Interesting photo

[anmarlodz]

IMO the helmet cover is italian camo.

in my opinion it is soviet AMEBA camo made helmet cover. here is example of such camo.

[gadaru_kanaru]

FYI the Hauptmann's name is Friedrich Konrad Winkler, born in Worms 22 Aug. 1909. He married in 1935 and had two sons, first born 6/36 and the second 7/42.

He was captured in early February 1943 and died 8-10 Feb. '43 at the Beketova POW camp. His family didn't learn about his fate until 1948.

The iconic photo was taken 16 Oct 1942 while he was commanding the 6/Inf. Regiment 577 as it tried to push through the northern gates of the Barrikady Gun Factory.

The broken IAB supposedly indicates that while the wearer is convinced the war is lost, he is still a "genuine, trustworthy guy" who will fight and stand by his comrades through thick and thin out of a sense of duty.

[Gran Sasso]

I read in one of the Leaping Horseman books (probably Island of Fire ) that many Heer officers purposely broke their badges like that to show oppostion to the war or some aspect of the handling of the war.

Never heard of this - no officer would break his medals.... The opposite is the truth: Also it is broken, he still wears it proudly.

Try this: Pin an IAB to your breast, and take cover 3 or 4 times, quickly as in combat. This badge is known to break easily.

[DougB]

I think the helmet cover is a fake so the photograph would be worth more to put into a book...

;-)

[anders1940]

I think the helmet cover is a fake so the photograph would be worth more to put into a book...

;-)

My kinda humour Doug

[brus]

Hello,
the picture showing the camo cover was also discussed here:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=186954

Greetings
brus

[Ty Smith]

This is so funny to me. That first photo is the reason I started collecting helmets in the early 80s. That photo was a big reference book that I received as Christmas present. I stared at that photo and those badges for hours. I collected badges too.

[Lenny W]

i have an award like that broken but broken on the opposite side great pic thumb sup

[gadaru_kanaru]

Never heard of this - no officer would break his medals.... The opposite is the truth: Also it is broken, he still wears it proudly.

Try this: Pin an IAB to your breast, and take cover 3 or 4 times, quickly as in combat. This badge is known to break easily.

.
.

Email that to the author & publisher of Island of Fire (Jason Mark, Leaping Horseman Books). Maybe they'll issue a revised edition of the book. I'm sure your opinion trumps his in depth research and their editorial scrutiny.

For six years the book has been in print and read by many yet no one has yet pointed out the error. If you know of any other mistakes I'm sure they'll be glad to know.


Since those badges were likely to break after three or four times of hitting the dirt it stands to reason that most combat worn badges are broken. It should be easily verified with plenty of photographic evidence which I'm sure you'll be glad to provide.

[MauserKar98k]

FYI the Hauptmann's name is Friedrich Konrad Winkler, born in Worms 22 Aug. 1909. He married in 1935 and had two sons, first born 6/36 and the second 7/42.

He was captured in early February 1943 and died 8-10 Feb. '43 at the Beketova POW camp. His family didn't learn about his fate until 1948.

The iconic photo was taken 16 Oct 1942 while he was commanding the 6/Inf. Regiment 577 as it tried to push through the northern gates of the Barrikady Gun Factory.

Very interesting information; always good to have a name to go with the face.

[-Peters-]

Thanks for the name, i have written that next to the photo in my book

[Spanish Freiwillige]

I thought they were field made camo covers made from russian ameba camo