Now and Then, great WWII Pictures merged ...

Now and Then Pictures merged plenty to see..some good shots too...
Re: Now and Then Pictures merged

In the center of the village of Honsfeld at the water trough,US soldiers possibly of the 99thID,394th IR or 14th Cav group.German soldiers of Pipers group??Anyone have more info to provide ?



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This is very impressive! I am amazed at the ability or research to find out where the location is at in some of those photos. Thanks for posting the link Ray!

 

thanks ULITHI, just a bit different in the way the pics are done, before, after, and merged.....

 

According to an original caption, the German soldiers had just taken the boots off the dead American GIs, for their own use. Note the GI at lower left has a boot missing. A pretty grim scene that underscores the reality of war.

Greg C.

 

I saw this posted weeks ago on a gun forum I go to, I forgot to link it over here.

 

never mind, decoder. at least there here now, and good too..ray.

 

totally agree, greg..the sharp end of war indeed...

 

It's a very famous photo - Honsfeld was certainly on Rollbahn 'D' and was attacked and captured by KG Peiper who passed straight through. The soldiers in the photo are follow-up troops of 3. Fallschirmjager Division ( this info via Jean-Paul Pallud, 'Battle Of The Bulge Then & Now' ).
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thanks martin, and the book looks good, at a price?

 

The book is essential !

 

I'll have to send out feelers for xmas prezzie..lol

 

from another angle..





vittorio sicily..1943 -2006

 

When I see these photos I get to thinking how young my grandparents were back then and how I would have liked to been able to meet them at that time and experience them in their youth. It also is a reminder at how much things have changed over all these years. Seems things have become much more complicated over the years.

 

Interesting photo. Aren't those luftwaffe troops, that looks like the luftwaffe eagle on the helmet. Also, they must have been might desperate because I did not think that the GI boots were all that great. Only thing making them worse would have been the addition of hobnails.

 

not only luftwaffe , but also flakdivisions ,by the way great pic Ray ,I visited that spot a year ago (and many others)

the troops are probably of the 26 th volksgrenadiers division,

 

I take it? the book, martin mentioned, below.. gives more info on the troops? pierre/Ike


Now and Then Pictures merged

 

Hans J Wijers, in his book 'The Losheim Gap - Doorway To The Meuse', devotes a few pages to the fighting in Honsfeld, with more photos and first-hand accounts from both sides....

 

thanks for that update martin, appreciated.ray.

 

I think that this is unlikely, as 26 VGD formed part of von Manteuffel's force attacking across the Our River quite some way south of Honsfeld.

However, interestingly, 12 VGD formed the attacking force of 1st SS Panzer Division, and did attack in the area of Honsfeld/Moderscheid.But I'm not sure how involved they were with the fighting at Honsfeld - so I need to read more on this subject.............

 

Another interesting thing about the Bulge is the disparity of equipment among the German forces.

The Waffen-SS and Volksgrenadier Divisions were re-equipped before the Battle with updated weapons and kit. But first-hand accounts from the Fallschirmjager ( including von der Heydte's book ) bemoan the fact that they were very poorly-equipped for a winter offensive, being expected to use existing kit such as the parachutists' smock which was useless in sub-zero temperatures.

An FJ memoir in Gaul's book continually complains about the state of the writers' worn-out footwear until he is able to 'liberate' some boots from a private house. FJ troops formed the attack spearhead of 1st SS Panzer-Division and were certainly involved in the attack on Honsfeld so maybe the removal of the GI's boots isn't so surprising.

Incidentally, it was at Honsfeld that KG Peiper's grim record began with a number of captured GIs being shot out-of-hand.