strange, look at the first foto. the thirth guy from the left seems to ware a german head and we even got a bold person (common on the east front to get ride of lices) i say there a bunch of germans that were used for sabotage behind enemy lines at the ardennen offensive. but i could be wrong :-?
The second and fourth guys from the left on the first picture are clearly wearing German helmets, whereas the rest are wearing what seems to be British gear. No German special unit during the Ardennes was dressed in British uniforms simply because the enemy was American. Therefore this must be some sort of reenactment group standing together before or after the action. The surroundings look decidedly Ardennes-like, though.
Photo quality looks too good for 1940's. Photo's do not look to have aged 60 years. One snowy forest probably looks much like another, without any definative landmarks. Post WWII is my (educated?) guess.
I agree with the photo quality (which is what I mainly based my reply on), but if a photo is preserved well you wouldn't be able to see any aging.
I have a question does the highest rank member always lead the patrol I mean by taking point? Ie. Pointman in second picture has cororal stripes unless I have mistaken the British ensignia.
you got a point david. the quallity is very good but then again i've seen pictures of Rommel in the desert of the same (and even beter) quallity. say, merlin, where did you find these pics?
photo. I, as I've said before have good contacts with many Regiments and units. Official Secrets act. etc. But as Roel rightly said 'Skorzeny's men (far less than reported) were dressed as Americans, not British, But, how many of you know of British/Canadian dressed as Germans? on the Benghazi and Barce airfield raids German uniforms were used. The group photo is marked in pencil, 'Namure, Musea, 28/12/44." other one marked 'bloody cold, musea 44'.
neither musea nor numure came up with hits on google earth so they probably don't refer to a specific place. musea seems to be a belgium word as in google it's associated .be extensions. anyone know anymore? numure seems to be a name but I can't figure out for what langauge. FNG
Namure is french for Namen. It's a city in Belgium. it lies somewhere in the middle of the Ardennes. in Englisch it would be 'Namur' i'll look at the date and some museum cites of belgian museums. i'll let you know
Re: photo. Reminds me of the show combat (black and white). It was about an American squad lead by Sgt Saunders. Well in 1 episode they came along British colonel and a British seargant, who were looking out to a clearing. In the clearing there was a bunker.Blah blah blah they talked to Americans. Than the Seargantr whips out a German uniform out of a bag and puts it on. When they come out of the clearing the Colonel acts like a prisoner because he had left his gear with Americans. Some stuff happends and the men in the bunker are killed by a grwnade. Althought not a true story I presume, but I thouhgt I could share it.
Re: photo. Both names may be misspelled. They seem a lot like Namur and Meuse, referring to the city in Belgium and the river that runs through it. This is the very edge of the Ardennes and near the Meuse the forestation and height variation of the terrain decreases rapidly, but there will still be forests of the type seen in the pictures. 29th Independent Tank Brigade moved into the area between Namur and Givet on December 22nd, reinforcing a rear-echelon unit called 29th Infantry Regiment. The men on these pictures might belong to these units or to any unit of XXX Corps which moved into the area later on (43rd Wessex, 51st Highland and 53rd Lowland, and Guards Armoured).
Namen lies about 30 km north of the city of Dinant. during the battle of the bulge, the germans only came close to Dinant. i believe they were repeled there at the 26th. so, why do they sent patrols two days later in an area that lies 30 km away from the front. just a small thing that i find strange
My feeling here is that it is possibly a British/Canadian? special forces patrol, and as Roel has said most likely miss spelt names, I'd go along with Namur and Meuse.
were the British special forces scattered across US/British lines? I know a lot of the SAS operated in unusual areas during 44 which may have included US areas of operation. Presumably there use would have been dictated as much by the terrain than opperational commands and the heavy forests of the Ardenne would have suited them perfectly. FNG