Interesting smock photo

[Ludwig]

Shortened smock + sleeves + zipper!

[chrischa]

Fantastic photo for so many reasons!

Thanks Ludwig. Made this afternoons visit worthwhile.

[Ludwig]

My pleasure, mate!

[R.H.J]

Fruit-filled helmet rocks!

[kammo man]

We now know where Champagne helmets come from.

[Remy Spezzano]

His smock is interesting but the man wearing the smock is more famous then you realize.

His name is Max Büschel and he was an SS-Kriegsberichter attached to the 1. SS-Panzer-Division "LAH" and this photo was taken in August 1943 when the LAH crossed over the border into Italy. He was passing by a wine vineyard and stopped to load up on some grapes.

What most people do not know is that Max Büschel is the photographer who took the iconic photos of the LAH soldiers standing around the knocked out and abandoned vehicles in Poteau, Belgium in the Ardennes.
All those photos we are so familiar with of the soldiers running past the burning US Halftracks and the ones of the schwimwagen next to the Malmedy road sign were all taken by him.

Sadly he never lived to see his photos from the Bulge published. The film he shot was captured by the US Army and sent back to the United States. When Germany surrendered in May 1945 Büschel worked his way back home to his wife and kids where they lived in a Berlin suburb. He was eventually discovered by Russian soldiers and shot for being an SS soldier of the Leibstandarte.

[chrischa]

Remy, thanks for adding this information to Ludwigs post.

That certainly adds a further dimension to a great photo. I think it's fair to say Büschel was an iconic photographer if you consider his famous photographs.

[Ludwig]

Very interesting information, Remy! Thanks!

[helmuthunter]

Wow, very enjoyable information. Great history!!

[Remy Spezzano]

Here is Max Büschel being captured on movie film by his fellow kriegsberichter. They always traveled in teams of two. One man shooting still photos with a Leica 35mm camera, in this case it was Max. The other man with an Arriflex 35mm motion picture camera.

In this frame from the movie film Max has sprinted across the street to adjust the Malmedy sign which originally was pointing towards the ground. Max ends up hanging a K98 rife on one end of the sign to balance it out.

He then turns around to cross back over to the other side of the road. A few moments later he will take the iconic photos of the two grinning SS soldiers in the schwimwagen next to the Malmedy sign.

Over the years the photos have often been misidentified as Jochen Peiper sitting on the passengers side with a cigar in his mouth.

[Remy Spezzano]

In this frame you can clearly see he is wearing the same smock with the customized zipper that he wore in the Italy August 1943 photo. This was a palm pattern smock. He's also still fielding the same NCO crusher cap as well.
And in case you didn't notice the thing hanging on his chest, that's his 35mm Leica camera.

[Remy Spezzano]

Photo taken by SS-KB Max Büschel

[kammo man]

Good spot !

[M44/45collector]

Very interesting, thank you very much!

[ironcross13]

Nice info Remy