The amazing photo shows Nazi supporters saluting a procession through the London, as Nazi troops carry a coffin draped in the swastika flag. Taken in 1936, the scene shows the funeral procession of German ambassador Leopold von Hoesch - who was not a supporter of Hitler's, and often disagreed with the Nazi leader. After von Hoesch's death, the role of German Ambassador went to Joachim von Ribbentrop. The black and white photo, seemingly Britain's worst nightmare, was snapped 3 years before the start of World War II when governments around the world were still attempting to avoid confrontation with Third Reich.

Nazis march through London - Telegraph

And more pics here

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...i-funeral.html

__________________

It looks almost anachronic, It gives an idea of London if Goering had won the B.O.B . Fortunately he didn't.

__________________

I find it amazing at the bystanders giving the Nazi salute even though this is pre-war.

__________________

Wouldn't any nation drape the ambassador of another nation in their flag? And wouldn't it be appropriate to provide an "honor guard" for said diplomat in time of peace?

Neither the salute nor the flag belonged to an enemy at the time afterall, and the British Fascist Party was still a legal party as well. It is odd in view of the events yet to come, but only in hindsight I think.

__________________
Happy Trails,
Clint.

Yes, it is protocol I believe. I don't know about the salute though.

__________________

The only ones doing the Nazi salute were the Nazi ambassador corps, and those observers in the balconey (that I saw), and they could very easily be O. Mosley's party members of the British Fascists, and not just ordinary British citizens.

The Military men directly behind the guys doing the Nazi salute (in uniform), are giving a "hat touch", not the stiff arm. I still don't know that the salute would be illegal or anything since it had become by then a "normal" salutation in Nazi Germany. Both civilian and military, but not all military in Germany honored the practice.

__________________
Happy Trails,
Clint.

More on hoesch's funeral (and his dog) here:
WW2F - Giro the Nazi Dog

~A

Those are the ones I was talking about.

__________________

Given the benefit of hindsight, those pictures are bizarre. The Grenadiers next to the Nazi flag is unsettling, but given the 1936 political reality, it is understandable. None of them could predict the events three years in the future. Still, an interesting look at a bygone time.

__________________
"Faint heart never won fair maiden", so I say "Go for it!"

Lou

An excellent find PzJgr!

What a site to see. But than again as mentioned before, this was at a time of peace.

__________________
The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler