Identification needed

Dutch_Rad_collector · Post by **Dutch_Rad_collector** » Thu May 27, 2004 10:48 am

Who is it?
What is his rang?

Who can help me ?

DeBaer · Post by **DeBaer** » Thu May 27, 2004 12:02 pm

if the handwritten text above belongs to the picture and reads:
Der General im Biwa(c)k
then his rang is the of a general.
and hes in a tent camp there.
apart from that im sorry i dont have a clue

Dutch_Rad_collector · Post by **Dutch_Rad_collector** » Thu May 27, 2004 3:39 pm

okay txs for helping

what would be a price for this ?

Panzer Mooyman · Post by **Panzer Mooyman** » Thu May 27, 2004 4:09 pm

Nice picture. A general eating at a Feldkuche.

On feeling i'd say its early war, 39/40 or so.

(Just in case. The text is translated in Dutch to: "De Generaal in bivak" (Assuming you know the dutch language, dont know the english word) So Biwack isnt the name of the general.)

Dutch_Rad_collector · Post by **Dutch_Rad_collector** » Fri May 28, 2004 12:32 am

Panzer Mooyman wrote:Nice picture. A general eating at a Feldkuche.

On feeling i'd say its early war, 39/40 or so.

(Just in case. The text is translated in Dutch to: "De Generaal in bivak" (Assuming you know the dutch language, dont know the english word) So Biwack isnt the name of the general.)

Txs Mooyman

dus in bivak dat verklaard een hoop

Bill Murray · Post by **Bill Murray** » Mon May 31, 2004 2:05 pm

Ah, the small jewels of information we get on these forums.

In English it would be one of two translations I think.
I thought "Du" meant in this case "your" as it doesn't look like the word "Der" which would mean "the.

So, it could be either Your General in bivouac or The General in bivouac.
I am not sure of the origin or the word bivouac but assume it is French.

If I am correct in the guess that it is "Your General in bivouac", if you could get an identity on the General in question I would think it would be worth much more than if it was "The General........"

Still, a photo of any General eating at a field kitchen has to also be worth more than the standard one of them sitting in a staff car or on a tank or whatever.

Nice picture in any case. Good selling.
Bill

Panzer Mooyman · Post by **Panzer Mooyman** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 12:00 am

Bill Murray wrote:I thought "Du" meant in this case "your" as it doesn't look like the word "Der" which would mean "the.

I thought of this as well, but 'du' doesnt mean anything at all. It should have been "Ihren General" if you want "your general"
Also compare the writing of the 'er' between the words Der and General. Its tough figuring out personal handwriting, always a bit gambling involved.

tirola · Post by **tirola** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 9:31 am

I too second that this is early war 1940-42 according to the General's coat and the soldiers' hats in the background.

This pic looks like it's out of an album. Any division markings visible on the other pics? I have a feeling that the person might have been the division commander.

Dutch_Rad_collector · Post by **Dutch_Rad_collector** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 9:44 am

nop it was riped out a photoalbum.

Bill Murray · Post by **Bill Murray** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 2:44 pm

Gentlemen all:

I apologize for my attempting to show some knowledge of German

Actually I am still pretty good in my Swedish from having lived there for two years 1974-1976 and "Du" is a good word,"you" in Swedish but even there it would have been "Din General" in that language. I was guessing that the "Du" might work as the familiar form of "your" in German. I stand corrected. I also put the magnifying glass to the first word and it does actually seem to represent "Der" not "Du" as I had earlier thought.
I probably need to stick to English/Spanish/Swedish and not try to show off.

Still, a very nice photo and I hope someone eventually comes up with a positive ID of the individual involved.
Bill

derGespenst · Post by **derGespenst** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 7:12 am

Looks like a road in France, probably 1940. Beyond that, no clue.

Anton · Post by **Anton** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 9:22 am

No Bill it does not work that way. It would have been "Generalen i bivack" in swedish. "The general at camp", in translation.

Swedish and german differ quite a bit in genus use.

Erik k. · Post by **Erik k.** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 1:49 pm

HI all,

I think the first word does not say "DU" at all.
Look at the word General, the "e" and "r" in that word look like an "U".
Then you get "Genual". That is not correct.
The word "Du" is in fact "Der".
It is just the handwriting that make it hard to read.

Regards,

Erik

Bill Murray · Post by **Bill Murray** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 2:59 pm

Thanks Anton:
I now agree to not try to translate any more German.
However, I do believe my premise that it might have been "Your" General would have properly been translated in Swedish to "Din", eller hur?

As to the dating of the photo, it is sad that in this case the focus is on the General and not the accompanying vehicles. I have been going through several reference books and photos in my collection and cannot for sure identify precisely either of the vehicles in the photo. I can guess pretty closely but I hate to do that. I would agree with others, though, that it must have been pretty early due to the type of vehicles pictured. The rearmost is, in my opinion, of the roughly 1935 to 1939 style of Kubel based on the way the top/tilt/hood is constucted with the typical sweep to the rear. As well, the General's host vehicle exhibits several ID clues that would lead to it probably being from the same era. Also, both vehicles seem to show little or no excess wear which could mean it was early in the campaign in , say, France.

Next. Bill

Quig · Post by **Quig** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 3:19 pm

Isn't this a photo to his wife back home with the caption "your general in bivouac"?.
Ok, I read the rest of the thread after I posted. Sorry.
I think Bill is right.
Looks like von Manteuffel? or Model?
S!

Feldgrau.net

Identification needed

Identification needed