RA Airborne Picture - British & Commonwealth Military Badge Forum

William Brooks · #1 01-09-17, 03:01 PM

I recently purchased this photograph. I thought it was a good representation of RA Airborne unit insignia in Normandy.

Mike Jackson · #2 01-09-17, 04:00 PM

Did you purchase the image from the German Federal Photographic Archive? Mike

William Brooks · #3 01-09-17, 05:09 PM

No. From a French collector. It is an original wartime press photo.

tcrown · #4 01-09-17, 06:33 PM

Thanks for sharing, Will!

fougasse1940 · #5 16-09-17, 07:47 PM

Did you put the text strip on there? Never seen an official press photo, let alone a German one (the poor chaps were taken PoW when the photo was taken) with French text superimposed. seems like an image culled from a French publication.

Rgds, Thomas.

Mike Jackson · #6 16-09-17, 08:29 PM

Does the small logo to the left of the caption provide a clue? I believe that the German propaganda journal Signal was published in many languages including French. Mike

Mike Jackson · #7 16-09-17, 08:45 PM

Duplicate of above

fougasse1940 · #8 16-09-17, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Jackson

Does the small logo to the left of the caption provide a clue? I believe that the German propaganda journal Signal was published in many languages including French. Mike

Seems very plausible, but still doesn't make it an original photo.

Rgds, Thomas.

leigh kitchen · #9 17-09-17, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Jackson

Does the small logo to the left of the caption provide a clue? I believe that the German propaganda journal Signal was published in many languages including French. Mike

I only have one copy of "Signal" magazine in French, but the photos printed in it don't have any logo or watermark (nor do the half dozen copies I have in other languages).

William Brooks · #10 17-09-17, 09:16 PM

Boy you'all are a tough sell! I just thought it would be nice to share something not seen everyday. Wartime Airborne BD photos are rare. I certainly did not expect such skepticsm.

IMO the photo is is original is what it appears to be. The picture is made out of the flimsy vintage paper with non-modern ink. You can tell how the light reflects off the photo against the light at an oblique angle. I see the same sort of ink, paper and wear on some of US Navy battleship photos from the 1930's.

The back is scuffed and worn. Under magnification the picture is not photo-shopped or otherwise modified.

I have many Allied and German wartime press photos. I bought from a French collector and it came out of a batch 12SS HJ German Normandy photos. I am guessing it is from Vichy France. It was cheap and the previous owner did not know what he had when compared to German SS combat photos. The label on the bottom is paper glued onto the picture.

Here is the logo and the back. Also another example with the same logo.

Phil2M · #11 17-09-17, 10:01 PM

I think its cool

Mike Jackson · #12 18-09-17, 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by William Brooks

I recently purchased this photograph. I thought it was a good representation of RA Airborne unit insignia in Normandy.

I agree - and thank you very much for posting it. This excellent (if cheerless) image does not feature amongst the large number of images of the period available online from the Bundesarchiv - I searched the photo archive for "Britische" and/or "Fallschirmjager" and/or "Normandie". The Sgt has such a distinctive face he may be identifiable from British images such as group photos taken pre-D Day. His BD indicates that he's a member of an Air Landing unit RA - that narrows the field of search. Mike

Frank Kelley · #13 18-09-17, 07:29 AM

I don't understand, are you suggesting that the negative or plate from which the print was made, is actually spurious and done after 1944?

Quote:

Originally Posted by fougasse1940

Seems very plausible, but still doesn't make it an original photo.

Rgds, Thomas.

Eddie Parks · #14 18-09-17, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by William Brooks

Boy you'all are a tough sell! I just thought it would be nice to share something not seen everyday. Wartime Airborne BD photos are rare. I certainly did not expect such skepticsm.

William I have been reading some of the responses on here with embarrassment. Your reception as a new member was a long way short of the usual welcome. People really do need to lighten up!

William Brooks · #15 19-09-17, 01:35 PM

Thank you! After some more research the photo is a propaganda photo from Vichy France.