A while ago, I acquired a collection of photos that had belonged to a WWII veteran of the 776th TD Bn. This photo was in the collection and has some writing on the back which I have not been able to translate. It looks a bit like Italian. I'm not expecting his name, just who he is based on his uniform, etc. The 776th landed near Casablanca and traveled across North Africa, eventually entering combat in Tunisia. The trees make me think that it is likely somewhere in North Africa as opposed to Italy, though I realize that may not be the case. Any help would be appreciated.
The language seems to be Italian, but I only can translate a few words. Sole is the sun. Tu le is you Uno Buono is one good Il tuo is your I can't make out the other words and I can't make much sense of what it means. Sorry. Maybe someone can do better.
I know someone at worrk who was born and raised in Italy. I will get him to look at it. I won't be until the end of the week, though.
Nice photo. I cannot place the dress uniform, and there doesn't seem to be any real insignia. I wish we could see the headgear. First in Italian, I'll keep the same punctuation and capitalization. The word "tropo" is misspelled and should be "troppo". tropo sole te lo mandero opresso uno buono mandami il tuo It's a bit difficult to translate, as the text is curt and the context missing. I'll do my best to deliver what context I can. This version is in English with no context/interpretation. Too much sun, I'll send you some I have/took a good one Send me (one of?) yours The first line is clear, a little joke about the weather: It's very sunny here, and I'll send you some. This makes me think the photo was taken in North Africa. Lines 2, & 3 are a bit more vague, the only way to determine what exactly is intended is if you could ask the two people communicating, but a good estimate can be made. One option is that he could be continuing his joke and still be referring to the sun, meaning this: "I have a good sun, send me some of your (less harsh) sun/weather" The other more likely option is that he is talking about a the photo itself. "I took a good (photo), send me one of you" To summarize, the text is three non sequitur lines, so the full context is difficult, but my best estimate of the full intent is as follows: Too much sun here, I'll send you some I took a good photo of myself Send me a photo of you I hope that helps.
Thanks, Otto. That makes sense. So this was probably sent from one Italian soldier to another, or at least another Italian? If so that might suggest this was a "found" photo.
Happy to help Tommy. It's fair to assume the photo was intended to be sent from one Italian to another, especially given the colloquial note. You mentioned the photo was from a US veteran who served in North Africa, and he probably picked it up there, possibly from a prisoner or a corpse. The note on the back tells us the item was either sent from the man on the front, or it was taken from the man in the photo before he was able to send it. I really wish the man in the photo could give us more information, but his uniform is so nondescript. The tie and white gloves form a dress uniform, but other than the rope leads on the right shoulder I cannot see an indication of rank or unit. Keep in mind he might not be military. I've seen photos of Italian railway engineers from the period who were not in the military but wore a military style uniform.
This was one photo of a collection. I'm certain this is the only photo of this fellow. I will look through them to see if any are any that might help add some context.
I've been busy with a sick father. I have made a copy of the photo and will show it to Julian tomorrow. I hope.
"Too much sun here, I'll send you some I took a good photo of myself Send me a photo of you" Otto got it in one of his options in post 7