SS uniforms part 1

[stewfoxy]

The second photo down on the left is another famous shot taken in Normandy around 8th June showing Otto Funk a grenadier from SS Pz Gren Rgt 26 of the Hitler Jugend Divison.

(Mods - apologies if this has been covered before and if my posting of links is clumsy or not the done thing, I'm a bit of a newbie.)

The Funk picture is part of a famous sequence that I think was taken by Wilfried Woscidlo, a war reporter and photographer for the 12th SS. Another frame, looking the other way down towards the main road through La Villeneuve, made the cover of Stuttgarter Illustrierte (below) towards the end of June 1944.

There's quite a bit of research been done on the background to the pictures and the actions fought by the men involved. These include some interesting 'then and now' comparisons on this site.

In a similar vein, but with an excellent graphic of the doomed Panther attack Funk and his colleagues were to support, is a post on this site.

Finally, an interesting account of the wider battle between the 12th SS and the Canadians around the time of the pictures is on this site.

And by the way, Herr Funk appears to have survived that terrible summer as you can see from the colour picture. He also became something of a celebrity as a consequence of those pictures.

[Paul D]

Yes Otto is still alive i've been in touch with him a few times

Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting thse very interesting links

[tigermothman]

why interpret the paras look as one of respect?? looks like none of them have slept in a week (which is likely the case) anyone who has been in the army recognizes the "1000 yard stare"