David]

TOYS ..........

Hello,


Here is even a nice medieval castle + a Pirat ship , all so very nice . the next shots wil show the winning combinations => so stay tuned


Cordial Greetings,

[Stijn David]

first prize

Hello,


Here is the first prize, a fully electrice and very nicely made carousel , these 3 soldiers worked togheter and could spend the christmas days togheter with their family ( a superb prize for a soldier !!!!!! in wartime Germany )


More to follow ,

[Stijn David]

2 nd prize

Hello,


Here is the second prize , a great made farmers house


More to follow,

[Stijn David]

third prize

Hello,


and here is the third prize , a nicely made LW airfield, complete with planes, vehicles, etc ... etc ...

What is striking for me is that the first 2 prizes are going to peacefull designs , even if the complexity of the 2 nd. isn't as great as for the third prize => but remember it was war then and im sure the jury had counted this in when making the nominations . I hope you guys have a minute to vieuw this thread and think once again on the disasters a war brings ( for Children, woman, a whole nation, etc ... ) .

Cordial Greetings and thanks for looking ,

[Ian Tannahill]

Giday Stijn,

Thank you for sharing these photographs with us.

At first I was excited because the photographs related to glider pilots. However, after having viewed the first three or four photographs, my thoughts turned to the children who had lost their fathers; how sad they must have felt at Christmas, and what receiving presents at Christmas from soldiers at the front would have ment to them. Their plight almost reduced me to tears, and I still feel quite sad. (My father died when I was young and I still miss him very much. I also have a young child who I hope will never know what it is like to grow up without his dad. Both of these facts might help explain why I feel sad just thinking about the story behind these photographs.)

I should also say that I was very impressed by the effort of the men who made the toys. Most comendable!

I wonder if any of these toys still exist today, and if any of them are still in the hands of their original owners?

Thanks again for sharing what has been a most thought provoking series of photographs with us.

Best wishes,


Ian

[Frank Heukemes]

Indeed an excellent and very unusal series of pics. Thank you for sharing them, Stijn!

Cheers, Frank H.

[Stijn David]

LLG picture series

Hello,


Thanks for the kind comments => i wonder to iff any of these hand made toys survived the war + i think that crafting such toys made the war a little more bearable for these young soldiers , etc ... + even if the makers of them survived ( im certain that quite a few would not make it untill the last shot was fired )

I have more from this serie and wil try to post more in the following days , i like it very much as it shows a more human side of these soldiers, etc ...

Cordial Greetings and thanks for the interest + stay tuned for more ,

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Cholm, I, together with my wife, have enjoyed this thread, very thought provoking. Thanks for posting them up. Forgive my ignorance, but what does the abreviation "LLG1" stand for?
Cheers, Ade.

[Stijn David]

LLG 1

Hello,


Thanks for the comment Adrian => and now towards your question : " LLG 1 " stands for LuftLande Geschwader 1 ( a glider unit ) ,


Cordial greetings and happy you enjoyed the read