Hitler's Drugged Soldiers

[TabsTabs1964]

Sweet dreams, mates!







Message for young members of the forum: always stay away from drugs. Anything is better.

In addition, all of us already have a very compulsive addiction: military collecting!!!!

[Grimebox]

Amphetamines were issued to the British in ‘survival / escape’ kits. An interesting article here:

Amphetamines and the Second World War: Stimulating Interest in Drugs and Warfare – Defence-In-Depth

[Tank Destroyer]

Great thread

Marty

[TabsTabs1964]

What will he be dreaming about?

[olboy]

That's a speed head if I've ever seen one

[TWS]

What will he be dreaming about?

Erika, of course!

[TWS]

But sooner or later, fatigue ends up beating any soldier...

Attachment 1331526

Attachment 1331527

Excellent capture of the Divisional insignia of 11th and 24th Panzer Divisions on the side cars.

[TWS]

That's a speed head if I've ever seen one

Looks more like the horrors of combat etched on his face. The "thousand yard stare" as it has been put.

I have a few combat soldier estates consisting of both pre-war and war time photos - even a few studio portraits taken years apart. Sometimes there is a noticeable change. You can see the experiences from the Front etched on their faces compared to the pre-war photos.

[TabsTabs1964]

I agree with Todd.

There is a stare that reflects the absolute concentration in combat, the total alertness of the mind to the direct danger of death.

Perhaps there is another stare a little different, the one of who remembers or fears the horror of combat.
And indeed then there is the stare of the thousand yards and also the stare of the totally fatigued man.

I have looked for some portraits that possibly reflect well the difference between the different types of look.



Concentration in combat: Hauptmann Friedrich Konrad Winkler (wearing his broken Infantry Assault Badge, during the battles at Barrikady Gun Factory in Stalingrad)



A soldier who remembers or fears the horror of combat. A soldier cleans his Mauser 98K in a comat pause



An exhausted landser



Another one in Stalingrad



Another stalingrad combatant: the thousand yards stare

The horrors of the eastern front put in thousands of faces with that peculiar stare.
I guess the most typical example is that of this American soldier in Vietnam during Hue horror...



Regards.
Santi

[HPL2008]

I've posted it before, but think this photo fits in here as well. The postures may be relaxed, but the faces aren't. Second from right is my grandfather: