WWII from axis perspective

[dutchsteammachine]

Currently scanning +300 35mm negatives taken by a german soldier. Eventually everything will be online.

Follow the progress here! Some of the current scans:

Regards,
Niels

 

[BAC1967]

How did you get these, any background information on them?

 

[AgX]

So far we see they were from the Luftwaffe and at least the photographer was in Paris...

 

[Anon Ymous]

I think these are He-111 bombers, aren't they?

 

[AgX]

Due to gasoline rationing (and likely car requisitioning) bicycle rikschaws appeared on the streets.


@Anonymous: Due to their silhoutte they may have been H111.

 

[mshchem]

Amazing, my Dad was in the US Navy in WWII in the Pacific Theatre. He has some very similar snaps. Hopefully these fellas made it home. If they were Airmen, not likely.

 

[AgX]

The guys shown are of the lowest rank of all, thus definitely no airmen.

 

[dutchsteammachine]

I think these are He-111 bombers, aren't they?

Several people have identified the planes as HE-111s

I have been thinking about doing a livestream how I go about my scanning work, and generally just streaming negatives from WWII and perhaps at one point a few glass negatives. This may be cool to see for those who are interested.

I think youtube would be the best platform? Then I can react to people in chat. Starting 15:00 CEST (Netherlands, UTC +2)

 

[dutchsteammachine]

How did you get these, any background information on them?

I got them from Ebay, I dont remember there was much extra information. Perhaps I should ask the seller, but likely he got it from an auction house and doesn't know either.

 

[AgX]

As a side note: at the scanned films we see both, KS and BH holes.

 

[BMbikerider]

The guys shown are of the lowest rank of all, thus definitely no airmen.

The lowest rank in the RAF at the time was 'AC' which stood for 'Aircraftsman'. Or in slang, a person of that rank was also !known as an 'irk' or 'erk'! A not very polite name.

 

[AgX]

I assume mschem meant flying members of the Luftwaffe. But I do not know their minimum rank, likely for a pure gunner.

 

[Arklatexian]

Amazing, my Dad was in the US Navy in WWII in the Pacific Theatre. He has some very similar snaps. Hopefully these fellas made it home. If they were Airmen, not likely.

Looking at these pictures, I was wondering where were the pictures of Rome and Tokyo. Your father in the Navy in the Pacific Theatre would have possibly encountered Japanese soldiers, sailors, and airmen. Towards the end of that conflict many of the airmen would have been Kamikazi (hope I spelled it correctly.) Most of the people that I knew, who fought in WW2, fought in the Pacific. I may be wrong but I think we lost more people in the Pacific than in Europe. (See IwoJima, Guadacanal, Okinawa, Etc.) The Axis consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan and WW2 was, truly, a World War. It ended in August 1945. It ended in Europe in May 1945. Many people were killed between May and August 1945 on both sides.........Regards!

 

[AgX]

US losses in Europoe 291,000
US losses in the Pacific 116,00


Here quite some figures widely unknown !!
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tote_des_Zweiten_Weltkrieges#/media/Datei:World_War_II_Casualties.svg

 

[John51]

The guys shown are of the lowest rank of all, thus definitely no airmen.

The airforce has the officers go do the fighting while the rank and file stay at base.

 

[foen]

Wonderful job! Do you think that is any chance to get some negatives for a genuine silver print?

 

[Anon Ymous]

The soldiers at photos #2 and 3 at the firing range don't have Mauser Kar 98K rifles, but probably French Lebel Model 1886 rifles.

 

[dutchsteammachine]

Wonderful job! Do you think that is any chance to get some negatives for a genuine silver print?

Hello Foen,

Thanks! I am glad people seem to be enjoying these.
I have been thinking about doing some kind of Patreon where people can support my projects like this and get several darkroom prints from negatives of choice. Every month.

I would need to know how many people are interested to know if its worth the hassel.

Unfortunately I can not print myself so would need to find somebody in the Netherlands to do it.
We would need to discuss possible print prizes, costs, and possible sources. (35mm/120/large format, glass negatives, is the Egypt 1937 collection on 35mm nitrate film safe to print?

 

[ozphoto]

Very interesting stuff there! I always have a look at eBay WWII memorabilia - would have loved to have landed these - congratulations on an awesome buy.

 

[guangong]

The most interesting photos and story that I have come across was written by a German officer who had just bought a Minox and 5 rolls of film (at that time each roll had 50 exposures) and shortly after was captured by the Russians. Subsequently moved from prison camp to prison camp. Can not remember name of book, in German, and, because of a fire in my study, cannot get at book because it’s with restoration people.
At one point his camera was discovered. Russian officer was fascinated by Minox and returned it. German officer should have been shot. Camera nuts are the same throughout the world.

 

[dutchsteammachine]

The most interesting photos and story that I have come across was written by a German officer who had just bought a Minox and 5 rolls of film (at that time each roll had 50 exposures) and shortly after was captured by the Russians. Subsequently moved from prison camp to prison camp. Can not remember name of book, in German, and, because of a fire in my study, cannot get at book because it’s with restoration people.
At one point his camera was discovered. Russian officer was fascinated by Minox and returned it. German officer should have been shot. Camera nuts are the same throughout the world.

I do suppose we try not to shoot each other in the head.

I wondered why some of my 35mm rolls go into the 40+ frames why did they lower this?

 

[Anon Ymous]

I do suppose we try not to shoot each other in the head.

I wondered why some of my 35mm rolls go into the 40+ frames why did they lower this?

Possibly loaded from bulk rolls.

 

[mshchem]

Looking at these pictures, I was wondering where were the pictures of Rome and Tokyo. Your father in the Navy in the Pacific Theatre would have possibly encountered Japanese soldiers, sailors, and airmen. Towards the end of that conflict many of the airmen would have been Kamikazi (hope I spelled it correctly.) Most of the people that I knew, who fought in WW2, fought in the Pacific. I may be wrong but I think we lost more people in the Pacific than in Europe. (See IwoJima, Guadacanal, Okinawa, Etc.) The Axis consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan and WW2 was, truly, a World War. It ended in August 1945. It ended in Europe in May 1945. Many people were killed between May and August 1945 on both sides.........Regards!

My Dad was usually on a LST, the poor men flying a Kamikaze attack targeted capital ships. My Dad was a Seabee, Navy Corpsman, basically a medic in a construction battalion (CB) he saw a lot of horrible things. He was present at Iwo Jima and Okinawa horrible beyond words.
So very sad, from an American perspective we were always fighting our own relatives in a sense. I have German, Irish, English, and a mix of European ancestors. US soldiers often had 1st cousins in Italy and Germany during the fighting.

 

[John Koehrer]

The airforce has the officers go do the fighting while the rank and file stay at base.

Change airforce to politicians and it's really a good idea.

 

[Sirius Glass]

The airforce has the officers go do the fighting while the rank and file stay at base.

But ever see an officer service aircraft? Fix and aircraft problem? The officers should respect the enlisted personnel.