Unidentified Servicemen

I think so, yes, post 1945.

The design of field cap is puzzling me, as it is similar to the M43 Feldmutze of the Wehrmacht, but seems to have buttons at the left and right front/sides rather than two buttons at the front/middle. The chevron cap badge is distinctive and common to them all.

There are a number of specialist forums that would indeed help, here’s one:

http://forum.axishistory.com/

Please do come back with any more information you might gather, it is a very interesting group.

Thanks again for all the comments, all very helpful. Do you think we are looking at a date of 1945 to 1948 here? Would love to find out more if at all possible but I suspect this is as far as we’ll get.

Thanks again.

kev35

I am sure this is Ukrainian. “Dorogiy” as the first greeting word is a give-away (as is the form of the “D”), and the later spelling of “Ivan” with an Ukrainian “I”. Sadly, I cannot make out what it says exactly, but I agree with the above chap’s wife.

Translation

A friend who is Romanian with a Russian wife confirms it is neither language although his wife recognises it!Something like”Dear friend,writing to you …speaking…I am Happy!!

Gentlemen, thank you for your contributions.

Voytech.

That is brilliant. The gentleman on the left does have a faded blue arrow above his head so that makes perfect sense. Looking at the trees on the right of the photo they look a little bare so perhaps this was taken in the run up to Christmas? Hence the happy holiday comment?

SadOleGit.

That makes sense. They don’t appear to be prisoners which was my first thought. Most are wearing a uniform of sorts but the only real thing that joins them together is the headgear which looks familiar but I can’t place why. Numbers 1 and 3 from the left are wearing something akin to battledress blouses, number 4 appears to be wearing a German panzer jacket, 5 and 6 are wearing civilian jackets and number 7 is wearing a tunic with a triangle on the left sleeve.

Thanks again for all the help. If anyone can take it a step further please feel free.

Regards,

kev35

This is nothing more than an ignorant guess, but after the War displaced nationals were offered employment in UK military establishments in BAOR as a quasi-military guard corps, and lived on camp in miltary accommodation. The buildings look very like pre-war German barrack blocks, and they are dressed in overalls/boots, seemingly a kind of uniform.

They formed close communities, had their own little bars/clubs, kept neat gardens around their accommodation blocks and seemed to me in my limited contact with them to have accepted their fate and to be comfortable with their place. They were friendly people. I am sure many readers here will be able to add more about this ‘international corps’.

I remember particularly the small ageing community at Rheindahlen in the 70’s.

Perhaps these men were living and working in similar circumstances.

SoG

The script is certainly Cyrillic, but the language doesn’t seem Russian. Ukrainian? Serbian?

If I read it correctly (not guaranteed!) the first line reads
“Dear ….”
I can’t decipher the name, and I can’t decipher the next two lines
Then the fourth line is probably
“I wish you happy holidays”
and the last line seems to say
“I am(?) marked with ink”
Is any of the men in the photo really marked?

Kev,

little more than a wild guess based on a few days I spent there – could the language be Romanian? They seem to use a more “westernised” script that some of the other eastern european states who seem to use more of the cyrillic script?

As I say, little more than a wild guess…..

Paul F