Picture of the day

Sadly horses died in the millions in both WW1 and WW2. They provided a lot of the mobility, but consumed huge amounts of fodder in the process, which was a big logistics concern. Ultimately when the fodder ran out and rations became short, they were eaten by the troops. There weren't many equine war veterans.
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
That's an excellent link - thanks much!

Freshly gleaned:

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Another glorious day in the Wermacht! Man, that looks cold. Most of the German Army was horse-drawn in WW2. This was bad (slow and hungry) and good (your wagon is pulled by an abundance of protein).
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{thoughts of the soldier in forefront}...{tune} "roll out the barrel, we'll have a barrel of fun...Ahrg, Fukunzee siz shiza! Und why if I can't feel my veet dosenzee valking hurt zo much!? Ven are those shizacopes going to let me in zee vagon!?"
 
meppen445


PIAT team of II Canadian Corps in Meppen, Germany, April 1945.

Lance-Corporal A. Kerelchuk and Private H.M. Sigurdson, both of The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, guarding the northern approach to a bridge across the Ems River, Meppen, Germany, 8 April 1945. Lance-Cpl. A. Kerelchuk, the man on the left, was later killed on April 19, 1945, likely at the Küsten Canal.
 
That's one cold looking re-enactor. He really should get a M1907 sling on that No4 MkI(T) That and a proper WWII belt, not that CANEX thing he's wearing. The RSM is going to pull that bandito mustache off his face hair by hair too!;)
 
jwhc said:
Good day fellow Gunnutz :) New day new picture :)

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Cheers
Joe
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Hope everything got ironed out on the family front, bud. Glad to have you back.

I can picture the next five seconds:

1) Corsair screams over these two at 300+ MPH and 20 feet altitude, making all the noise that exists and startling the living hell out of everyone present.
2) Everyone swears loudly and makes an attempt to dive directly into the earth like those sandworms in Dune.
3) Sparky with the flamethrower has an involuntary clench reflex in both hands, causing him to snap a wee squirt of Flaming Affection at the arse of the bazooka operator.
4) If he survives, the bazooka operator, in four to six weeks time, finds the flamethrower operator and beats him to death with a chair.
5) For the rest of his life, the bazooka operator never takes off his gonch in front of anyone lest they behold the magnificent tangle of scar tissue that used to be his arse.

Of incidents like this are little tragedies (and Three Stooges movies) made...
 
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Fellow on the left looks kinda like Chuck Connors:

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Meanwhile, across the Rhine...

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My Mrs' stepdad's uncle (if you follow) was a mature Bavarian in early 1945. The local Polizei showed up at the house and told him "Ivan ist kommt. Pack your stuff and come with us. You're in the army, so pack light. If you don't want to do your sacred duty to defend the German Fatherland, we'll hang you. Choose now."

He went.

When the war was over, he walked home several hundred miles, caught some sort of infection/ailment/disease he was too exhausted to fight, and died, one more pointless casualty of the second world war. I've never seen a picture of old Volkssturm guys where they're smiling, with the exception of the fellow on the left in this picture, and he's probably smiling for reasons aside from being pleased to be next to an MG 42 getting the 20 minutes of training Herr Obergefreiter said they'd get. They know this isn't going to end well. They're not confident. Some of them would have served in WW1, and so were well acquainted with how bad war can be. They would have thought they were too old to be drafted, but life is full of disappointments...

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What a crappy, crappy deal.

Never trust a government. Never trust a charismatic leader. Never take what you're being told at face value. Fail to observe these rules, and that could be you at age 60.

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And, in the interests of not being a total downer, here's the Indian Free Corp Field Hockey Team:

http://2.bp.########.com/_oIAhQMTG-dU/S40bO8cw-TI/AAAAAAAACzs/laqqmOqxib8/s1600/free-indian-soldiers-second-world-war-ww2-amazing-rare-pictures-images-photos.jpg
 
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