Landships II

Centurion · Legend

Fahr panzer in WW2

Arie Dijkhuis · General

Hi Centurion,

I am not too sure this is a WW2 picture. I found this picture in a German book published in 1926. The background looks suspiciously like the one in your picture. It could be a coincidence, as the the gun pit differs. The ammo boxes by the doors have moved, and the wicker lining the walls is missing.

Centurion · Legend

It does look the same. I'd guess that the photo in my posting was taken in WW2 (it was in the midst of a set that appeared to have been taken by a German soldier in WW) but that the Fahr had been there for quite some time. So not the Gustav line then.

Arie Dijkhuis · General

That is a possibility. Your picture has a far better quality than mine. The background is much clearer. It was probably taken well after WW1. By then camera technology had made an enormous leap forward. The caption in my picture tells that it was a Rumanian Fahrpanzer, but it also tells that it housed a machine gun instead of an artillery piece. It could be wrong...

Centurion · Legend

Arie Dijkhuis wrote:

That is a possibility. Your picture has a far better quality than mine. The background is much clearer. It was probably taken well after WW1. By then camera technology had made an enormous leap forward.

Certainly in terms of the quality available from the sort of camera a soldier might carry with him (The big quarter plate cameras C 1914) could provide v good quality but are not very portable - I have one in my collection - it would need to be used with a tripod though) I have a 1914 Kodak folding camera that would easily fit in the pocket when folded but the lense is not fantastic and the quality of photo would match the lense. I also have a 1940 German Agfa 35mm (these were only issued to military and party personnel) that is almost as portable and gives superb photos. (My father had one that he picked up in Portugal in about 1946 when the second hand dealers in Spain and Portugal had many good german cameras, field glasses, military watches etc etc for sale, he didn't change it for another camera until 1962 as short of a Leica there wasn't much better available in the UK). One day I'll do a paper on WW1 military photography but one tip when looking at WW1 photos - if the picture is clear and sharp (and of reasonable size) its almost certainly been taken on a quarter plate or larger which in turn means its probably taken behind the lines or after the battle has passed. Any action photos of this quality are likely (but not certainly - see below) to be posed and staged.
There are exceptions - there was one 'mad' Australian photographer who took crazy risks with a quater plate camera (like setting up the tripod under fire) he got some v good photos without being shot (for real) himself.