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    Flammenwerfer! Flames, skulls and stuff


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    • 3 weeks later...

    Robin:

    Just found a photo identified as a German small-flamethrower attack. The weapon in question appears to be a captured French P4 flamethrower, which the Germans could not have used very much, as the French manufactured only 250 of them. So, this photo is posed, and the soldiers are armed with the Gew 98. Since flamethrower pioneers used the Kar 98AZ, these are likely infantrymen.

    Look at the sleeve cuff of this fellow:

    Edited by Thomas W
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    Here is a close-up, enhanced shot of the cuff. I thought it was a shadow at first, but the edges look very well defined.

    An experimental infantry flamethrower unit that trained with captured French weapons? Sounds like the sort of guys who might rig up an unofficial black skull badge for themselves...

    Edited by Thomas W
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    The one on his Left Elbow and on his blanket are also well defined ;-)

    Actually, I turned it into a negative, and not only is the shadow on the elbow not as defined, in the negative there appears to be a cloth oval around the "shadow" on the cuff.

    The real details in the Shroud of Turin didn't show up until photographic negatives were studied...

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    Are you going to keep that one? Or can it be traded? :cheeky:

    Well, that is hotly debated... my 6 year old claims it was nicked from a group of 4 moulds to make shapes out of sand and insists he wants to take it to the playground.

    Negatiations continue in the morning... :cheers:

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    Never say 'Never'.

    Here's yet another example of how the oddest of TKs can turn up in the strangest of places in period photos................

    Would this badge have survived the 'eBay Test' ?????

    Depends what it is... Tinnie? joke thing?...

    Depends what it was claimed to be on ebay...

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    Well, that is hotly debated... my 6 year old claims it was nicked from a group of 4 moulds to make shapes out of sand and insists he wants to take it to the playground.

    Negatiations continue in the morning... :cheers:

    Your kid is a millionaire dealer in the making !! :cheers:

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    This one was never on eBay.

    Here's the full picture.

    They are from the death squads of the Hungarian Arrow Cross.

    Hi, Robin;

    Pardon my caution, but the placement of the badge on the pocket seems odd and impractical. Was it pinned to the flap? To the pocket? could the pocket open? In the real world, I would think that a real person would pin it to the middle of the pocket. The image stands out so vividly. It could easily be superimposed by a Photoshop artist, which might explain the awkward placement in the real world.

    Is the photo being sold? Is it an original or a modern copy?

    Is that another TK on the cap? If so, it seems authentic, but not dramatic.

    Bob Lembke

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    Hi, Robin;

    Pardon my caution, but the placement of the badge on the pocket seems odd and impractical. Was it pinned to the flap? To the pocket? could the pocket open? In the real world, I would think that a real person would pin it to the middle of the pocket. The image stands out so vividly. It could easily be superimposed by a Photoshop artist, which might explain the awkward placement in the real world.

    Is the photo being sold? Is it an original or a modern copy?

    Is that another TK on the cap? If so, it seems authentic, but not dramatic.

    Bob Lembke

    Hello Bob.

    You are right to be cautious.

    I am always cautious also.

    The photo was original (not a reprint) and appeared on another forum (not the WAF)_many years ago.

    It was not for sale.

    The badge looks to me to be pinned through the buttonhole. I think a 'Photoshop' artist would have centred it on the pocket.

    The man seems to be a Sipo Ustuf. with the rank tab blank ....... rank being denoted by the shoulder straps only. This was not unheard of.

    This picture would have dated from late 1944/early 1945 (the short-lived Arrow Cross era), when there were many odd SS uniforms being worn by Balkan and eastern personnel.

    The picture below shows another.

    The point of all this is that there were many unauthorised skulls being worn in both World Wars ............

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    • 3 weeks later...

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