That really is the PTO and those are U.S. Marines. Edutcher is correct. Camo was virtually nonexistent for U.S. troops in the ETO. It was Issued to some select units in the 2nd ID, 30th ID, and 2nd AD. This was very short lived in the Normandy campaign as the risk of GI's shooting at GI's thinking they were Waffen SS who were almost always wore at least a camo helmet covers and smocks at this point in the war.
See the point about the camouflage, but my eyes went the the puttes the GI on the left has..and at least of the photographs I've seen of the pto, the Gis did have those sort of bacpacks on. Another thought, might this be a photograph from the Korean war?
The excerpt from Eugene B. Sledge's book is harrowing. "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" is a very awesome book. The conditions (heat, stench from rotting corpses/feces/ because they could not be buried in the hard corral, mosquitoes, biting flies, and the ferocity and tenacity of which the Japanese fought) were some of the toughest in which Americans, or anyone, has ever fought. It would be most disagreeable for some of today's snowflakes. "Sledgehammer" was an Alabamian whose father was a doctor. He had attended a Marion Military Academy and joined an officer training program which took him to Atlanta. He and his entire class thought the war would be over before they finished the program. So, they dropped from the OCS program and joined the Marine Corps as enlisted men. Little did he or the othera know that soon enough they would be fighting in hell. After the war he enrolled in college at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (later renamed Auburn University). He majored in biology which he taught at Montevallo University just south of Birmingham. His book was one of three that was the basis for the HBO series "Pacific". There are several videos of Sledge that can be seen on YouTube.
Firing a BAR from the shoulder takes a strong arm. I had enough trouble with hip shooting one. It likes to move around when on full auto.
ReplyDeleteBAR is very controllable:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEo8yRiDU0w
They would make them "pop up" by using flamethrowers, grenades, and satchel charges! 😀
ReplyDeleteLove the BAR, would love to own one.
ReplyDeleteAh, given what these GI's are wearing, was this picture really taken in the PTO?
ReplyDeleteCamo covers were almost never seen in Italy or Northern France.
DeleteUsually worn by Marines.
That really is the PTO and those are U.S. Marines.
DeleteEdutcher is correct. Camo was virtually nonexistent for U.S. troops in the ETO. It was Issued to some select units in the 2nd ID, 30th ID, and 2nd AD. This was very short lived in the Normandy campaign as the risk of GI's shooting at GI's thinking they were Waffen SS who were almost always wore at least a camo helmet covers and smocks at this point in the war.
See the point about the camouflage, but my eyes went the the puttes the GI on the left has..and at least of the photographs I've seen of the pto, the Gis did have those sort of bacpacks on. Another thought, might this be a photograph from the Korean war?
DeleteLook more closely. Those are leggings,
DeleteQuite the punch line.
ReplyDeleteVery droll, that.
ReplyDeletePS The masthead looks like a setup for Wile E Coyote.
Here is a link to a page that has the image captioned as:
ReplyDeleteMen of the 1st Marine Division on Wana Ridge with Browning Automatic Rifle.
Link Here:
Deletehttp://ww2today.com/13-june-1945-okinawa-mounting-u-s-casualties-on-kunishi-ridge
The excerpt from Eugene B. Sledge's book is harrowing. "With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" is a very awesome book. The conditions (heat, stench from rotting corpses/feces/ because they could not be buried in the hard corral, mosquitoes, biting flies, and the ferocity and tenacity of which the Japanese fought) were some of the toughest in which Americans, or anyone, has ever fought. It would be most disagreeable for some of today's snowflakes. "Sledgehammer" was an Alabamian whose father was a doctor. He had attended a Marion Military Academy and joined an officer training program which took him to Atlanta. He and his entire class thought the war would be over before they finished the program. So, they dropped from the OCS program and joined the Marine Corps as enlisted men. Little did he or the othera know that soon enough they would be fighting in hell. After the war he enrolled in college at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (later renamed Auburn University). He majored in biology which he taught at Montevallo University just south of Birmingham. His book was one of three that was the basis for the HBO series "Pacific". There are several videos of Sledge that can be seen on YouTube.
DeleteThe guy on the left appears to be about to pull the pin on a grenade
ReplyDeleteYup,its a MKII pineapple grenade.
DeleteI love that joke!
ReplyDeleteJust as good as the 3 Nazis.....
These folks make a museum quality semi-auto BAR.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.oowinc.com/onlineshop/