Edit: It occurred to me after I posted this that it may be the wrong section. I was thinking that milsurp collectors might better knowledge of WWII weapons, which is why I posted here. But if that was improper, please excuse my newbie ignorance and feel free to move the thread. Thank you.
Hi all. I have some old family photos, and I was wondering if anyone here might be able to help ID some of the weapons in the images for me, or at least suggest some possibilites. I realize the weapons aren't very prominent in the pictures, but I'm hoping a few of you might have keen eyes.
First a bit of history of the photos, for anyone interested in reading it: My grandfather was in the Danish army when Denmark was first occupied by the German forces in 1940. He was later assigned to King Christian X's Royal Guard unit. In around 1943 he joined the Danish police force. If anyone is familiar with Denmark in WWII history, it was around this same time that the divide between German sympathizers and the Danish resistance was growing. My grandfather found the police force to be pretty divided along these lines, and he often stated that he people had to be very careful about what they said or did. Suspected sympathizers would sometimes be executed by the resistance, and suspected resistance members would often be turned over to the Gestapo. My grandfather was secretly opposed to the occupation and participated in helping some Jews to escape to Sweden. In 1944 the German occupying forces surrounded the Copenhagen police dept and after a 4 hr stand off and firefight, the police were ordered to stand down by the King. My grandfather and another officer managed to escape across the roof tops and had to go underground for the rest of the occupation. The captured police were intended to be secretly killed, drowned on a scuttled ship, but when that failed due to a disobedient ship captain, they were sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. In 1945, when the German forces were planning their withdrawl, the former Danish police living underground, and the Danish resistance, began planning the round up of any remaining German soldiers, sympathizers, and German military equipment. They had huge piles of captured weapons, though I don't have any pictures of those unfortunately. Much was destroyed. My grandfather kept a few things.
The pictures: I'll have to dig more out. So this is just a few to start with. There's one in particular I've been looking for that shows Danish resistance with I believed may be home made sten guns. The round up pictures are later in the round up, when it was no longer necessary for them to wear arm bands to identify themselves.
On Castle Guard Duty
Guarding King Christian X
Post Withdrawl Copenhagen Police Unit - notice the MG in front
Post Withdrawl Round Up 1
Post Withdrawl Round Up 2
Post Withdrawl Round Up 3
Any helpful info or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Hi all. I have some old family photos, and I was wondering if anyone here might be able to help ID some of the weapons in the images for me, or at least suggest some possibilites. I realize the weapons aren't very prominent in the pictures, but I'm hoping a few of you might have keen eyes.
First a bit of history of the photos, for anyone interested in reading it: My grandfather was in the Danish army when Denmark was first occupied by the German forces in 1940. He was later assigned to King Christian X's Royal Guard unit. In around 1943 he joined the Danish police force. If anyone is familiar with Denmark in WWII history, it was around this same time that the divide between German sympathizers and the Danish resistance was growing. My grandfather found the police force to be pretty divided along these lines, and he often stated that he people had to be very careful about what they said or did. Suspected sympathizers would sometimes be executed by the resistance, and suspected resistance members would often be turned over to the Gestapo. My grandfather was secretly opposed to the occupation and participated in helping some Jews to escape to Sweden. In 1944 the German occupying forces surrounded the Copenhagen police dept and after a 4 hr stand off and firefight, the police were ordered to stand down by the King. My grandfather and another officer managed to escape across the roof tops and had to go underground for the rest of the occupation. The captured police were intended to be secretly killed, drowned on a scuttled ship, but when that failed due to a disobedient ship captain, they were sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. In 1945, when the German forces were planning their withdrawl, the former Danish police living underground, and the Danish resistance, began planning the round up of any remaining German soldiers, sympathizers, and German military equipment. They had huge piles of captured weapons, though I don't have any pictures of those unfortunately. Much was destroyed. My grandfather kept a few things.
The pictures: I'll have to dig more out. So this is just a few to start with. There's one in particular I've been looking for that shows Danish resistance with I believed may be home made sten guns. The round up pictures are later in the round up, when it was no longer necessary for them to wear arm bands to identify themselves.
On Castle Guard Duty
Guarding King Christian X
Post Withdrawl Copenhagen Police Unit - notice the MG in front
Post Withdrawl Round Up 1
Post Withdrawl Round Up 2
Post Withdrawl Round Up 3
Any helpful info or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you.
