This is just dying for Osprey to make a uniform plate:
National Archives 80-G-353582
Here we see a group of German WWII Prisoners of War arriving at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, on 9 June 1945. The date is important because it is more than a month after VE-Day, the end of the war in Europe. The men are a mix of Heer, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe non-commissioned officers wearing a variety of tropical (Afrika Korps, anyone?) and continental uniforms. All have U.S. raincoats with “P.W.” stenciled on each arm.
Odds are the group had been in an EPW camp somewhere in the South and are heading back home to a Germany that looks very different from the one they left. For train buffs, note the old Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) cars in the background.
Also, note the U.S. Army (or more likely Florida Defense Force) personnel including a corporal with a M1917 revolver in a M1911 shoulder holster. Contrast it below with the very sweaty Florida Defense Force personnel at the Jacksonville USO in late 1942, outfitted with a variety of 1903s and M1917 rifles.
Spottswood Studio Collection
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
About laststandonzombieisland
Let me introduce myself. I am a bit of a conflict junkie. I am fascinated by war and warfare, assassination, personal protection and weaponry ranging from spud guns and flame throwers to thermonuclear bombs and Soviet-trained Ebola monkeys. In short, if it’s violent or a tool to create violence it is kind of my thing.
I have written a few thousand articles on the dry encyclopedia side for such websites as GUNS.com, Univesity of Guns, Outdoor Hub, History Times, Big Game Hunter, Glock Forum, Firearms Talk.com, and Combat Forums; as well as for print publications like England Expects, and Strike First Strike Fast. Several magazines such as Sea Classics, Military Historian and Collector, Mississippi Sportsman and Warship International have carried my pieces. Additionally I am on staff as a naval consultant and writer for Eye Spy Intelligence Magazine.
Currently I am working on several book projects including an alternative history novel about the US-German War of 1916, and a biography of Southern gadfly and soldier of fortune Bennett Doty. My first novel, about the coming zombie apocalypse was released in 2012 by Necro Publications and can be found at Amazon.com as was the prequel, Chimera-44. I am currently working on book two of that series: "Pirates of the Zombie Coast."
In my day job I am a contractor for the US federal government in what could best be described as the ‘Force Protection’ field. In this I am an NRA-certified firearms, and less-than-lethal combat instructor.
