Help in identifying WWII POWs? in Photo

Once again, thanks to all of you in this Forum for the kind assistance you provide to so many of us who, like me, are researching and simply don't have a clue.

I have a large collection of WWII photographs that I have collected over the years. I am finally getting around to researching what I have. In some cases, it's easy to identify the photographs as there are captions written in German on the reverse. But in other cases, like this one, where it is not identified...I simply don't know.

I need some help in identifying whether the photograph below depicts POWs. They certainly appear to be POWs, but if so, from where? Anything you can tell me would be appreciated.

Thanks so much...

 

I would say Yugoslavian, but that's a guess.

 

I agree - Yugoslav most likely - not Belgian, Dutch, French or Russian. There is some chance they could be Polish, it isn't a standard Polish uniform, but there were some variations.

Possibly one of the Wehrmacht experts can date the German uniforms from some detail which could narrow things down more.

Looking at the general impression of the temperature being summer, the Balkans are the most likely.

 

Thanks very much, Nigel and The_Historian.

 

You're welcome - I've been trying to identify the truck with the pointed tilt - it's an unusual feature. The only ones I have found so far are French although not the same model I think, and although that doesn't rule out a local modification, it could indicate a captured French truck making late 1940 quite likely.

 

There are a lot of birch trees , they are quite common in the northern regions of Europe.

 

for reference :

Polish Pow
Polish Forces - Polish PoW's

 

The jacket looks Polish armed forces, straight pockets, and the buttons row

 

The man on the right in the front row is wearing a very Polish like uniform, but the left hand two don't seem to have the lower pockets which seem to be standard. It is possible it is a summer variation, however.

The hats - lots of variety and some look Polish for sure, some don't.

I do agree Polish is highly possible, and the apparent large numbers of POWs would help support that, but the uniform style wasn't so rare - it's almost generic.

I also think many in the column are in civilian clothes, which makes Yugoslavia or possibly Greece more likely.

 

Thanks very much for all the wonderful information. Trud3r--thanks for the photo reference and your input.

Nigel, your comment on the truck is interesting--I wonder if it was captured from the French. Are there any details you guys don't miss?? Wow!

So, I guess the bottom line is: The POWs could be Polish, but are more likely to be Yugoslavian? Or maybe even possibly Greek? Could it be possible that there is a combination of the above or no?

Also, not related to this photo. I have another photo of a German soldier standing in ruins. On the back of the photo is written in German:

Sowitz, Polen 1939 + 40 -- TRANSLATED TO ENGLISH -- Sowitz, Poland 1939-1940.

I could find no reference to a "Sowitz", Poland, but I guess the date of this photo would coincide with Nazi occupation of Poland. I thought perhaps it might be an abbreviation of a city. Here is the photo, just in case it helps in identifying "Sowitz".

Thanks again guys! You are all awesome...

Teri

 

Sowitz is in Silesia, now know as Sowice, just East of Posnan, western Poland, quite close to the border then.

And you're more than welcome - we like a puzzle. If the two photos were together it lends some strength to the 'Poland' argument for the first

Also the Poles used a lot of French equipment, so the truck could be French from that route too.

 

Ah ha!!! Thanks so much. I would not have in a million years guessed the location. Unfortunately, the two photos were not together so no help there.

Another photo has me puzzled as well. Is the following photo Nazi cavalry?

 

I can't get the first word on the back, but the second is for sure 'standarten' - colours and the exclamation mark makes me think it's close to 'Anrufen Standarten!' or 'Standards call!' which I believe is a battle cry type sort of thing. One of our Germans will hopefully help

Yes they could be cavalry - without colour it's hard for me to tell, sorry (the piping around collars etc gives it away). Also entirely possible and probably more likely they were just a mounted standard bearer's party from another unit, probably infantry or artillery. There were far more horses in the rest of the German army than there were in the horse cavalry.

The building behind looks to me just like the standard design barrack blocks built in Germany itself, but there could easily be very similar ones elsewhere, however the guy in civilian clothes in the background makes me think Germany.

Someone else might get way more from the uniforms, I've not really looked at German horse cavalry much and there isn't much info online.

The complete lack of medals makes me think pre-war or very early war, as being in the colour party was considered an honour given to worthy men, so in wartime i'd expect medals.

best I can do on that one I think

 

I translated the reverse to read: "Our Standard"... I think it's "Unsere Standarte!" in German. They are certainly beautiful horses and striking soldiers. I guess I should start looking for medals on the soldiers--which seems to be a key clue you use in dating these photos. The soldier in the middle is wearing something around his neck that appears to be metal and is quite striking. I really like this image.

Once again...thanks for picking up on the smallest of details in this photo. I wasn't even focusing on the background--the barracks and the civilian. Cool!

I'll have more coming soon--some really challenging ones for me that you will no doubt instantly identify. I'm just stumped on some of these photos.

Thanks again.

 

The gorget around the standard bearer (Fahnentraeger)'s neck is just that, a standard bearer's gorget.

(see photo)

Unsere standarte seems right.

The medals isn't a guaranteed dating - new units were formed all through the war, but once they went into action, the medals would come fairly quickly.

As far as I can tell that is a Divisional Standard, but can't get any better ident on it.