Feldgrau Forum Photo Riddle ?

IRONHORSE · Post by **IRONHORSE** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:36 am

PERCHANCE THE SULLIVAN BROTHERS?
CHUCK

Waleed Y. Majeed · Post by **Waleed Y. Majeed** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:22 am

THE SULLIVAN BROTHERS

is correct for the last image posted - so who is Mr. X then?

I want the name, the whole name and nothing but the name!

waleed

Doktor Krollspell · Post by **Doktor Krollspell** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:57 am

So it's the real Private Ryan then... That is, Sergeant Frederick "Fritz" Niland of the 101st Airborne Division, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion, Company H, 1st Platoon!

Sergeant Frederick "Fritz" Niland was a member of the 101st Airborne's 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, and was one of those that made the drop into Normandy on June 6, 1944. He landed southwest of Carentan in Raffoville, and he was eventually able to make it back to his unit on his own.

Niland's three brothers served in other units, Technical Sergeant Robert Niland with the 82nd Airborne Division (505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Company D), Lieutenant Preston Niland with the 4th Infantry Division (22nd Infantry Regiment), and Technical Sergeant Edward Niland as a pilot in the Army Air Force.

Edward had been reported missing over Burma in the Pacific Theater on May 16, 1944. His B-25 had been shot down and he was reported as MIA and presumed killed. Robert was killed on D-Day at Neuville-au-Plain. Preston was killed on June 7th in the vicinity of Utah Beach.

Unlike the fictional Ryan, however, there was no need to send out a rescue mission to find Sergeant Niland. When Father Francis L. Sampson, chaplain of the 501st, learned that two of Niland's brothers were dead, and that a third was presumed dead, he began the paperwork necessary to send Niland home.

Niland remained with his unit for some time, but once the paperwork cleared he was forced to return to the States, where he served in New York as an MP for the rest of the war.

Fortunately for the Niland family, Edward Niland had not been killed, but had spent almost an entire year in a Japanese prisoner of war camp before being rescued by British forces.

The two deceased Niland brothers were buried at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Robert is buried in Plot F, Row 15, Grave 11, and Preston is buried in Plot F, Row 15, Grave 12.

http://www.sproe.com/n/fritz-niland.html

Regards,

Krollspell

Waleed Y. Majeed · Post by **Waleed Y. Majeed** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:34 pm

That's the name and person I was looking for

Correct,Doktor and the "real" Ryan was a sergeant!

Source: See Doktors link!
And a second interesting source: http://www.canisius.edu/archives/niland.asp
Sullivan brothers link: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers ... llv-br.htm

Over to you Dok!

waleed

Doktor Krollspell · Post by **Doktor Krollspell** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:16 am

Thanks Waleed and not to forget IRONHORSE!

So, time for new riddle then... Here's one from the Doktor's vault that's maybe too simple...

But here we go!

This riddle starts with a classic who are these two Gentlemen and of course what's the special connection between them?

This special connection will then lead (as a special connection

) to a WWII-related phenomenae that is the goal of the riddle!

Gentleman No. 1

Gentleman No. 2

Happy hunting!

Krollspell

Waleed Y. Majeed · Post by **Waleed Y. Majeed** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:42 pm

1: Friedrich Wilhelm Victor August Ernst - Kronprinz des Deutschen Reiches und von Preußen. 1882–1951

2: Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin - Baron von Steuben. 1730-1794

Connection: besides being Prussian and the names...?

waleed

Doktor Krollspell · Post by **Doktor Krollspell** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:23 am

Two points to the Danish corner!

Yes Waleed, it's the German Crown Prince and Baron von Steuben! And the connection is...? Leading further on to...?

Regards,

Krollspell

Waleed Y. Majeed · Post by **Waleed Y. Majeed** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:21 am

Is it maritime....? Ship sinking phenomena perhaps?

waleed

Doktor Krollspell · Post by **Doktor Krollspell** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:11 am

It's maritime alright! And about the "Ship sinking phenomena"... Well... both yeas and no!

But while we're at it. here's a nice photograph/clue then...

So, what's with the ship?

Regards,

Krollspell

Paulus II · Post by **Paulus II** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:31 am

Hello Krollspell at al,

The ship in the above post is the USS von Steuben in 1918 (28 june in New York to be exact

) She was the Kronprinz Wilhelm built by the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin in 1901 and was interned in the US in 1915 after running out of supplies. She was renamed Von Steuben and pressed into US Navy service when the US joined the war in 1917.

For a while I have been looking at that other Von Steuben that suffered the same fate as the Wilhelm Gustloff but the connection was much too vague for one of your riddles

Finally I noticed that this Kronprinz Wilhelm/Von Steuben served as a commerce raider from 1914 to 1915 and I think that that is what you are looking for!

Raiding regards,

Paul

Doktor Krollspell · Post by **Doktor Krollspell** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:58 am

Hello Paul!

...but the connection was much too vague for one of your riddles

The pressure, the pressure...

Yes indeed Paul, the last photograph show the USS von Steuben in New York in 1918. And yes, she was the former SS Kronprinz Wilhelm of the Imperial German Navy!

Sorry the connection was not that the USS von Steuben was a former german commerce raider but quite simply, or vaguely

, that there has been two surface ships namen "Steuben".

The "Steuben" (Formely "General von Steuben" of the Third Reich was one of the unlucky transport ships with german refugges that were sunk ni the Baltic sea in 1945 suffering terrible losses. The "Steuben", "Wilhelm Gustloff" and "Goya" are the worst losses at sea ever. Then you also have the "Cap Arcona" that were cramped with Concentration Camp inmates and was attacked by the RAF in the spring of 1945 with the result of several thousand deaths, this also in the Baltic.

I had some kind of riddle plan to get there but you (and Waleed) were quick as usual... Professional riddlers as you are!

The wreck of the "Steuben" in the Baltic

And the USS Steuben submarine...

The "Kronprinz Wilhelm" from a contemporary postcard

And so on and so on...

All photographs from http://www.wikipedia.org

Your turn Paul

Regards,

Krollspell

Waleed Y. Majeed · Post by **Waleed Y. Majeed** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 12:20 pm

He, he, so it was a sinking...

A bit of additional trivia here:

Under the command of Marinesko, then 32, on 30 January 1945, at Stolpe Bank off the Polish coast, S-13 sank the 25,484-ton German liner Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with refugees, with three torpedoes. Recent estimates calculate that over 9,000 people were killed, the worst loss of life in maritime history.
Soon after that, S-13 fired at the T-36[citation needed], a torpedo boat that had come to the aid of the Wilhelm Gustloff. Although overloaded with 564 shipwrecked persons from the Gustloff, the captain of T-36 was able to dodge the torpedo.
On 10 February 1945, S-13 sank the German armed transport ship General von Steuben

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_S-13

waleed

ps. well done Paul!

Paulus II · Post by **Paulus II** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:36 pm

Thank you gentlemen, thank you!

That was an excellent riddle Krollspell

(albeit slightly vague

, nah, not vague, just that the connection was little less direct than I am accustomed too). And good to bring up a subject that is little known! Always learning more this way

Tuesday morning will see a new riddle in this Thread of Threads
I just need a little more time to work it out.

Bis Morgen,

Paul

Paulus II · Post by **Paulus II** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:19 am

So, here we go then.

Biography time. You will see a series of pictures and a little text sketching out the biography of a man, as usual we will call him Mr. X for the time being. The clues from his biography will make it possible to find the identity of Mr. X

Mr. X was born somewhere in the area shown on this map:

His early years were as to be expected in his time and social class. Nothing very special there, just your regular familylife, school, play, a short stint in the army and university.

But after university the man below would have an effect on his life that does stand out:

Who is Mr. X?

More to come, happy hunting for now!

Regards,

Paul

Paulus II · Post by **Paulus II** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:50 pm

So, time for some more clues.

The direct effect that the gentleman in the photo had on our Mr. X ended in 1914 but he carried with him what he had learned for the rest of his life.
So, in other words the studies of Mr. X in the building below ended and he returned to Germany.

The start of World War I saw the start of the military career of Mr. X. His biography makes it clear that he served the entire war in one unit. As a Reserve officer at first but a career man by the ime it all ended in 1918.
The two officers below form a clue to the unit that Mr. X served in during WW I:

Well....that's all for now but there is plenty more to come!

Good luck,

Paul