French/Dutch

[Gunner]

I'll bet he lost a few pounds by '45

 

[ChuckDyke]

For those able to read dutch; the man with the white flag is Sergeant-Major van Ommering. Our local news outlet happened to do a story on him the other day:

De man met de witte vlag na het bombardement op Rotterdam: ‘De geschiedschrijving is een beetje aan hem voorbij gegaan’

Het is één van de bekendste foto’s van 14 mei 1940: sergeant-majoor Van Ommering met witte vlag in de Van der Takstraat op het Noordereiland. Hij begeleidt de bevelhebber van de Rotterdamse troepen. Kolonel Scharroo is met kapitein Backer onderweg om de stad over te geven. Kort ervoor is het...

www.rijnmond.nl

The story of the Red Flares was mentioned at Nuremberg. Kesselring stated that the bombers didn't see the flares so they went ahead with the mission. As a defense, it was rejected. The prosecution suggested that the function of flares is to carry out a mission.

 

[Louis]

Father Camille Folliet (1908/1945), a French Roman Catholic priest, lends his support and advises the French Resistance behind a barricade during the Battle for Paris, Aug 1944.

 

[Louis]

The great height (1.96 mts) Charles de Gaulle towers over the mens while inspecting Free French Navy sailors in the UK 1941.

 

[Louis]

In Amsterdam some citizens escape running from Dam Square during a shootout between German soldiers awaiting surrender to Canadians and Dutch Resistance members, 7 May, 1945.

 

[Louis]

Five Gendarmes and a French resistance fighter keep an eye on the possible trafic on Seine during the Battle for Paris. 1944

 

[Louis]

Handwritten instructions of a French gunner aboard a Sherman tank for the use of the APC M61 75mm bullet against some German tanks.

 

[Louis]

French residents building bomb shelters, Paris, 1940.

 

[Louis]

Two French captives after the Dunkirk evacuation.

 

[Louis]

Helene Chapelle, right, a French girl, kneels at the grave, of a New York state soldier who was killed on the Normandy beachhead, Sgt.James Simonian (born July 15, 1918), while she reads a letter from Simonian’s mother who asked that it be read at her son’s grave on May 28, 1945. At left kneels mother of Helene Chapelle before rows of crosses at La Cambe cemetery, near Omaha Beach.

 

[Louis]

Civilians take cover and Allied/Free French/FFI Personnel return fire as gunshots ring out during the first Liberation Parade in Paris - Aug 26, 1944.

 

[Louis]

French legionnaire drink water. Maybe during El Alamein 1942.

 

[Rico]

I think that photo is from Bir Hacheim, Battle of Gazala, May 1942?

 

[Gunner]

I did a searchfor the battle of Bir Hacheim and found one site describing the battle and has his picture among others.
That was a seriously hard fought battle.

"One of WWII’s most stirring “Forgotten Fights” took place in May 1942 at the North African desert outpost of Bir Hacheim (also Bir Hakeim.) In this encounter, German and Italian forces under the command of Germany’s “Desert Fox,” General Erwin Rommel, faced off against Free French forces, including African colonial troops, under Brigadier General Marie-Pierre Koenig. The French fought hard for two weeks before finally giving way, allowing Rommel’s forces to continue their advance toward the Suez Canal. Even in tactical defeat, however, the French had won a significant strategic victory."

Forgotten Fights: The Free French at Bir Hacheim, May 1942 | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

The courageous Free French defense of the remote desert fortress of Bir Hacheim in May 1942 helped turn the tide of the war in North Africa.

www.nationalww2museum.org

 

[Louis]

Free French forces

 

[Rico]

Great pic.

 

[Gunner]

Nice pic Luis.
Looks like a crew right out of a movie.

 

[Louis]

Netherlands, 1941, during the occupation.
It's what I would call a "One horse engine".